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FrozenGate by Avery

SuperBoost Drive (5.5+ amp boost driver)

Hiemal

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Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
1,443
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I have a driver that's currently awaiting me buying the parts for.

However, I want to gauge interest on it before dropping any more money into this driver business.

Don't say or comment anything except if you would buy something like what I'm bringing to the table.

Okay. That being said.

11.99 mm by 9.25 mm. Roughly flexdrive size.

Reverse polarity protection built in.

Capability of boosting to extremely high voltages (we're talking upwards of 36 volts, limited only by the current sense amp. However I would have to use different components if you wanted this.)

Ridiculous current handling capability. Everything on the board should be capable of 5+ amps. Yes, you read that right. 5+ amps.

Adjustable. Across the entire range of what this driver should handle. No soldering, no flicking little 0603 resistors across the room.

Centered output and input pads, both fully labeled. Wanna hook it up right to the diode? Feel free.

Super soft start. Signature of all my other driver boards.

Sounds expensive, right?

Nah.

Low cost. About $21. It may vary + or - a few, since I do not know how hard these will be to reflow. But it won't be more than $24. I can promise that.



And, yes, to all of the naysayers, I understand that this may not be a reality. The current capability is a guess, based off of the datasheet numbers and capability of the components. I fully understand, this MAY not actually be the values that come out of the completed boards. I am quite confident about it's ability, though. I've designed the driver and designed it well, no cutting corners on this.

There WILL be more revisions to the boards, that I'm almost certain of.

However, I NEED to know if people would be interested in this, otherwise I'm not even going to get the components. I NEED to know if I build these, that people will want them in their builds.

I NEED to know, if anyone here wants these, period.


Edit;

Pictures.

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AANNNDDD

The for sale thread;
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/super-boost-drives-5-amp-capability-93659.html#post1362133
 
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Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

I'd be in for one or two. I support your work, man.

We need more folks like you on the forum. (And more good driver choices out there.)

-Andy
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

What would be the need to boost to very high voltages where laser diodes are concerned?

High output current is a good thing, but wouldn't that be more suitable for a buck converter operating the laser diode at a lower voltage than than of the batteries placed in series?
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

What would be the need to boost to very high voltages where laser diodes are concerned?

High output current is a good thing, but wouldn't that be more suitable for a buck converter operating the laser diode at a lower voltage than than of the batteries placed in series?

For use with LED's of course.

And it just depends. If you need a single cell build at high current then this driver would be fantastic.

Two cells, then yes, a buck driver would be more appropriate.

It's just dependent on what you need.
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

I'd be in for a couple. Always something I could use them for.

Still have a few LED's from old M140's that would be fun to drive with it, or other projects. :)
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

High voltage boosting sounds nice. Good for driving COB LED arrays. Although obvious, others might think boosting to 36+V with the full 5A output current in a 12x9mm package could be done but I don't think so in this small size. A little clarification could help in that :)
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

High voltage boosting sounds nice. Good for driving COB LED arrays. Although obvious, others might think boosting to 36+V with the full 5A output current in a 12x9mm package could be done but I don't think so in this small size. A little clarification could help in that :)

Oh goodness, no. LOL.

That'd be so much power into this board that it'd probably combust if anyone ever tried to pull that much current.

Boosting to +36 volts you're going to get some pretty reduced current capability. Looking at the datasheet, for 36 volts i'd probably say you'd get about 700-800 mA.

at 24 volts, about 1 amp.

12 volts, 2 amps.

You might be able to get a little more current than what the datasheet says, however, since I'm actually using a higher current rated inductor than what they had used in their testing.

Still though, no 5 amps at 36 volts, as much as I'd love to say it could do that, it can't. :shhh:
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

For use with LED's of course.

And it just depends. If you need a single cell build at high current then this driver would be fantastic.

Two cells, then yes, a buck driver would be more appropriate.

It's just dependent on what you need.

It sure does - i assumed it was intended to drive laser diodes since this is LPF.

Higher output voltages would not be required for that, but this could be good for those building high power flashlights that use high power leds that have several dies wired in series.

As far as capabilities go this would be very nice to power something with a 10-watt array-type led.
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

I am certainly interested in a few of these. I have been looking for a driver that can handle this current and got on a small package.
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

Alright. Went ahead and got enough parts to prototype 4 boards.

I've also ordered some parts for a FULLY voltage-drop adjustable test load.

And it's better than ones I've tried before. V-drop stays constant no matter what the current through it is; you can adjust it to any voltage you want instead of trying to get "close" to what the v-drop is. This is important especially when testing and prototyping drivers.
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

I am in for a few, six of them minimum, maybe more. I have projects where I'd run the laser diodes in series, so the extra voltage saves me from having to use lots of drivers.
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

I am in for a few, six of them minimum, maybe more. I have projects where I'd run the laser diodes in series, so the extra voltage saves me from having to use lots of drivers.

Keep in mind though that the boards I'd be prototyping and selling are gonna be 10 volts in and out maximum. It's what the voltage ratings of the caps I have are gonna be.

If anyone needs higher voltage ratings I need to know after I get everything set up so I can make them special. Since they'll have to have better caps the price'll have to be increased a smidgen to compensate. Like, $2-4.
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

You've got my business if you proceed, hands down. We need this driver.
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

Glad to have all this support for the driver.

I'll start testing and prototyping once I get the components from Mouser, along with testing/showing the adjustable test load.

I have high hopes for both of these. :)
 
Re: I need to gauge interest. Please comment.

Alright!

So I got done making one prototype, and found I /do/ have to make like, one or two changes to the boards to make reflowing them easier.

That being said, the boards work right out of the box after assembly; Boosts great, no problems, nice soft start, everything good...

Except my batteries!!

My 18650 batteries don't seem to be able to handle the draw in their current state, so I'm waiting for them to charge and will attempt to do more testing. The batteries drop below 3.4 volts at high currents (like 2.5 amps boosting to 5 volts) so... I don't even know if I'l be able to test the high current capability as is. :<

Ripple also becomes a bit much at higher currents; like 100 mA at 2.5 amps, but that's still not too bad I guess, PLUS that was also with the battery nearly dying trying to supply as much juice as it can. So, when my batteries are charged I'll get better results overall.

I'll post more here as testing continues later tonight. :yh: Preliminary stuff looks great though!!
 





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