Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-ray?

[photongeek]

Is anyone using a rechargeable battery in their Dorcy Jr. Blu-ray 803t build? If so, does the FlexDrive have to be recalibrated with the higher voltage cell? Standard lithiums really get drained quickly in these lasers. Thank you.

 

[Glaserfan]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

The flexdrive will work perfectly with a 3.0v/ 3.6v/ 3.7v rechargeable cell. It only needs the diode in the positive line if used with a supply voltage over 5.5v.

One question though... did you disable the Dorcy's built in boost driver? If not, you will get unstable output due to the presence of 2 boost drivers..especially since the built-in driver is prone to spikes. The Dorcy's built-in driver is hidden inside the battery half of the light on the other side of the PCB with the positive battery contact.

 

[photongeek]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

The flexdrive will work perfectly with a 3.0v/ 3.6v/ 3.7v rechargeable cell. It only needs the diode in the positive line if used with a supply voltage over 5.5v.

One question though... did you disable the Dorcy's built in boost driver? If not, you will get unstable output due to the presence of 2 boost drivers..especially since the built-in driver is prone to spikes. The Dorcy's built-in driver is hidden inside the battery half of the light on the other side of the PCB with the positive battery contact.

Yes. In both of my Dorcy builds, the internal drivers were removed from the circuit board. I just use that board to tap power into the Flex. Thank you for the info.

 

[Glaserfan]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

Cool [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

I am sure you'll enjoy those builds(once they are finished anyhow lol). I have an open-can red in the same host with the same driver, and it is awesome. Nice and compact, solid feeling too.

 

[Switch]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

I believe the Flexdrive shuts off below 2.4V or 2.5V and as I remember , protected lithium 3.7V shut off at 2.85V so using unprotected lithium cells might be dangerous. :-/

 

[Montana64]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

One question though... did you disable the Dorcy's built in boost driver? If not, you will get unstable output due to the presence of 2 boost drivers..especially since the built-in driver is prone to spikes. The Dorcy's built-in driver is hidden inside the battery half of the light on the other side of the PCB with the positive battery contact.

How do you access the dorcy driver?  I have one that i will be installing a micro flex driver in, but i assumed that the dorcy's driver was the "star"  :-[   I spend alot of time reading throughout this forum and continuously learn something new.  I know nothing about electronic circuitry, but thanks to you guys and your very clear and concise DIY instructions, make it possible for us electronic illiterates to enjoy this hobby also.

Originally i was going to send this to Kenom for an overhaul, but as i read thru the forums, i see that he is a very busy man with his kids and with school.  So, i decided that id give this a shot and get some experience.......worst case scenario is that i turn my 20x open can into a test load.  This diode is easily replaced.  Plus, if this proves to be more than i can do,  I could always talk to Kenom again and see if he could put it on his lengthy "to do" list.    If he's too busy, i'm sure i could pay one of you guys to do it as well.  But first, let me see if i can get some experience.  I have ordered the flexdrive preset to 420ma for the 20x open can red diode, as i have read many posts here that state this diode should handle that setting. Please advise me if this setting is too high.  I also ordered a Jayrob custom heatsink.  When i odered this build from the persons website, it stated that it included a heatsink.  When the 16x fried, i disassembled the head of the dorcy and found there was NO heatsink at all.  I contacted the person, he said the heasink his ad referred to on his site was the aixiz housing, as it works well as a heatsink.  Reading this forum, i have learned this is NOT the case at all!  The dorcy jr mod originally came with a 16x red diode, which did not last more than a total of less than 1 hour, using strict duty cycles >1 min on and 1-2 min off.  I harvested the 20x diode and installed it myself.  This has been working great for 3 months now *knocks on wood*, again keeping the duty cycles to 1 min or less on and 1-2 min off.  The only driver in this is the original Dorcy boost driver with some sort of  resistor??? between the diode and the "star".  Kenom informed me that i was not getting anywhere near the power that i should be with that setup.  As is, it does a very good job at burning.......I can hardly wait to see what it is really capable of!!  

Thank you guys for all your help, and i welcome any advice you are able to give me!

Ted

 

[diachi]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

I was aware that that "star" was an LED .

 

[Montana64]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

The "star" is some type of board that the LED is mounted on. The LED was removed and wires for the LD were soldered to the contacts.

 

[randomer3]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

Is this the star you mean:
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g213/richgrundy/SL272751_640x480.jpg

 

[Montana64]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

yes, that is it. the ?resistor? is soldered to the lead that is sticking up in the air on that pic. The (+) wire from the LD is soldered to the ?resistor? and the (-) is soldered to the yellow wire on top of the "star"

 

[photongeek]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

Please see: http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1214285108
As well as Kenom's article (the one that got us started ).
As far as the Dorcy driver goes, it is "hidden" under a black plastic cap that is easily removed. This can be found when you unscrew the bottom half of the Dorcy from the top half. The black cap has a hole dead center that the LED spring contact enters. Just take a probe and gently pry the cap off. I removed all of the driver's components on this board. The your new driver will tap power from the two solder contacts on the (now empty) Dorcy board.

 

[Glaserfan]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

Or, lightly clamp the batttery housing in a vice(with padding as not to scratch it up), and tap the board and black piece out by gently tapping the board on the battery positive contact side

 

[Montana64]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

ahhhh, ok.... , now i must wait til my packages arrive

Thank you guys!


Ted

 

[photongeek]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

I believe the Flexdrive shuts off below 2.4V or 2.5V and as I remember , protected lithium 3.7V shut off at 2.85V so using unprotected lithium cells might be dangerous. :-/

Please excuse my ignorance Switch. Why are unprotected cells a problem in these circuits?

 

[Switch]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

Because it is unsafe to drain or recharge lithiums more that they're supposed to, hence the protection circuit (or poke or cut and stuff).Devices that are supposed to take lithiums usually have a built in protection circuit, and anyway protected cells(that have a built in protection circuit that shuts them off at 2.85V IIRC) exist for DIYers.But if you do use unprotected cells without a built in protection circuit something bad might happen, like they could blow up.Which would be bad. :-/

So ,I'm not 100% sure, but unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing, I suggest you use protected cells and a designated charger. I mean, this couldn't just burn your LD or something, it could be a fire hazard or worse....

 

[hydrogenman15]

Re: Rechargeable Batteries Safe In Dorcy Jr. Blu-r

The flexdrive will work perfectly with a 3.0v/ 3.6v/ 3.7v rechargeable cell. It only needs the diode in the positive line if used with a supply voltage over 5.5v.

One question though... did you disable the Dorcy's built in boost driver? If not, you will get unstable output due to the presence of 2 boost drivers..especially since the built-in driver is prone to spikes. The Dorcy's built-in driver is hidden inside the battery half of the light on the other side of the PCB with the positive battery contact.

I am pretty sure your supposed to leave the boost driver in there in order for the voltage to be high enough. Is the flex drive a boost driver. :-? I was under the impression that it just didn't have a voltage drop. I have my dorcy BR running just fine with the boost driver in there though.

--hydro15