Galvo driver mounting - heat

[dnar]

I am starting to draw out my new build in anticipation of the Mr Willing/Edison case arriving.

I fired up the DT30's last night for a quick test and measurement for Tony, I then released just how much heat the drivers (and galvos) generate.

Now, I was planning on mounting all SMPSU and drivers to the mid-mounted optical plate. Now I am not so sure! Doing so results in more heat transfer to the plate than via the lasers!

Would mounting the drivers to the case side or rear be sufficient heat sinking for the drivers? Is the reduced heat load to the optical plate worthwhile?

<damn spell chuckers, heatsink should be one word!!!!! I miss-type that word almost daily.>

Thanks guys. All words of wisdom and experience welcome.

[taggalucci]

Hey Wayne,

Thanks again for doing those measurements last night, that helped me out heaps

Now I could probably piece together what you have planned from some of your posts, but I'm not exactly sure what you have planned. I've seen a 445 blue you've built matching a DPSS green. I gather now you have a Mr Willing/Edison case which I believe is single deck (without confirming) hence the issue of dumping the driver heat into the same baseplate as the lasers.

In my larger projector, I followed a double decker design taking inspiration from others here, using the upper deck for the drive electronics. Regardless of not sharing the baseplate with the lasers, the Cambridge Technology drivers I have are actually raised off the baseplate with attached heatsinks radiating out into the air space around the drivers. I have a fair amount of forced air, so no issues with heat.



In my smaller projector, I'm dumping all the heat into a single baseplate with reasonable forced air, although my lasers aren't really attached directly to the baseplate and with this little guy I'm not really bothered with temperature optimised performance. I'm comfortable that the pricier components aren't competing with others for heat transfer.



So I guess my point from examples above is I think it depends on how important temperature optimised performance is and whether you are wanting to protect components from the heat off other components. Can you dump the heat into a forced air stream and not into the baseplate first?

[lasersbee]

Hey Wayne....
You are absolutely correct...
Heatsink should be one word.....

Jerry

[dnar]

Hey Wayne,

Thanks again for doing those measurements last night, that helped me out heaps

Now I could probably piece together what you have planned from some of your posts, but I'm not exactly sure what you have planned. I've seen a 445 blue you've built matching a DPSS green. I gather now you have a Mr Willing/Edison case which I believe is single deck (without confirming) hence the issue of dumping the driver heat into the same baseplate as the lasers.

Thanks Tony. More food for thought.

Yep, my build is RGB. The corrected 445 in a B&K housing, 465mW CNI green and quad 660 red. DT30's, Stanwax ILDA, GM20 shutter, Mr Willing Case. Most of the optics/mounts etc. are from Dave. i am in the process of working out SMPSU assignments, as I current have 4 PSU, one for each laser and one for the DT's.

It has taken a year to here, so I am in no rush. My goal is to built a tight, compliant & safe projector, not something thrown together quickly before my interest wanes.

Hey Wayne....
You are absolutely correct...
Heatsink should be one word.....

Jerry

Thanks Jerry Webster.