Another project red?

[buffo]

Lasorb will protect against ESD, not agains crappy drivers, any overvoltage to a driver can still kill your diodes.

So what you are saying is, use a quality driver that will not over-volt the diode... And I completely agree with this. But that has nothing to do with how *many* drivers you use.

My original point was (and still is) that there is no added reliability inherent in a design that uses multiple drivers verses a design that uses just one driver. So long as the driver is suitably protected against over-voltage on both the power input *and* modulation input, you gain nothing but added cost and complexity by using more of them.

The added reliability comes from the lasorbs on each diode to protect against static. And with them installed, so long as you run the diodes within their current limits and avoid back-reflection, you should have zero reliability issues.

Andy does have a point in that the driver you select must be able to handle the current draw of all your diodes without overheating or failing, but there are several affordable drivers on the market today that can provide several amps of constant-current drive, so unless you're building a 30 diode monster, this really isn't an issue.

Adam

[mccarrot]

Reliability? That's what the lasorbs are there for. Having extra drivers doesn't buy you anything in terms of reliability. If anything, they add more components that could fail. (Though I agree that I've never seen a driver fail, so it's not a likely occurrence in any event.)


Adam

Ok, I think I misunderstood what you where trying to say.

I thought you said a Lasorb will protect your diodes even with cheaper drivers. Good drivers will only add more compenents to fail, but you where taking about more drivers.

My oppinioun: To have a reliable system you need qualty drivers to start with, Lasorb is only extra protection against esd where even good drivers have problems filtering them.

[MisterWilling]

I don't know what his plan is for this rig, but on a previous unit he wired the diodes in parallel with a small (1 ohm) current-balancing resistor in series with each diode. Also, on that laser each diode had a lasorb attached. I imagine the final product here will be similar.
Adam

I am going to build my rig using two flexmods each powering 4 diodes each. Still havn't decided which lens to use but something better then the aixiz acrylic; but not as expensive as the $25 dollar 1% loss glass lenses I buy now. Since I can machine all the mirror mounts and mounting hardware my total cost for 2W of red (minus the telescope and knife edge losses) would be $70 for drivers, $80 for diodes, $50 for lasorbs, plus whatever lenses costs and the telescope. Not a bad deal.

[logsquared]

That certainly looks like a very nice driver to have. But one of the goals was to be able to make this laser without spending as much as buying a new unit. Mine is almost finished ,with exception of aligning, and have yet to burst the $250 mark. This was in the original post. This was intended to help others to be able to create a good laser at a very attractive price- given they can do a little machining and cobble a few parts. Just trying to get others involved building things.

Exactly my thought as well.

With regard to drivers and reliability. In my opinion putting the diodes is series is the best method if you can isolate them(my 6x BR are already isolated making series really easy). Wiring in series will allow the driver to dissipate the same power regardless of the number of diodes. This assumes the power supply voltage is adjusted for the number of diodes used. If a power supply failure or transient gets past one driver chances are it will do the same to all the drivers on the same supply. So, for increased reliability with multiple drivers you really need to have a separate power supply for each driver. Plus, with a DPSS there is usually only one diode and one driver. How many projectors are using multiple DPSS lasers just for reliability?

All that being said... I would still feel comfortable with 8-10 diodes is parallel if not run to the limit. If you have 10 diodes running at 320mA and one dies open all the other will get 356mA. Not a huge increase. Especially if you check your set-up before each show.

[andy_con]

Exactly my thought as well.

With regard to drivers and reliability. In my opinion putting the diodes is series is the best method if you can isolate them(my 6x BR are already isolated making series really easy). Wiring in series will allow the driver to dissipate the same power regardless of the number of diodes. This assumes the power supply voltage is adjusted for the number of diodes used. If a power supply failure or transient gets past one driver chances are it will do the same to all the drivers on the same supply. So, for increased reliability with multiple drivers you really need to have a separate power supply for each driver. Plus, with a DPSS there is usually only one diode and one driver. How many projectors are using multiple DPSS lasers just for reliability?

All that being said... I would still feel comfortable with 8-10 diodes is parallel if not run to the limit. If you have 10 diodes running at 320mA and one dies open all the other will get 356mA. Not a huge increase. Especially if you check your set-up before each show.

im using multiple drivers and psu for my setup

[FourDee]

I believe this driver is cheaper than the Kvant driver. It has 6 output channels and a simple TEC driver

Attachment 14737

[andy_con]

I believe this driver is cheaper than the Kvant driver. It has 6 output channels and a simple TEC driver

Attachment 14737

spec and cos t?

[logsquared]

I believe this driver is cheaper than the Kvant driver. It has 6 output channels and a simple TEC driver

Attachment 14737

More info please!

[mccarrot]

arround 150 euro, but not available yet.

[edison]

any idea when it is ready?