# Blu-Ray laser diode hack



## sysadmn

Found this via Hacked Gadgets:

 


> I recently purchased a SONY PlayStation 3, replacement Laser reader assembly, with the sole intent of taking it apart, for the violet Laser diode.
> ...





> Here is the beam compared with 5mW red ~650nm and 8mW green 532nm.
> (photographed on NON-fluorescing white surface)


 
 






Pinouts, graphs, photos... very nice job.


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## firefly

It's a very good job i'm impatient to see your work about your blue laser pointer, how much Laser reader assembly? if you bought separetly to yout PS3


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## dr_lava

very good writeup! only thing missing is cost


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## Hemlock Mike

Nice photo of the beams . Thanks

Mike


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## toyman

Hi I sent an email to the guy who wrote the review. The cost on the blue diode is $ 79.95. The link is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Original-New-SONY-PlayStation3-PS3-KES-400AAA-Laser_W0QQitemZ320091750334QQihZ011QQcategoryZ147177QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

Woohoo! I'm going to get something blue to play with. :lolsign:.

OK Make that that woohoo I get to play with something violet. :touche:


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## pseudonomen137

toyman said:


> Hi I sent an email to the guy who wrote the review. The cost on the blue diode is $ 79.95. The link is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Original-New-SONY-PlayStation3-PS3-KES-400AAA-Laser_W0QQitemZ320091750334QQihZ011QQcategoryZ147177QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem
> 
> Woohoo! I'm going to get something blue to play with. :lolsign:.


 
Just as a sidenote: Blue Ray diodes are not blue (the name is just a marketing invention). They are on the border between violet and ultraviolet.


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## Hemlock Mike

I went to this site and ebay reports no purchases in this auction.
1 day - 17 hours left - 29 available --- Better hurry  

Mike


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## ajohnson

/sigh

Ebay here I come.

We need a emoticon or something that shows money flying away...


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## PhotonWrangler

Very cool! So one could almost make a full-color RGB laser show with those.


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## The_LED_Museum

O poo. :shakehead:
I just don't have the $$$.


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## liveforphysics

I bought a few. I might send a completed blue laser useing the diode down to you Craig for a review.

Thanks for the nice write-up! I never would have thought at this short of a wavelegnth that 10-20mW would be bright enough to be useful, but it sure seems to be!!!

Yipeeee!!!!

I'm still waiting for those Blu-Ray burner prices to drop for a +200mW unit for some serious blue laser power, but this should hold me off for a while 

Many Thanks to the man who pioneered this!!!!


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## Hemlock Mike

I'm tempted -- they're sellin' like hotcakes !!!

Any specs on that diode. I sure don't want to toast one if I get it.

Mike


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## jdwannam

Doh! The site is down, does anyone have a copy of the specs / schematic that was used to make the laser? I would like to make an attempt but I don't want another paperweight to add to my collection of optical drive parts.


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## toyman

jdwannam said:


> Doh! The site is down, does anyone have a copy of the specs / schematic that was used to make the laser? I would like to make an attempt but I don't want another paperweight to add to my collection of optical drive parts.



The site is back. He got tired of people asking price. It is now in the post.


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## The_LED_Museum

liveforphysics said:


> I bought a few. I might send a completed blue laser useing the diode down to you Craig for a review.


*KEWL!!!* :thanks:
I'll see to it that it gets priority regardless of other products in the queue - no lead time whatsoever!!! :twothumbs:


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## 2xTrinity

> Thanks for the nice write-up! I never would have thought at this short of a wavelegnth that 10-20mW would be bright enough to be useful, but it sure seems to be!!!


Hmm.. I figured it was just the fact that cameras are a lot more sensitive to 400nm than the human eye that made the spot in the photograph look so bright. I know cameras can sure make IR look a lot brighter than it does in real life  If you have one though and it really is that bright, that's pretty cool. I would have expected a 5mW red to look brighter than a 20mW violet for example, and a 8mW green not to even close to the other two (ie, more than four times as bright as either one). 

It would be interesting to play around with that, particularly shining that around on fluorescent surfaces -- I know my green laser can cause those red and orange copy papers to fluoresce, which is a pretty interesting effect. The possibilities with violet should be a lot wider  

However, I suspect that these lasers are inherently FAR more dangerous than green as well -- since the eye isn't as sensitive to them, there may not be as much of a reflex against say a partial reflection, and that near-UV wavelength is likely more damaging to the eye at the same amount of mW as green or red.


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## Aseras

2xTrinity said:


> That's actually tough to say. Cameras are a lot more sensitive to 400nm than the human eye, so the photograph could be skewing the result. Even still though, it does appear more useful than I would have expected (I'd expect a 5mW red to look brighter than a 20mW violet for example). I know that cameras I have often render red LEDs as being brighter relative to other lights sources than they are in real life. Heck, if you pull the IR filter off a digital camera, I guarantee you it will render IR sources "brighter" than they are in real life
> 
> It would be interesting to play around with that, particularly shining that around on fluorescent surfaces -- I know my green lasers can cause those red and orange copy papers to fluoresce, which is a pretty interesting effect. The possibilities with violet should be a lot wider
> 
> However, I suspect that these lasers are inherently FAR more dangerous than green as well -- since the eye isn't as sensitive to them, there may not be as much of a reflex against say a partial reflection, and that near-UV wavelength is likely more damaging to the eye at the same amount of mW as green or red.




near UV is absorbed by the cornea.. you worry about retina damge with leaking IR. With a deepblue/violet laser you worry about cooking your cornea and causing cataracts 20-30 years early. about the worst pain you can feel is when a UV laser causes a sunburn on your cornea.


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## aaron_inc

i read that site a while ago and have decided to make one the ps3 laser will be here in a few weeks and the diode housing in about a week but could someone help me with the power supply, im aiming to use 3-6AA batts and i need to know what i would need to keep it at 4.4v and 40ma.


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## aaron_inc

oops double post


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## allthatwhichis

Here is the first I know to have been made... spec or marconi may be able to give some advice...


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## allthatwhichis

Here, try this one too. stan just made a violet laser and has his inital test specs. Very crude summary of his initals though. More of a starting point.


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## liveforphysics

allthatwhichis- Link?


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## allthatwhichis




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## aaron_inc

i found this picture, it is a driver board for a ps3 violet laser but cansomeone here who understands electronics explain a few of the symbols? ie is that first capacitor what voltage should it be? and with the 100 ohm variable resistor which pin should go where and is it set at 100 ohm or is it 100 ohm max?


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## Hemlock Mike

Aaron -

This is a basic LM317 current source. That input capacitor can be rated 10, 12, ,25 volts so long as it's higher than input voltage. 
The 100 ohm pot is installed as it looks. The center lead is the "wiper" and has the arrow. I'd build the circuit and put a 5 to 10 ohm resistor in place of the LD. Turn the pot to give minimum current. Measure min and max before hooking up the LD.
Oh - use static protection always.

Mike


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## aaron_inc

ah thanks
yes before i solder the laser diode on i will test current and voltage with a multimeter


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## firefly

Hi everybody

I find a old board driver red laser pointer i can pot between ~20mA at ~40mA but it's work at 3V can i've the chance to drive this blue ray? and how i can put picture in my message?


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## Hemlock Mike

Firefly --

I haven't seen the specs on the Bluray diode yet. It is posted above that someone wants 4.4 volts at 40 mA. If the Vj (junction voltage) is really 4.4 volts, your 3 volt driver may not provide full power. You will have to test it first.

Mike


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## aaron_inc

ok here are some specs- 
lasing threshold: 27-28ma
working current\voltage: 4.4v @ 30-40ma
output: 
30mA 2.68mW 
35mA 9.45mW 
40mA 13.3mw 
45mA 17.0mW
there is heaps of information on alt.lasers about this.


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## firefly

what's happen if i put 4.4V in my driver?



Hemlock Mike said:


> Firefly --
> 
> I haven't seen the specs on the Bluray diode yet. It is posted above that someone wants 4.4 volts at 40 mA. If the Vj (junction voltage) is really 4.4 volts, your 3 volt driver may not provide full power. You will have to test it first.
> 
> Mike


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## sysadmn

firefly said:


> what's happen if i put 4.4V in my driver?



The 317 needs an input voltage 1-1.2V higher than it's output voltage. If Vin is 4.4, Vout will be (at best) 3-3.4 volts.

If you are asking, how do I get 4.4 volts at the diode, you might want to look at the LM317 app note ( http://www.national.com/an/AN/AN-178.pdf ). Figure 5 shows how to create a constant current source, and Figure 6 shows an adjustable constant current / constant voltage regulator using two LM317.

If you're really interested, National has an online tool for designing using their chips:
http://www.national.com/appinfo/power/webench.html

With respect to the input capacitor, you just need a comfortable margin about the input voltage. If you're working with 6V, look for 16V or more.


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## firefly

What do you think about LM2623A ?
Vinmin= 2.0V 
VinMax=	3.0V 
Vout= 4.4	V
Iout=	0.038	A






sysadmn said:


> The 317 needs an input voltage 1-1.2V higher than it's output voltage. If Vin is 4.4, Vout will be (at best) 3-3.4 volts.
> 
> If you are asking, how do I get 4.4 volts at the diode, you might want to look at the LM317 app note ( http://www.national.com/an/AN/AN-178.pdf ). Figure 5 shows how to create a constant current source, and Figure 6 shows an adjustable constant current / constant voltage regulator using two LM317.
> 
> If you're really interested, National has an online tool for designing using their chips:
> http://www.national.com/appinfo/power/webench.html
> 
> With respect to the input capacitor, you just need a comfortable margin about the input voltage. If you're working with 6V, look for 16V or more.


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## aaron_inc

how is it putting out more voltage then is going in? is it a switching regulator or just a typo?
if that is possible then it would be perfect for running a violet ld just off 2 AAAs


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## firefly

LM2623 General Purpose, Gated Oscillator Based, DC/DC Boost Converter go to http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM2623.html to see more i think it's a good driver but not really  welcome if anybody can help


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## Conceptcar3

This seems like a lot of work. Could you not just use the pump circuit from a 15mW greenie, and hook that to the violet diode, rather than MAKING a circuit board? LoL, I am an idiot when it comes to electricity, and I hate current and ohms and voltage and capicitors resistors, blah blah blah. So, would it be possible to extract the blue diode, attatch it to the circuit board of a cheap greenie (maybe change a resistor or 2 if necessary) and then hook it to a couple AAA batteries? If not, can someone explain to me why this is not possible?


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## dr_lava

The Elly flashlight has a 5V boost regulator, and runs off a single 1.5V battery. So all you would need is a 15 Ohm resistor (according to a post in alt.lasers) in series to make it work.


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## firefly

thanks Dr Lava did you know what this elly flashlight? i've you got ref? please, you can save many people ;-)



dr_lava said:


> The Elly flashlight has a 5V boost regulator, and runs off a single 1.5V battery. So all you would need is a 15 Ohm resistor (according to a post in alt.lasers) in series to make it work.


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## dr_lava

Here it is..
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1120

but it has a crappy plastic front lens that you probably won't want in your beam path.
The Vinet has a nice flat glass lens and is water resistant, but no boost converter (needed for the violet voltage). If you could move the circuit from the elly to the Vinet body (very doable I think), that would make a slick violet laser.


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## liveforphysics

Greenie powersupply boards can NOT step up voltage, so on these diodes which like to see ~5V, they are useless.

I've now connected an Elly directly up to the blu-ray LD, and it pumps it with a little under 5V, which is just not enough voltage to draw much current (barely 20mA).

Now, I have no idea about other peoples LD's, but the 405nm LD's that I have really like to see about 5.1-5.25V before they start to have decent output. Even at these voltages they never get warm, however they could be getting opticially damaged. Only time will tell.

However, I gotta say, they are pretty much useless as even just a pointer, unless the places you point to are always dark/dim and under about 30ft away, it doesn't function as a pointing tool. If the room you are in has lights on, you struggle to find the dot at about 5ft, or even less.

However, I LOVE the color of the laser, so I'm just going to break down and pickup the cheapest blu-ray burner that I can find, so I can make a little slim pocket sized 200mW violet pointer for use as my pointing tool for work.

BTW, most of the pictures you see do not represent the color of the dot well at all. It looks kinda skyblue with a little pink mixed in. It also has YELLOW! artifact blobs around the outside of the dot on the beam. Yes YELLOW.

I just got a wacky idea. I belive the case I'm using has a plastic lens, and I know TONS of plastics have UV and near UV absorbing properites, so its possible that my lens is what is screwing my LASER's output. I will have to try the diode's out with glass len's and see if the intensity increases.


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## firefly

did you know what's the current elly deliver and it is moddable? i found in dealextreme vinet and elly the length and wight are similar twice, i don't know how it's build inside vinet but it's possible to remove all inside and put all inside elly in vinet? and the blue ray diode need a lens to make a dot beam same all laser with a reasonable <2mrad or <1mrad that better output and not forget with case healtsink.



dr_lava said:


> Here it is..
> http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1120
> 
> but it has a crappy plastic front lens that you probably won't want in your beam path.
> The Vinet has a nice flat glass lens and is water resistant, but no boost converter (needed for the violet voltage). If you could move the circuit from the elly to the Vinet body (very doable I think), that would make a slick violet laser.


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## Heruursciences

Yeah the lasers do have some yellow-greenish incoherent emission The source of it is most interesting, It turns out the color is due to florescence of impurities in the GAN substrate substrate the laser is grown on. It is also a gauge of lifetime, more yellow=BAD!


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## liveforphysics

Heruursciences- After playing around a bit more, I found that useing glass focusing optics makes a HUGE difference in the visual intensity of the beam. It also lowers the amount of yellow patches I was seeing before.

Note that this means the common chrome, fat, black threaded plastic lens holder with plastic optic does NOT function worth beans with the 405nm LDs. The very same diode, also driven at 5.2v, visually appears to be at least 10 times more visible when used with a little brass case I had laying around that uses glass optics.

IMO, this is evidence of a couple of things. Its possible that the LD emmision angle was too wide with the 405nm LD to all enter the other laser case optic, so it was wasted along the sides (I know this happens with many IR diodes, along with many high power red LDs). Its also possible that the plastic lens (which appeared visually very bright from all angles I viewed) was absorbing and/or fluoreceing the light rather than allowing it to pass through the lens.

With the little brass case, and 5.2v, the spot is bright enough to function as a tool for pointing to things in a smallish room without excessive lighting.

I used it at work in our last meeting rather than my usual 5mW greenie, and people could see the spot on a functional pointing level. However, they all boo'd the violet, and wanted me to switch back to the greenie. I resisted the urge to go into a rant about the amazing the technology involved to make a violet visible laser diode...


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## allthatwhichis

I would have ranted the whole meeting...  and then told them my greeny died. 

It's funny, no one thinks they are good for pointing things out, too low mWattage, but we all LOVE the color, well, those of us who know better... :lolsign:


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## Heruursciences

I noticed that some of the plastic lenses floresce like mad due to the impurites in the plastic, the ones in cheap $0.50 POS laser pointers were so bad that they glowed bright greenish yellow and hardly any violet was transmitted! You'll definately want the strongest READ: SHORTEST FOCAL LENGTH collimator you can find with these, and forget the ones AR coated for 660NM, it's practically HR at the 405nm. HOWEVER the auctuator lens in the DVD reader assembly WILL colimate the beam VERY WELL. It is a pain to remove this lens though, it's plastic and glued quite well to the arm controled by the stepper motor.


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## Conceptcar3

ok, so I ordered the ps3 laser assembly, ($90 shipped) the elly flashlight ($7.20 shipped), I bought a 15ohm resistor from my local radioshack, and I bought this ( http://thelaserguy.com/635nmredladi.html ) ($16.50 shipped) red laser diode w/ adjustable focus optics for the optics on my future blu-ray pointer.... lets hope this goes ok.... If all goes to plan, it should only cost me $115 for a 5-7.5mw CW blu-ray! 

One more thing... did anyone ever find out how much current (mA) that elly driver delivers???? IS 15ohm the correct resistance for the elly driver, or would it need more or less as it is a different circuit than the one used on the alt.lasers post?


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## firefly

Did you know if this red laser have a lens in glass and AR coated?



Conceptcar3 said:


> ok, so I ordered the ps3 laser assembly, ($90 shipped) the elly flashlight ($7.20 shipped), I bought a 15ohm resistor from my local radioshack, and I bought this ( http://thelaserguy.com/635nmredladi.html ) ($16.50 shipped) red laser diode w/ adjustable focus optics for the optics on my future blu-ray pointer.... lets hope this goes ok.... If all goes to plan, it should only cost me $115 for a 5-7.5mw CW blu-ray!
> 
> One more thing... did anyone ever find out how much current (mA) that elly driver delivers???? IS 15ohm the correct resistance for the elly driver, or would it need more or less as it is a different circuit than the one used on the alt.lasers post?


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## Conceptcar3

hey dr lava, are you sure the elly boost regulates to 5v? some posts on the LED forum say 5v, and some say ~3.2v, so I am confused as to what the actual voltage produced by the elly is! thanks for your help!


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## Hemlock Mike

Concept -

I tested a couple Ellys and the open circuit voltage of the booster was very close to 5 volts. Under load of about 240 mA, they drop into "regulation" around 3.2 volts. I never loaded one to only 40 mA to measure the voltage but I would assume it would be under 5 volts.

I just measured an Elly booster using an e2 cell. 4.98 volts open circuit. 4.92 volts at 41 mA load.

Mike


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## Heruursciences

Also, you need a small capacitor, 0.1uF MMC, a zener diode, and a switching diode as well. Add a 2-10uF tantalum if you want soft starting, more cap will prevent this circuit from working right. You *REALLY* need an O-scope to test the output to make sure you're killing the flyback surge spikes! The boost converter makes 5.6V open without a LED to a DMM, To an O-scope you see pulses spiking as high as 50V or more with no filtering at all! Guaranteed death for laser diodes! If in doubt, You can easily test it using the RED diode in the assembly or a cheap pointer diode, just add a couple silicon switching diodes in series with it to roughly simulate the voltage drop.


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## The_LED_Museum

Yeah, that snubber capacitor (I think I used the term correctly) is really, _really, *REALLY*_ necessary, unless you want to kiss an expen$ive Blu-ray laser diode goodbye. :green:


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## Hemlock Mike

The Elly appears to have a shotkie diode coming from the boost coil to a 47 mfd cap. I'm pretty sure it's 47 mfd, reads 476 on top. This isn't a tantalum cap but it sure helps. My circuits run at about 105 KHz so the 0.1 might provide a little extra smoothing but I don't think a zener can switch fast enough to provide reliable protection. Capacitive reactance and resistive load seems best to me to control the kick from the coil.

Mike


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## Conceptcar3

Thanks for that mike, and heruursciences. I will attatch the driver circuit to a 0.1uf capicitor, with a 5.1v zener diode across it, to a 15ohm resistor, to the laser diode.


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## toyman

Conceptcar3 said:


> Thanks for that mike, and heruursciences. I will attatch the driver circuit to a 0.1uf capicitor, with a 5.1v zener diode across it, to a 15ohm resistor, to the laser diode.



Hey conceptcar3 would you post a picture of your work when it is done?
Thanks


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## Aseras

is the red diode +5v too?


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## Heruursciences

Important update!!! I found out that 2 of the 5 laser diodes I tested have a much higher than normal threshold! I though i killed them somehow, but instead they BOTH had an Ith of over 45mA and lases at over 50mW at 70mA!!!! 

This means a few things: First, every diode used to make your module must be fully caractorized before even *ATTEMPTING* to build a module. Secondly, a LED flashlight hack may be more universal if a 7.2 or 9V zener is used instead of a 5V zener so you can get higher current pulses if need be! Next, it would be wise to put a potentiometer in the circuit to find the best resistance for the diode. Finally, it may be that there was a mix-up at the factory that made the laser diodes, and accidently put high power blu-ray write diodes in some of the PS3 diodes!! 

Oh the red diodes drop 2.2 to 2.6V hence the need for the two silicon diodes, it increases the drop to 3.6 to 4V similar to the drop the violet laser has.


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## Hemlock Mike

Hey Chris -- Hurrer ----

Good to see you posting now !! I have always said that every diode needs to be tested for V/I/P and draw a curve when you are pushing a device to the max or breaking ground with a new diode.
Dr_Lava provided a circuit for his GB diode which was "safe" and provided good output but you have to do the math when going to the max.
The GB diodes run at about 3.2 Vj while some newer DVD diodes may run at lower Vj. You need to measure this using a controled current supply.

Mike


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## Conceptcar3

how do you know only 2 of the 5 diodes were capable of performing at that level? How can you check to see if the diode is high powered without risking burning it out???

heruur, you said the Ith was over 45mA, so that means with the circuit you designed for the pointer, would the diode in fact not lase at all? If this is the case, would you then know that the diode is in fact one of the high powered ones?


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## Heruursciences

The high powered diodes would not threashold in the pointer circuit because the circuit was designed to give 40ma peak pulses. Changing the snubber cap value and the zener diode should alow for higher current pulses, but at that point you are venturing into the domain of QCW pulsed operation circuits. A quick and dirty method of testing them for threashold is to use a 6V lantern battery and a 100 ohm 10 turn potentiometer with an amp meter in the circuit; crank up the juice until it just transforms from a dim purple corona like glow to a bright purple dot that has the laser speckle that's your threashold.

From my research so far, it seems the maximum save level of operation is just before the point where the diodes start mode walking (the modes move and shimmer) This effect is most likely caused by current flow instabilities in the junction and is an obvious sign the diode is being overdriven. For the typical PS3 blu ray diodes this value is roughly 15mw, the two other ones started doing this at about 58mW! Since the write diodes would be pulsed at a high enough current to saturate all the modes for the best power density in the center mode, it is very likely these two have 150mW (pulsed) write diode dies inside. I plan to build a true QCW driver to take full advantage of these!


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## Conceptcar3

danggggggggggggggg and i thought 15mW would be cool.... I hope the ps3 part I ordered has the WRITE diode! hahaha


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## Conceptcar3

ok folks, so tell me how this looks...
http://www.geocities.com/conceptcar3/laser.JPG
using the dorcy flashlight driver, would using these components in this fashion work for a blu-ray pointer? I believe this is how Chris (heruur) made his which just sold on ebay for $450 I might add  congrats chris!

Sorry for how sloppily that picture is done, I made it quite hastily and with little care as I'm sure you can see haha. Also, take a look at how i have the capicitor, zener diode, and laser diode all soldered to the same place on the driver circuit. Would this be acceptable, or would you need jumper wires in between each component as I indicated with the yellow?
Obviously if you used a piece of strip board, the jumper wires would be irrelevant, and I believe you could fit a smalll piece of strip board inside the dorcy LED flashlight.


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## aaron_inc

i have made a blueray pointer but my camera always makes it look brighter than it really is so i took a photo of the laser when it was turned off and edited it to show how bright the dot seems to my eyes in a moderately lit room.
does everyone elses look like that or do i need to turn up the current.


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## Guliver

Hi Aaron, No ours look much brighter

Hey guys 
Thought I'd let you know of some of my results with these diodes..

My two, purchased from the same seller on ebay netted two 
combination Violet/Red/IR diodes.
Both started threshold at about 22 and 27ma both output 22mW at 42ma..
I didnt push them much higher .. I figured these as low powered units and
from Spec and I's previous experience with the low powered units. so, 
I didnt go any further as they will NOT live long at this level.
Altho, They would be very comfortable at around 7 to 12mW CW out. 
Remember these are pulsed diodes and we are them using CW.
As Pulse wouldnt be brighter anyhow.

So anyhow, Back in November when Spec came down to my place to put 
together the first pointer and module, we had pretty much the same result 
except with those diodes threshold was a bit higher (about 32ma)
which netted about 25 to 35mW easily from those diodes (they were from burners).
We didnt push these as things were getting expensive and our previous failure
of getting the reader diodes to work without destruction made us weary.
So we stopped there knowing at least we had something worthwhile.

During our experiments we thought we had gotten a bad diode and scrapped
it (placed in the junk diode bin for later use) and another diode
that went bye-bye during our tests was also placed in that bin.
Well, after reading Robins post on alt.laser descibing his results with a diode that was presumably bad 
and seemingly coming back to life at a much higher threshold.
So, I decided to pull out one of those diodes that was thought bad.
And after mounting, I ramped the current up past the old threshold of around 33ma
to about 45 and noticed that the diode was getting just a bit brighter , than
after hitting about 70ma it started to lase again..wow, unbelievable.
It was actually working again so I chatted with Spec to tell him the result
afterall it was his diode..so anyway he asked me to ramp it up higher without fear of COD 
so I did..at about 115 ma I got 16mw out..
so to continue in the sake of science I ramped it up to 180ma and got a return of 30mW..
while watching the current meter approaching 200ma the diode went out like a light..
I didnt get to see at what mW it died at but still..It was a surprise to say the least..
the diode actually lived again after we had thought for sure it was dead..

So there you go,.If by chance you think your diode is kaput,.
unlike other types of diodes which just draw more current and got hot.
Try it again.


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## aaron_inc

Marconi said:


> Hi Aaron, No ours look much brighter


well it looks like id better crank up the current:rock: it could also be my eyes, is it normal to be able to see the light from a remote controll if its really dark and you have it right in front of your eyes? if not then my peak sensitivity might be a bit further towards red.


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## liveforphysics

Aaron- If you read my previous post, the case in your picture is the same case that has a lens which is not suited for passing light of this wavelegnth due to fluorescence.

Aside from that, I think it is the worst case available as a diode host of any wavelegnth for a variety of other reasons, but people still seem to use them most frequently...

The little brass ones with glass optics are cheaper, and focus much nicer, and use a lens with a focal legnth close enough to actually capture all of the wide beam emmited from many diodes.

Best Wishes


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## SenKat

Live for physics - Where do you get the brass housings with the glass optics ? Do they come from Aixiz - Meredith ? I requested Glass optics when I purchased all those housings - and received plastic, I guess....(I bought from Aixiz)


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## liveforphysics

Senkat- I've got some pics of them in my original Elaser thread. I don't remember what seller I bought them from, but it was somebody on ebay. I belive they were something like $3.50 per unit. The diode is easier to poke out than the Axiz chrome cases as well, and you can actually move diodes from case to case if you are careful.

Definately glass, definately very fine threaded brass focus adjustment, definately a lens with a focal legnth close enough to get all the beam into it rather than wasting it on the sides of the black plastic lens holder on those garbage chrome Axiz modules (which I still have around 10 of laying around that I will never use for anything again).


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## Conceptcar3

I am looking for the same thing- glass lense adjustable focus diode modules for cheap. What is the best one? http://thelaserguy.stores.yahoo.net/635nmredladi.html
I ordered that... was that a waste of money or is that one viable?


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## liveforphysics

That looks exactly like my favorite little brass modules. I have no idea if it uses the same glass lens, but the appearence of the case is spot-on.

Best Wishes


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## aaron_inc

liveforphysics said:


> Aaron- If you read my previous post, the case in your picture is the same case that has a lens which is not suited for passing light of this wavelegnth due to fluorescence.


i dont think it is the lens, i have run the diode outside the housing and i see no real difference in brightness. i'm using the Axiz housing with the glass lens.
i have tried running it from 30ma to 80ma and the output is pretty much the same.


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## Conceptcar3

how are you driving it? are you giving it at least 5 volts?


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## dr_lava

Marconi said:


> Remember these are pulsed diodes and we are them using CW.
> As Pulse wouldnt be brighter anyhow.




Aren't read lasers CW? 10-12mW seems right with all the optics in the path, but what would be the purpose of pulsing a read laser?


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## aaron_inc

i found the problem!!!! it was the variable resistor i was using! i got rid of the 100 ohm resistor because it was set at 0 ohms and now it is running at 6v and 100 ma!!!the resistor was causing a 2-3v drop so the laser was only getting 3-4v.
i blew one of my diodes though  i was making a quick little board for it and i accidentally shorted the laser straight to the battery there was a bright flash of violet light then it was dead. it dosent even give a dim glow. that was the weaker diode though, i have the stronger one running now and in sure its one of the write diodes, theres no way 10-15mw of 405nm light is this bright it has to be 30-40mw i can see the beam if it is dark .


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## ajohnson

How long did it take you guys to get your ps3 units / diodes? I ordered mine not long after the initial post and still dont have it


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## aaron_inc

i did the express post so i got it in 3 working days but with the normal post it takes a long time, nearly all of his feedback said it took ages in the mail so it might take a while.


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## ScarabDrowner

I just got my ps3 sled in today, and upon disassembly it occurred to me, is it not possible to use the electronics that are intended to power the laser in a different host? I see people trying to figure out circuits and such to power the diode, but why not use the one that came with it?


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## liveforphysics

I belive it is because the factory circut has no need to run the laser harder than a few mW. Running it harder could actually damage the disks. Remember, its a player on not a burner, it just appears that the diode they used has nice overhead for harder driving.


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## ScarabDrowner

good point... ah, it's moot anyway, since my diode broke off of the circuit while I was trying to remove the heatsink. I have an interesting idea for a way to use the diode to it's full potential, but I need to draw up a schematic first.


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## SenKat

Draw...then share ?


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## ScarabDrowner

Ok, here's my idea.

The laser diode from the PS3 sled apparently can produce both red and violet light, depending on how it's wired up. Unfortunately, each wavelength seems to need a different focus, i.e. with the lens focused for violet collimation, it won't work for red, and vice versa.

My idea is to use two different lenses, one focused properly for violet, the other for red, and to be able to switch between the two as desired:






With the switch in the red position, the red lens is moved in front of the diode, and the circuit powering the red laser is completed. Same with the violet side. Off position would be in the middle, which could also be used to provide a kind of dust cover for the aperture. Also, if different boost circuits are needed for each wavelength, this would still work with that as well.

Granted, it might not work in a cylindrical body, but it might be worth a try to get two lasers out of one ^_^.


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## SenKat

Now, THAT is a unique Idea ! I think the red part of the diode is relatively low powered - 5-10mw if I am not mistaken ? It should still be a challenging and rewarding project, though !


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## aaron_inc

that is a good idea.
i want to try something like this 


so i could have a homemade magenta laser


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## ScarabDrowner

is it possible to run both red and violet at the same time?


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## firefly

and i think it's possible use only violet or red?


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## liveforphysics

You can run violet, red, and IR at the same time. They are all seperate diodes in the case which share common.

I tried my little pointer with red and violet at the same time, but the red is so much more power and appears so much brighter that I'm not able to tell the difference between just red, or red with violet. The focal difference doesn't seem to be nearly as different as you would think. I think it's possible that they mounted the red diode at a different distance inside the LD houseing to help compensate for the difference in focal length.

On the bright side, the PS3 laser assembly includes all the parts needed to split the red from the violet, focus each one seperately and re-combine. Personally, I just enjoy keeping my blue pointer the size of my index finger, and wouldn't want to clutter it up with other parts, but for a lab module it might be neato. 

Best Wishes,
-Luke


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## Heruursciences

It is not a good idea to run the red diode at the same time as the violet since the red chip is heat sunk THROUGH the VLD. To make it even worse, it sits practically on top of the lasing channel of the VLD.


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## aaron_inc

Heruursciences said:


> It is not a good idea to run the red diode at the same time as the violet since the red chip is heat sunk THROUGH the VLD. To make it even worse, it sits practically on top of the lasing channel of the VLD.


dam  i really wanted a magenta laser the picture below is 660nm and 405nm mixed, such a cool color.


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## allthatwhichis

That is a nice magenta, almost more pink than "purple"...


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## dr_lava

Guys, check this expired auction out! mmmm make 400% ROI !

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290098381302


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## Conceptcar3

lol.... i think he just got lucky.


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## 2xTrinity

> dam i really wanted a magenta laser the picture below is 660nm and 405nm mixed, such a cool color.


The violet component of that will look much dimmer than the picture will lead you to believe, that's because cameras are a lot more sensitive to near-UV the eyes are. The same is true of deep red/near IR.


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## wvaltakis2

So I got a blu-ellaser working and it's TOTALLY awesome!!! Just wondering, can anyone confirm the power on the red diode in the PS3 assembly before I start screwing with a good thing?

Thanks

~Chip


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## SenKat

I cannot confirm the power of it, but will you post some pics of your Blu-ellaser ?


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## wvaltakis2

Some quick pics before I sit down to watch The Shield...














~Chip


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## firefly

Arggggg i'm jealous :"-( please give spec what's flashlight you use and what's the driver laser modification you make??? what's your collimating lens?


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## SenKat

Chip - that is truely an awesome sight to behold ! I LOVE it !!! I guess it is pointless (pardon the pun) to ask how your experiments are going - obviously they are going VERY well ! NICE WORK !!!!


:goodjob:


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## stevetexas

very nice!!!


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## ajohnson

Well mine finally showed up on Monday, but because it shipped insured, my mail room wouldn't take it, so I went to the post office today and got it. Mine says it came from vavolo.com in hong kong, and has $43 in stamps plastered all over it.

So, anyone have a definitive answer on the best housing with glass lens & adj. focal length?


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## wvaltakis2

The $4 brass one from Aixiz seems to be working really well for me. It's definately a useable pointer.  Aside from the fact that it's kind of annoying to try and focus on! 


~Chip

P.S. Anybody know the wavelength for the Ps3 Blu-ray diode?


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## ajohnson

afaik all blu-ray/hd-dvd diodes are 405nm


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## firefly

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH i'm happy i make my blue ray pointer with dealxtreme 1W


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## SenKat

Firefly - post some PICS !!! I wanna see it ! :rock:


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## firefly

I want do that but i don't know how i can put picture in message


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## firefly

i find how i can add picture 

you can look my 1W dealxtreme 1xAA 




here the blue dot




here the blue dot at 3m


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## Corona

I'm working on a blu-ray based pointer similar to these (for another member) and should have something to show by next week. I have some ideas for improving the finished appearance and improving the heatsinking of the brass module. Stay tuned...

One thing I have found is that the $4 Aixiz modules have a pretty solid APC driver on them, they seem to set the crappy little 650nm red laser diode (open die, no window in these 5.6mm cans) just above it's lasing threshold - about 20mA. Yep that's a really low lasing threshold!

I have 5 of them to let the smoke out of (gonna make some violet and DVD reds using these as the mechanical and optical laser mount, so the OEM red diodes are basically cannon fodder). 

So I'll be doing a bit of reverse engineering on that Aixiz driver as well, at the very least I'm gonna figure out how to get that cheapo red diode bumped up to 50mA or so. 

It MIGHT even make a decent driver solution for the blu-ray diodes, with a little modification. An APC for the blu-ray would be nice. Definitely gonna proceed with extreme caution there, and only after I have one that belongs to me


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## SenKat

Excellent news ! Keep posting updates !!!


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## Corona

A few things others should know about

1) The MXDL 1W boost is voltage regulated at just <5V, so there is no hope of adding any precision current limiting circuitry to it with a blu-ray diode, due to the voltage drop of the diode. There just isn't any headroom for the current limit circuit to operate. For DVD reds, there are options, which I'll explore later (in that other thread I suppose).

2) The blu-ray diode threshold is right around 30mA. I ran it up to 35mA and it looks pretty good, ramped it up to 45mA on my laser diode supply (small current limited, precision DC supply I made) and it appears that 40mA is about the limit, at least for this particular diode. 

3) Since the boost is regulated, a resistor is all that is needed to set the laser diode current. Low value resistors are needed because of the small voltage headroom. With a 15 ohm, this diode was below threshold. A 10 ohm got me to about 30mA and a 7.5 ohm to 35mA (approx). 

Your results may vary so ALWAYS measure the current when testing your diode (the boost is likely to be loosely regulated, tolerances etc)

4) A .015uF or larger capacitor across the LD is a good idea and I recommend soldering it right to the back of the LD (or board remnant). Also a good place to attach the supply wiring.

5) It's a bear pressing that blu-ray diode into the brass housing, and the board remnant should be removed prior to doing so, or you risk damaging the laser diode. The one I am working on had the board slightly tilted and not flush to the back of the LD, so I carefully cut it into sections with an X-acto knife and removed it completely.

I have it mostly together, running at 35mA for now. I'll be sourcing some other resistor values and tweaking to get it to 40mA.

I have worked out a way to allow focusing the module without disassembly, by using the flashlight body's forward section (that unscrews), ala a MagLight.

Taking plenty of photos and I'll put something together as I complete the mechanicals. There will be some chuckles over one solution I devised...


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## Daedal

Keep us updated Corona... very happy to see some very interesting ideas around this topic.

--DDL


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## Corona

OK it's done. I like it - and think others will also...

Completed unit...sweet looking flashl...ahmm..LASER






Without aperture cap, see how nice and clean it is inside...except for the fuzzy on the lens (macro photos show too much!)





Yes you can adjust the focus by rotating the front hood. Very cool and I'm sure others will follow suit.

Here's the procedure (PDF file) with plenty more photos. Sorry, no beamshots as I was up late enough as it is finishing this 

Note there are also some hints on modding the boost circuit to increase the voltage. There are better / more precise ways that what I did, but it suffices for this project.

(LINK DELETED BY CORONA)


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## acro-ii

FTP for the pdf asks for username and password


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## Corona

Try it now I fixed the link to an http link (sry)


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## acro-ii

works now, Thanks


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## SenKat

That has GOT to be the most in depth walk through I have ever seen ! THanks, man - gives new hope to the Elly's sitting here, gathering dust...now, to find a CHEAP blu-ray diode....


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## Corona

Thanks for the kind words, I try to document these efforts so others can benefit. 

[edit]By the way, I fixed the arrow location in the PDF, it was a smidge off (conversion error from Word to PDF). Updated the link and PDF filename, is you don't have Rev1, go get it and trash your old copy...[/edit]

And thanks really should go out to *toyman* for initiating this project and trusting me with his BR diode and a couple different flashlights, while I sourced parts, developed concepts, and put it together. He's been very patient over the past 2 weeks... I'll be shipping this one back to him in the next day or so and then working on another for him, and finally, one for myself.

I will be looking for some more Ellys for future projects (DVD red for sure) as well as looking for improved optics for these violets. Any suggestions or surplus stuff, trade arrangements, etc. are open to discussion.

Feel free to PM me with any side project ideas, I can't do mass production but I will always dive into something interesting.


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## Kenom

So corona, given your walk through and someone following your steps what is total cost of putting one of these together including average cost for a sled on ebay. I've seen the sleds for around $80 with 15 shipping. the "elly" on DX costs???? and you did a bang up job on that front bezel. Looks awesome.


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## Corona

I think the Ellys are around $5 a pop. Don't know exactly as I have not had to source them myself, yet. But there's threads on modding these into better flashlights over in the LED CP forums, with cost info...I'm sure another member can answer this better

The parts I added are dirt cheap, the stainless washer and grommet are both ~40¢ each
Plastic CD spindle washers are "free"
1N4148 diode, ceramic capacitor - a few cents
The Jefferson Washer - _exactly 5¢_

I'd guess it's right around $105.05


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## hank

> "near UV is absorbed by the cornea.. "

Nowhere near all of it.

http://www.mdsupport.org/library/hazard.html
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?sourceid=Mozilla-search&q=blue+light+risk+macula+damage


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## ajohnson

Dang, I gotta do that. dealextreme doesn't want to come up for me though, and neither does the kai site. Any other sources, preferably in the states?

TIA,
Aaron (the other one)

Edit: nm, I finally got through to deal extreme


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## Daedal

DX has been working for me yesterday. They made a nice chunk of cash off me yesterday 

--DDL


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## Corona

Hey - for those who downloaded the PDF - I took it down as I need to make some corrections to it. Adding the 1N4148 diode works fine to raise the boost voltage but because it is in series with the supply lead to the little boost controller, it drops the initial voltage from 1.5V to about 1.2V. 

I experienced start-up problems with anything but a brand-new AA cell and this is unacceptable so I'm tweaking the design a bit to just work off the 5V. Essentially is is a matter of reducing the resistor value to something in the 1.2 - 1.8 ohm range. I prefer to use a bit bigger "ballast" resistor, but until I figure out a simple way to get the boost to start with a diode drop in there, we're back to square one.

Sorry folks, I'll post another update when it's all straightened out...

OK - follow this link to a post / thread I made just for this thing


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