My Very First Laser Build!!! --- 445nm, 2W (M140), my "Alternative" Laser Host, and Analysis of Build Cost!

[cwa11is]

Nice work and cool beam pic. Tesla coils huh?....interesting.

 

[nabzim]

Hey guys, i m totally new in laser staff but i m thinking the last months on either buy one 2-3W laser or diy one... I had bought in 2017 a diode and i was about to try and build one... But by the time diode arrived i had lost my interest... Now this fire returned and now i m following this exact tutorial and ordered everything that i may need. Housing, driver, switch, copper, heatsink, lens, 18650 battery housing. Those parts may take some time to reach me here in Greece but i have to pre-solve my questions!

My diode is the osram pl450b and the seller 's testing recommends a 1.8A on 5.1V max. 1.6A i think is the manufacturer recommendation.

So how exactly will i set the driver (Astral superdrive v as this project) to match those values? I will use 2x18650 batteries but i dont know if i have to go parallel or series. I may sound stupid but i m just now reading and trying to learn! @nabzim i hope you can help a little! Thanks in advance!

Check out my other thread, which I mentioned near the beginning of my post in this thread.
(Or just go here:
laserpointerforums.com/threads/please-help-with-my-dummy-load-design-solved-pics-and-write-up.107681/
)
Basically I had some questions answered on constructing a dummy load (but you can just buy one that's already made) and later in the thread, I outlined the process of setting the driver current (which is what the dummy load is needed for) and there's pics included. Setting driver current was basically the hardest part of the whole project (It was quite easy for ME... but, for most people who aren't already equipped with the knowledge and tools for building electronics, I suspect it would be a challenge.)
I'm not sure how exactly you'd do it without a variable bench power supply, but I'm certain it's possible, probably just using a couple of multimeters to monitor voltage and current simultaneously, but I have no idea how you would tune the voltage precisely.

My biggest and greatest recommendation, is to keep on reading, keep on asking, and learning, until you feel confident with a procedure, before attempting it! If you sit down to start trying to wire something or test something, and you realize you're unsure of something you need to know, then don't try to move forward without first getting help and consult the forum. Try your best to search the forums, and read-through all the threads that you find in your search; it may prove faster than asking a question and waiting for a reply from someone (then waiting for another reply from someone else, who answers your question to your satisfaction... LOL). You may find little tidbits of helpful information scattered throughout many different threads.

That said, your batteries will need to be in series to provide a high enough voltage that can be properly stepped-down and regulated by the driver (the only way to control current is by controlling the voltage, which is what the driver does in order to maintain a constant level of current).
The driver is not a "boost" converter, only a "buck" converter, meaning it can only step-down the voltage (it can't "step-up" or increase the voltage) so you must have a power source with a voltage that's significantly higher than the voltage required by the diode (perhaps 1 or 2 volts higher I think... there's a specific amount, idk at the moment), aka the "forward voltage drop" or "Vf" (capital V, subscript F, is how it appears in datasheets).

Anyways, I wish I had more time to help right now, but im incredibly busy at the moment...
I gotta do an online Driver's-Ed course today to correct a speeding ticket, and I think I've procrastinated enough by now! LOL.

Please, heed my advice, and read, read, read! Understand everything and have a plan before you start buying parts, otherwise you'll be buying more parts to replace the ones you destroyed by not-knowing what you're doing!
Hope this helped!
Good Luck!

 

[nabzim]

Nice work and cool beam pic. Tesla coils huh?....interesting.

Thanks! And, yep!
Still "working on" my latest coil, but the project has been in limbo for quite a while a while now.. about a year I think...
You can find videos of my other coils on my youtube channel, if you can find my channel, which is just "nabzim" with the blue "Dude Lebowski" as my channel icon/picture.

Sorry I'm kinda busy at the moment, but I'd totally go into more detail on the Tesla coils if I had the time!

 

[pados1002_Alex_13]

@nabzim thank you so much for your time and your answer! I have already ordered a decent (i think according to banggood 's reviews) adjustable power supply, a dummy load from AliExpress, some diodes and resistors to build one of my own according to tutorials and i think i have every tool that i would probably need! I keep on reading and reading for every question being bornt... I even bought a 4w diode from china to get ready for my next attempt LOL!
And good luck on your course bro!