power supply

[vortish]

i am looking to find the right driver for some pulled dvd rw diodes i pulled i have just built my dummy load and batteries are expensive... im just getting into this hobby do if i have 2 save for a while 2 get a nice psu that's what i have to do figured i would get advice now and get something that will hold up for a long time than get junk and be pissed it broke.

 

[Flaminpyro]

You sound serious about this if your thinking of getting a bench power supply, there will be a couple other pieces of test equipment you will need if your going to
be doing this as a hobbie on a regular basis and those would be a test load for setting the current on settable drivers, you will also want a LPM of some kind.

You will want a soldering iron and solder and flux, there will be small tools also like diode presses and such.

You can make a test load for a few dollars in parts and the plans are here on LPF.

Cyparagon has given you the best advice so far, think about it you will be pissed when that cheap supply dies in a few months, I myself have a Agilent U8002A bench supply
just for the very reasons Cyparagon has mentioned, yea it cost more and I had to save longer to get it but it's never given me a problem and I never expect one either.

So when you do decide to get one think about that, good luck and best wishes with your laser builds :beer:

Just get the one I linked. Trust me. When it comes to something as useful as a bench power supply, you don't want to buy the cheapest piece of shit you can find. It WILL break down.

Those cheap chinese supplies are cheap for a reason. I bought one a few years ago and boy do I regret it. It can't regulate worth a damn in current-mode. It died a few months in - fixed a loose cable. Died a few weeks later - fixed a bad comparator. Died a few weeks later - shorted pass transistors due to heat sink overheating. I had to replace the pass transistors and add a bunch of heat sinking to make it somewhat usable again. It's still on my bench and I use it for some things where I don't care about the regulation.

ALSO, do NOT trust ebay test leads. No one checks them, but they're 28 awg or smaller (so they can save 6 cents on copper!) which means they're useless for anything but a voltmeter or for low current. Learn to make your own test leads - get banana plugs, alligator clips or mini grabbers, and solder them yourself using a more respectable 18-16awg. Lamp cord is perfect for that.

 

[vortish]

fpryo

i have my dummy load bought it from survival lasers.. have my digital multi meter, no touch ir thermometer diodes not ld, lds working on getting more, lm317s, caps, resistors, weller 40 watt solder iron, wire, 1850s x 6 other odds and ends i want this because batteries are not cheap. working on psu

 

[Flaminpyro]

So did you say you do not have any laser diodes yet ? I'll send you a red one if you want to build it into something to get started

fpryo

i have my dummy load bought it from survival lasers.. have my digital multi meter, no touch ir thermometer diodes not ld, lds working on getting more, lm317s, caps, resistors, weller 40 watt solder iron, wire, 1850s x 6 other odds and ends i want this because batteries are not cheap. working on psu

 

[vortish]

that be cool pyro i am working on getting some drivers and host i have safety glasses for 200 523 nm not the ebay cheap china crap i looking for sleds 4 diodes right now just getting started. i pm my addy 2 you

thanks for helping a noob out