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Testing a laser diode

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Vojta7

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Nov 26, 2010
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I got a laser diode out of old CD burner and I want I want to test it. Do I need a laser module? I am beginner and all I want is to know if it (that diode) works or not.
 





It needs to be a DVD burner, not a CD burner of at least 16x

You will need a module and a driver to run it as trying to run it off a battery
alone will damage the LD
 
One thing I did with mine was attach a resistor to one end of a wire to limit current to less than say 50mA. What you do is have that wire connected to one end of battery, and at the other end have another wire. Then, look up the pinout(most red pinouts are the same, quick forum search will yield the information you need) and touch those two wires to the corresponding pins. Make sure you have enough voltage to make it lase.

Diode - Resistor - Wire - Battery - Wire - Diode
 
You can run it w/out a module but you wont get a dot. The module has a lense that colaminates the beam to a dot
 
I found out they need cca. 100 mA, so if I use 3V, I need 5 Ohm resistor, right? I am absoluter beginner.
 
Last edited:
Bad news bears.

That's from a CD burner, which means it's IR. Which means it'll barely be visible, yet still powerful enough to blind you. Stay away from it if you don't know what you're doing. It'll look like a very, very weak red diode, barely a glow at all, while still being enough to cause instant, permanent damage to your eyes.

Please read a lot more, and please don't hook that thing up to power until you know what you're doing.
 
What kind of safety glasses you have?

Sunglasses will not work, btw.
 
Vojta7 said:
Well. I lost that diode. Next time I'll use red laser from DVD writer.
Click to expand...

You probably lost that diode because of your lack of a proper driver. A 52x CD-R laser diode should be able to take more than 80ma. Remember, the 780nm diode out of a CD-R is VERY VERY DIM in appearance, so heed the warning of pullbangdead.

Here is a link to an extremely simple to build driver, as well as a test circuit so that you can dial in the proper current before hooking up your laser diode. I highly recommend you take a trip to radioshack (or equivalent) before you try again.

Laser driver - It can be done
 
I meant I forgot where did I put it:) And there is no RadioShack in CZ, I'll go to ELČI
 
Vojta7 said:
I meant I forgot where did I put it:) And there is no RadioShack in CZ, I'll go to ELČI
Click to expand...

:banghead: Hate it when that happens! Glad to hear that you didn't loose it to LD Heaven. Hell yea, a proper driver is CHEAP.. you'll be glad you did it.
 
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