Which DVD drive to harvest an open can?

[Benm]

I'm considering buying a dvd writer for the diode, and there are several options for affordable 20x drives available here. Since i'm in europe, it's not feasible to get them from american cheap suppliers, and options may differ. Here are a couple of (20x) drives cheaply available to me:

Lite-On LH-20A1S
Samsung SH-S203D or S202J
AOpen DSW2012P
NEC AD-5200A
Pioneer DVR-212D

They are all priced the same (within a euro or so), so the only question for me is: Which has the best diode, and from which is it extracted most easily. Any experiences you have with these drives are welcome!

A 24x Samsung M242D is also availble, but twice the price which makes it unattractive unless it's really, really good

 

[chido]

24x, holly crap I haven't even heard of that. If I was you I'd get it immediately, unless it's a scam since I haven't seen anything above 20x :

 

[phenol]

the lite-on has an open-can red thats fairly easy to extract and a frame-type IR thats impossible to extract. its pickup has waht looks like a small beam-splitter cube.
i think that samsungs have dual frame-type red/ir laser diode. someone here has already tested/fried one of those at ~500mA i think.
i think that LG GSA-H55N would be a good choice as it contains a normal open-can thats moderately difficult to extract /you will have to use pliers/cutters to cut thru the lens holder around both LDs/ and a normal windowless IR, no wacky cases whatsoever. plus, it also has 2 low-drop regulators, of which one is adjustable and can be set up as a current source.

 

[phenol]

24x, holly crap I haven't even heard of that. If I was you I'd get it immediately, unless it's a scam since I haven't seen anything above 20x :

well, : isnt Samsung M242D a slim combo drive? it records CD at 24x, but it doesnt even record DVDs

 

[chido]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! That explains it, I guess I should've looked up the drive first,;DI feel stupid now.:-[

 

[phenol]

and i feel disappointed. with this died my last and only hope of the existence of a 500mw single mode red. my blood pump diode flashed twice in just 10 minutes

 

[jayrob]

I know that a Pioneer 112D is a good, open can harvest. Gazoo had showed me this. He has also taken an open can out of the Pioneer 115D and says it is the same diode. I just extracted an open can out of the Sony NEC, 20X drive that danq found at Newegg for $24 dollars and free shipping! He has a link to the Newegg page in his thread: http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1202158967
I haven't put it in a laser yet, but it is the same looking type, (tall) open can diode. I just tested it to make sure it worked...
Jay

 

[Gazoo]

Jay is correct. The Pioneers are relatively easy to extract the diode from. I have the same Sony drives Jay has but have not done surgery on them yet. The Lite-On was the most difficult because the heatsink over lapped the top part of the diode a little bit.

There is a thread over at CPF that discusses this some, and is an interesting read anyway:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=166188

 

[Benm]

well, isnt Samsung M242D a slim combo drive? it records CD at 24x, but it doesnt even record DVDs

My bad, sorry.. it came up in a price comparison for dvd writers here. Since its about 40 euros where the 20x drives are around 20, i figured that would be about right... guess not.

the lite-on has an open-can red thats fairly easy to extract and a frame-type IR thats impossible to extract. its pickup has waht looks like a small beam-splitter cube.
i think that samsungs have dual frame-type red/ir laser diode. someone here has already tested/fried one of those at ~500mA i think.
i think that LG GSA-H55N would be a good choice as it contains a normal open-can thats moderately difficult to extract /you will have to use pliers/cutters to cut thru the lens holder around both LDs/ and a normal windowless IR, no wacky cases whatsoever. plus, it also has 2 low-drop regulators, of which one is adjustable and can be set up as a current source.

I could get the LG, but its more expensive (30 euros for a 20x, the 18x are quite cheap).

So from the ones i listed, i guess the LiteOn would be easiest, at least when not considering the IR diode. Just to make sure: Can the diode be placed easily into an aixiz or other standard 5.6 mm module?

I dont have any experience with these open cans since they always seemed very fragile to me, but the power levels attained are tempting. I plant to mount in in the DX heatsink that comes with the 70/100 mW set, probably adding TEC at some point. With some luck that combination should be able to reach 300 or even 400 mW.

 

[Gazoo]

Shame you can't get the Sony drive Jay linked to. I went ahead and harvested it and it is the easiest diode I have ever harvested. I did a write up in the thread Jay linked to.

The diode is a standard 5.6mm so it will press into the aixiz module. With an aixiz module and running the diode at a safe current, the highest output you will get is ~250mw's, this is running the diode with 420ma's. With a glass lens the output will be ~50mw's greater. The best I was able to do was 350mw's running at 600ma's using a TEC. And the diode had a short life of less than an hour.

That Lite-On drive was a pain in the butt for me to harvest. Good luck.

 

[toked323]

the 212D pioneer is the same as the 112D just different connection types

 

[phenol]

i pried loose the lite-on open can from its heatsink attacking it from the bottom side. there are several small indentures on the back of the heatsink where the diode base is---removing the glue there and pushing the base up with a small screwdriver symetrically on all sides should pop the diode out with little effort.
however: i read somewhere on LPF that the lite-on LD had the short-chip open can. I cant tell that for sure as im not able to see the chip of my specimen, but what i do know fora fact is that it has a higher voltage drop across the junction compared to my two LG diodes. The lite-on has 2.51V at 150mA, whereas LGs have 2.38V at 180mA. I dont know how this relates to output power handling/delivering capabilities of these diodes, but it is obvious that they are not identical.

 

[Benm]

Shame you can't get the Sony drive Jay linked to. I went ahead and harvested it and it is the easiest diode I have ever harvested. I did a write up in the thread Jay linked to.

I can actually get a very similar drive (NEC AD-7191A), don't know for sure if it is identical inside though. It would cost me around 30 euros shipped, but these things are more expensive here compared to the US anyways.

the 212D pioneer is the same as the 112D just different connection types

Oic... good to know!
So i guess its the Sony/NEC or Pioneer then, the latter being a bit cheaper...

Gazoo, i the other thread you compared the diodes from these drives - is the sony better for sure, or are you still finding out?

 

[jayrob]

I just took a reading of 289.4mW with this Sony NEC diode using a glass lens, and 421mA of current. (pretty much the same as the Pioneer) But that's just the result of one test. Sounds like Gazoo's diode may be putting out more! Anxiously waiting for his next test results...
Jay

 

[Kenom]

well, I'll tell ya one thing for sure.  STAY AWAY FROM SAMSUNG DRIVES.  weird square diodes that look like this :

 

[jayrob]

Sorry you didn't find what you were looking for there kenom. Thanks for the warning. Nice picture!...
Jay