please help me with my 4 pin diode

[thunderhunter69]

could someone tell me wich two pins to connect from the four , to make a laser pointer , and what colour is this laser light ? thanks

 

[pseudonomen137]

Normally I'd tell you not enough information - you really arent giving us much to go on here afterall. However you're lucky that the board states the connections for DVD and CD. Go ahead and follow which two traces by that "DVD" text lead to which pins - those SHOULD control a 658nm red diode. The matching pins for the CD SHOULD be for a 780nm near-IR diode. Without more info, its impossible to even guess at the order of magnitude of the output power.

 

[FireMyLaser]

follow the pot connections. Cd= IR, DVD=red.

 

[thunderhunter69]

Thank you very much ,
at one of the DVD-s leg there is a small potentio meter and at the other a small resistor which should be the plus ?

 

[FireMyLaser]

One of the legs is the common (possibly the can) the other one is the photodiode. Polarity? I'm not sure about that.

 

[FireMyLaser]

I just did a test with a old IR diode from a CD-player and the can was negative. hope this helps.

 

[thunderhunter69]

Thank a lot FireMyLaser ,
so this should be correct because the one with the small resistor is common

 

[thunderhunter69]

how can i make shure about the Voltage of the diode ? steven

 

[FireMyLaser]

I suggest that you unsolder the little pcb from the laser so you can see which pin that is the can. And don't foreget to ground yourself, and which pin that is the red one. You can't be sure about the voltage or current for the diode without a datasheet.

 

[Gazoo]

Isn't that a replacement part for a DVD reader? Do you know which reader it's for?