Will these boost drivers suit my S06J 12x 600mw 405nm diode?

[DutchLaser]

Hello everyone!
My passion for lasers has suddenly come back to me. My last build was a couple years back and I see there's lots of new stuff :drool: So yes, I ordered the new NUBM44 from DTR :san:

I see that the price of the NICHIA 1W NDG7475T has dropped to $250 which is nice but I wait a little longer

All knowledge to build my lasers came from this wonderful community so I finally registered.
I probably have to wait a week until the NUBM44 arrives. So in the meantime I want to build my 405nm laser with the S06J diode that I have laying around here for years.
Al right then, I need some help with finding a driver.
I used these in the past and they are awesome drivers, cheap (€2) and current (max 2A) adjustable by changing the sense resistor.
18V 5W Circuit Board w/ Cree for Flashlights (16.8mm*5.5mm) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme
But they are buck drivers. I don't want buck driver no more because buck requires two li-ion cells. I want to use a single 10440 battery because (in my opinion) there are two ways to make your laser more awesome :
1. increase laser output.
or
2. decrease laser size.

So a boost driver is the way to go.

I found some unused drivers from Olike or Ebay, or bought from Olike on Ebay:thinking: I can't remember
1W 445nm laser diode driver / 200mW 405nm laser diode driver [OL-445-D] - $12.00 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce
Anyhow, this is the first one. It has no potentiometer. So who can help me identify the current sense resistor and advise on what value to use.

the second one is weird: :thinking:
New 405nm laser diode driver / adjustable to 600mA [OL-N405D-600] - $11.50 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce
New 1W 445nm laser diode driver/adjustable to 1.5A [OL-445D-1.5] - $12.00 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce
That's right. Both drivers have the same picture and I have one of them drivers.(IF they are not the same) The weird thing is that they have 2 potmeters on the pcb. Has anyone used them? Please share your wisdom with me.
As for a host, I am going to use a Fasttech MXDL AAA flashlight. Heatsink is made out of copper with press fitting and M9x.5 lens thread on my (180mmx300mm little hobby) lathe.
Can anyone tell me how to put pictures direct in the massage board instead as an attachment below?
All your help is very much appreciated :yh:

Edit: I can make macro pics of the pcb's. Camera is charging

2nd edit: Maybe one of you guys is into LED's? I also want a boost driver for CREE XHP70:drool: It must burn on a single Li-ion cell. Does such driver exist?

 

[jander6442]

Re: Will these boost drivers suit my S06J 12x 405nm diode?

Xboost, Xdrive... IMHO. Soft start for that delicate diode.

 

[DutchLaser]

Re: Will these boost drivers suit my S06J 12x 405nm diode?

Hello Jander6442,

Thank you for your quick response, your help is very welcome.

I know the existence of those drivers and I know what they cost.
Please don't send me down that road.
My PLTB450B runs on a $2 1.8A modified driver from Dealextreme without soft start for YEARS.
the S06j might be more delicate. true that.
But I have the other 2 drivers and the diode just laying around.
I am willing to take risk.
The S06j is outdated. If I orderd a 405nm diode today it would be the 16x from Pioneer.

 

[DTR]

So yes, I ordered the new NUBM44 from DTR :san:

Awesome Hope you enjoy it. It is a beast.:beer:

I see that the price of the NICHIA 1W NDG7475T has dropped to $250 which is nice but I wait a little longer

Be careful to work with a seller that is not offering the ones that do up to 1.1W(700mW rated NDG700 as i call them) selling them as if they were the NDG7475 1W rated that do 1.4W as they can get a better profit margin. It is happening out there specially since there is no way to tell them apart by looking and both have near identical power curves up to 1.8A then they deviate where the NDG700 stats to fold back after 1.8A and the NDG7475 continues on to around the 1.4W+ range @ 2.4a some hitting as high as 1.6W. I even had one guy tell me he was sold a 500mW as a NDG7475 1W which only peaks around 800mW from a foreign vendor on eBay.

So a boost driver is the way to go.

Yep a boost driver is usually the best option for the 405's as with a buck driver using two li-ions you are usually pretty close to falling out of regulation during the battery cycle so you may have the diode loosing power with the batteries still half way full.

My PLTB450B runs on a $2 1.8A modified driver from Dealextreme without soft start for YEARS.

Glad to hear that you did not have an issue with it but I have seen more people than I can count in the hundreds over the last four or so years that have destroyed 445 diodes with that exact DX driver. There are also lots that built with them without issue but on the whole the build failure rate when that driver is used is extremely high.

 

[DutchLaser]

Awesome Hope you enjoy it. It is a beast.:beer:

The dude that ordered the NUBM44 with the "G9" lenses 7 july, that was me
Thanks for the warning on the 520nm diodes.


So I might first want to try the driver with the 2 potentiometers.
This diode will do 6V @ 450mA am I right?
I prefer a dummy load. You can see I made one back in the days.
Because I only had a bag of 1n5822 3A diodes I went with them.
But the voltage drop is a disappointing ~0.325V :yabbmad:
I still have that bag so it will be 1n5822 all over again
So even it's adjustable, it's pretty worthless the way I made it. :cryyy:

The 1Ohm resistor will have a voltage drop of 0.45V @ 450mA. Right?
~6V - 0.45V / ~0.325V=~17 diodes are needed. Right?

And how can I upload pictures between the typing instead as an attachment?
Once again, your help is very welcome