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Low 1V Dropout cheap 'Groove' driver kits

drlava

drlava

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You may remember the small curse that became of a member's attempt at selling my low dropout circuit on his 'Fusion' boards.  But, in the end, if you don't need a tiny boost/buck regulator with the best battery runtime, this jobber may do just fine for you.  It has the same circuit as the Fusion Drive, but with a higher top end current, better layout and protection.  The driver will stay in regulation with battery voltages down to 1V above the laser diode voltage, providing the lowest dropout driver available in this inexpensive linear regulator class.  Easy to assemble through hole and large-size smt components.

ORDER PAGE

Groove_1_.jpg
 





Awesome! Now I don't have to use 4 alkaline batteries to power a red diode ;)
Recently I was wondering if there was something like this.. and now there is!
Oh, and do you think this could be trimmable to fit inside of a leadlight about 13mm in diameter?
 
Sweet deal! I just bought mine. :)
It looks as though a few mm can be trimmed on each side.
 
I don't think you could trim it down far enough to fit inside a leadlight
 
yeah this driver isn't built with size-critical parts, it's just a git-er-dun driver :)
 
It was funny how evident it was that there had been no prototype of the first run of these boards :P
 
hey lava i sent you a pm but you might have missed it or you may see this first and figured it should be covered anyways



i had a few quick questions on the groove drives i got mine in today and assembled one and now im not exactly sure what pins are for what?

like what side is for the batt and what side is for the diode? and also which ones are + im guessing the squares but i wan to make sure.

also can you explain how to measure the current? in the guide it says you dont need a test load? so that confused me.


thanks for the drives they all look good

thanks
 
the big square pad is the input +. obviously the opposite side is the output. The driver doesn't need a test load, as you can power it up, and test across the bigger 1 ohm resistor to give you, direct representation of current.
 
DrLave, if I need 1Amp can I connect two drivers in parellel at 500mA each? will the dropout voltages become 2 volts, 1 volt for each driver?

Will the driver works if the LD body is positive, the LD is contacting with the host body? Do I just turn the battery around? ::)
 
TheMonk said:
DrLave,  if I need 1Amp can I connect two drivers in parellel at 500mA each? will the dropout voltages become 2 volts, 1 volt for each driver?

Will the driver works if the LD body is positive, the LD is contacting with the host body? Do I just turn the battery around? ::)
Click to expand...
I have never heard of a positive body LD, are you connecting a PHR803T + to the 'not used' body pin?

and you should follow the battery connections inside the flashlight, use a multimeter to test for voltages and which is +, -. I believe + to - would show as positive and - to + shows as negative, even though the electrons actually go the other way....

good luck,
Kendall
 
hi
Would I be able to power an Ir diode with a cr123 battery with one of these?
I think the voltage drop is ~2.5v
 
thanks kenom! if anyone is thinking about buying one of these i say go for it. it s pretty simple build (there are 2 or 3 tiny components you have to solder but its easy. just dont forget to flux all connections and i suggest not putting the big resistor 3rd i would wait til you do the two small resistors (r2 &r5 i believe) and then the large one.
 
I assembled mine for high power,
looking at the board, it appears that you could leave out R5 & soldier in R2
directly to jumper hole. It worked for me.
groovedrive1.jpg
 
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