safe voltage and current for SenKat's LDs

[cyclonite]

Hi guys,

I'm using SenKat's LDs with no additional heatsinks but my cycle is limited to < 1 min.

Currently driving it at 3.0v at 260mA is this safe or too high?

Is it safer to crank the current or the voltage up?

Thanks.

 

[chimo]

Do you recall what teh spec sheet said?

Hi guys,

I'm using SenKat's LDs with no additional heatsinks but my cycle is limited to < 1 min.

Currently driving it at 3.0v at 260mA is this safe or too high?

Is it safer to crank the current or the voltage up?

Thanks.

 

[Benm]

The spec sheet says 130 mA i think... i'd recommend some form of cooling when going beyond that, and good cooling when running at 260 mA... it'll probably live for a while, but you -are- pushing it.

 

[cyclonite]

Really? Ohh shucks that's bad.....

Thanks anyway guys.

 

[SenKat]

If I recall - I think lotsa folks on here have published their personal favorite limits to be around the 200ma mark....I personally prefer to see a lot more red than that But then again, I have been spoiled with these lasers !

 

[cyclonite]

no way.... 230ma was just barely enough for me... I'm quite happy with 260ma ;D furthermore I have 2 more of your LDs stuck at my friend's place and once I get them I'll have some backups :

Thanks so much anyway

 

[Benm]

If I recall - I think lotsa folks on here have published their personal favorite limits to be around the 200ma mark....I personally prefer to see a lot more red than that  But then again, I have been spoiled with these lasers !

Hehe.. you're also lucky to have 100s of them laying around i guess, so blowing one up doesn't matter all that much

Still, at any current over 200 mA i'd suggest at least providing a heatsink of sorts... mounting it in a metal flashlight body will probably be sufficient, but using only the bare aixiz module will make it run warm.

 

[Gazoo]

I am running a SenKat diode with 270ma's. Is it safe?...probably not. Is it fun...yes.. ;D

 

[a_pyro_is]

My favorite one has an abnormally low Vf, and I'm running it just over 300mA. It probably has more than 3 hours on it so far. Tuff little guy. ;D
/me wished he had gotten in on the LPM-1 GB.

 

[Kenom]

I just built a dorcy jr putting out exactly 300ma and it's putting out peak at 200mw!!  blew my mind cause as of before this one have never broken the 200mw mark.

As a side note, with the additional heatsinking I'm using inside my dorcy's this baby starts to warm pretty quickly so I keep my run time down to below 1 minute.

 

[cyclonite]

How hot do they get?? Just warm to the touch? Or really hot like 70 degrees?

Thx.

 

[DJEEPER]

70 degrees C? or F? 70*F is not very warm, lol...

 

[Zarniwoop]

Are you using a regulator, or just a resistor? I always wonder when I see anybody talking about setting the voltage rather than the current, or setting both.

Yeah, I run at 250mA but I wouldn't do it without a heatsink.