Is this Diode burnt?

[Masterteeko]

Hi, this is one of my first posts.  I love this forum and everything about it, the people here are great.  

So here we go, I built the driver by DDL and I have tested it probably 50 times lol it sends 250 ma through it and the volts were normal sense I did not have the laser diode yet.  I bought 2 x16 laser diodes from stonetec and they just arrived tonight.  I hooked the laser diodes up and turned it on.  The laser diode is not even as bright as the $5 <5mw lasers   .  I have done everything right and the whole time I wore the grounding wrist strap and it is attached to the ground of my house.  

I even tested the volts to the laser diode, which is 2.9v when it is hooked up.

Here is a picture of the dot it makes. Both of the laser diodes are this dim and I am wondering if they are blown

 

[wooooooolazer]

(Next time you might want to shrink the pic some took me a minute to find it)

Unfortunatnly i think that it might be dead :'( , When they die they normaly get really dull red. If it has a potentiometer did you make sure to turn it? Because if its at the max resistance it might look like that? I killed my first 2 ones almost the same way i mixed up 2 wires on my circuit and the voltage and stuff was right but it just blew it, I feel bad for you i know what its like to loose your first laser, i even got to see mine pop a baloon but yours is worse you never even got a minute out of it.


....lazer.... ;D ;D ;D

 

[DJEEPER]

did you test your current WITH your diode on the unit? or just without any diode at all?

when soldering the leads, did you make sure you did them quick so you had less head?

What did you do for de-static-ing yourself and the diode?

 

[Greyfox]

What source of power do you have going into the DDL circuit? Have you checked the current drop when the laser diode is hooked up? That looks like a very weak, likely under-driven laser diode.

 

[amkdeath]

(Next time you might want to shrink the pic some took me a minute to find it)

Unfortunatnly i think that it might be dead :'( ,  When they die they normaly get really dull red.  If it has a potentiometer did you make sure to turn it?  Because if its at the max resistance it might look like that?  I killed my first 2 ones almost the same way i mixed up 2 wires on my circuit and the voltage and stuff was right but it just blew it, I feel bad for you i know what its like to loose your first laser, i even got to see mine pop a baloon but yours is worse you never even got a minute out of it.


....lazer.... ;D ;D ;D

CMON WOO LETS NOT JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS

THERE IS STILL HOPE

Try focusing it on a wall like a few feet away. If you suceed its not dead. also feel the aixiz module as its on, does it get hot? REALLY hot?

Turn up your pot. When you were testing, i bet you just slapped on the DMM and measured 250 huh? well, there was no load on there, and you didnt get an accurate reading. Turn up your trimpot, untill its bright. also, make sure your resistor(s) are the right resistance (which is one 5ohm) (or 2 10ohms in parallel).

keep posting, and keep taking pics, we'll help you.

regards,

amk

 

[amkdeath]

What source of power do you have going into the DDL circuit? Have you checked the current drop when the laser diode is hooked up? That looks like a very weak, likely under-driven laser diode.

grey is right, you need 6V for this circuit, at least. a 9v battery will not work as it sags very fast. lots of AA's or AAA's are recommended, or, a few CR123's, or a 14500 or two work well.

Also to me, that looks like my diode when its on VERY low current

 

[Masterteeko]

yes i can focus it on a wall about 4 feet away.  i tested the 250 ma's with out a diode through a tester which acted as the load.  i have 2 10 ohm resisters in parallel and i started with the pot very low i would say about 50 ma and then turned it up and it just got a little brighter.  i am using 4 AA batterys

i grounded myself by a wrist strap that goes to the ground in an outlet

thx for responding so fast

let me know what other pictures you want

 

[wooooooolazer]

Actually it may still be alive dont lose hope, normaly when they die they go bright for a short time like half a second, even with like high ma they will still go bright red almost all of the time before they die of the mirror getting broken on the diode (COD Catostrophical optical damadge)

...lazer... ;D ;D ;D

 

[amkdeath]

yes i can focus it on a wall about 4 feet away.  i tested the 250 ma's with out a diode through a tester which acted as the load.  i have 2 10 ohm resisters in parallel and i started with the pot very low i would say about 50 ma and then turned it up and it just got a little brighter.  i am using 4 AA batterys

i grounded myself by a wrist strap that goes to the ground in an outlet

thx for responding so fast

let me know what other pictures you want

AHA the tester DOES NOT act as a load. you have to connect a load with the tester in series. thats why. ur diodes fine if you can get it on a wall. just turn up your pot.

SEE NOW WOOOOLASER?? DONT EVER JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS!!!

 

[Gazoo]

Try 6 batteries...

 

[Masterteeko]

here is a picture of it on the wall about 4 feet away

i used a 3 watt 25 ohm pot from radioshack and it is turned all the way up

also the laser diode does get pretty hot in about 5-10 seconds or so

what do you recommend me doing? i can take a picture of the circuit board if you want it might be a little hard to follow.

 

[wooooooolazer]

sorry about that i prob wasnt thinking much, I need to stop jumping to conclusions....

(im trying not to be mean or anything but my dead one could still focus on a wall, but there may still be all posiblility that it works so please dont give up hope ;D)

...lazer...  :-[ :-[ :-[

 

[Greyfox]

I'd say disconnect the power from the DDL driver, then disconnect the positive lead to the diode. Connect your ammeter between the driver and the diode (make sure it's set to read amps!) and reconnect the power. An ammeter by itself registers as a very, very minimal load.. so minimal that it's nearly a short. 250mA on a short is virtually no voltage, so the diode is extremely underpowered. The second picture shows a normal spot from the diode when driven with low levels. You're heading in the right direction, but you still have some tweaking to do.

 

[Greyfox]

Now, you're saying the diode gets very hot that fast? There's definitely something improper happening if this is the case. The SenKat group buy diodes usually take longer to heat up (roughly 30s at 200mA) if placed in one of the Aixiz modules with both the mount/lens and the back of the casing.

 

[Gazoo]

Masterteeko,
If you followed the pin numbers on DDL's schematic then chances are you have it wired up wrong. The resistor and pot should be connected in series with the output and adjust of the LM317. The adjust should be connected to the positive leg on your laser diode.

 

[amkdeath]

here is a picture of it on the wall about 4 feet away

i used a 3 watt 25 ohm pot from radioshack and it is turned all the way up

also the laser diode does get pretty hot in about 5-10 seconds or so

what do you recommend me doing? i can take a picture of the circuit board if you want it might be a little hard to follow.

i just killed a diode with the exact same circuit as you, and the dot looks EXACTLY like that. Im sorry, I think both of our diodes are dead. I know i didnt wire anything wron gazzo, cuz it worked untill i killed it.

thats 4 diodes down, ? more to go

this is where I would personally jump to the conclusion that its dead, I dont know. Im not in a goodish mood right now, so the rest of the forum will be able to help you better (I had soooooooo many memories with that laser)

regards,

amk