optiarc - no can?

[wicked1]

I just got 3 sony optiarc 20x dvd burnerss in the mail, and I can't find the diode can's in them! there are these little plastic rectangles which appear to be the lasers!
did I just waste a bunch of money?

 

[wicked1]

That photo is w/ the plastic cover removed. Here are two more, one in its heatsink

 

[phenol]

in the first pic what youve got is the red diode. in the second one is the IR laser.
I dont know about it, but the red one worked fine for 5 minutes at 250mA. then I put it away as useless. it is intact and i guess it could be driven at 300mA or more with decent heatsinking. I have reasons to believe that this red is rated @ 125mw cw or 350mw pulsed (Sharp)

 

[wicked1]

is there any way to mount these w/ a lens? Since they are just these flat rectangles, they're pretty useless, aren't they? For a quick pointer, at least. I have the can holder w/ lens (meradith glass )

And is this just luck of the draw? do they use multiple designs? I got the exact model that was recommended to me. Followed a link to newegg from a forum post. Said "this is the one to get"

 

[styropyro]

Unfortunately it is pretty hard to use those diodes. You can always use those diodes to test circuits if you want, but it will be a challenge to make a good housing for those.

 

[wicked1]

So, what about getting these strange lasers in the sony NEC optiarc 20x burners? Is it just luck if you get the good ones? Have they changed the design?

Basically, I want to get an open can diode. I dont know if I should try another sony, or something else, or if these little rectangle diodes are common.

Thanks

 

[phenol]

These frame-type diodes are compact and...cheap. Sharp is releasing their latest (and probably last) 400mW member of the red family some time this summer. It is going to have the same enclosure. I found those in the Sony-nec-optiarc model number AD-7203S

I know for a fact that 20x LG GSA-H55N/L come with a long-die open can and a windowless 5.6mm IR. Give them a go.

 

[wicked1]

I know for a fact that 20x LG GSA-H55N/L come with a long-die open can and a windowless 5.6mm IR. Give them a go.

Do you know which is the IR and which is the red? One has a relatively flat heatsink, and the other has a longer heatsink w/ a couple of small optics attached.
You'll save me a little trouble if you get back to me before I get the bug to start on this project

thanks

 

[chido]

The red long open can diode will look like this:

And the windowless IR will look like this:

Hope this helps.

 

[wicked1]

I meant before I rip them out of the heatsinks. I can't tell which is which while they are in there.

There's no hobby use for the IR's is there?

 

[chido]

Then you need to harvest them both and test them to see which one is the red one. (unless phenol comes to the rescue with an answer) ;D

Yes there is use for the IR diode, you can make a high powered IR laser, but it's absolutely required to get safety goggles when working with it. (for red lasers too but IR is even more dangerous)

 

[phenol]

the pic below shows the original locations of the red and IR diodes in the LG 20x sled. Be careful not to damage the red one, as its guts are exposed.

 

[wicked1]

I got the red diode out. I made a driver w/ lm317 set to 350ma. Using 4 AAA's.
It's not bright at all! Could physical damage cause it to have less output? I dropped it a few times while trying to get it out of its heatsink.
It still lights w/ no issue, but looks like maybe 10mw It doesn't even begin to burn anything. Do I need batteries w/ more power? (wishful thinking)

I'm having horrible luck w/ lasers today. I got a blue diode too, and it died. Used it earlier, it worked fine. Turned it on later, it was really dim, then went totally out.

I'm not new to electronics, I double checked my circuits. I tested them again and again. I've just always had horrible luck w/ laser diodes.
My argon is much more forgiving I almost feel sick thinking about the bad luck I had today w/ these 2 lasers.

 

[phenol]

Hm. It is untypical for those reds to die out so quickly unless something went terribly wrong. I have 4, all from LGs, working fine. I guess they are sensitive to static discharge, blurays even more so. is your soldering iron grounded?
These should safely handle 350mA, even as much as 100mA more. Could you measure the voltage across the diode in your 350-mA setup?

 

[chido]

Remember open can diodes are a lot more sensitive than closed can diodes. They can take a lot of electrical abuse but it's not the same with physical abuse. If you dropped it a lot of times then that's probably the reason why it died. Have you tried looking at the diode? There should be 2 almost microscopic golden wires coming from the dye, one should be connected to the case and the other one to one of the pins. Maybe one is disconnected.
Also, even though you say you're not a noob at electronics, I'll have to ask this. ;D Did you short out the capacitor before connecting it to the LD?