I recently broke my first laser pointer, a 75mW 405 Wicked Laser Nano that a friend gave me. Naturally, I've chosen to replace it... with a fully custom 2W 462nm build.
A key feature that I want is the ability to adjust the current in use, I've found plenty of adjustable drivers so far but they all rely on tiny 10-turn trimpots that aren't designed to be accessible when mounted. Ideally, I want a handheld laser with a knob that will let me change it from 'stupidly dangerous' to 'mildly irresponsible' and back without having to crack it open in between.
I have a couple main questions:
1. Is it bad for the health of the diode to run it at low current? It's nominally a 2W diode at 1.8A, but the testing images show it functioning at 25mW at 200mA. Is this an acceptable way to run it in everyday use, or only for brief periods while showing the response curve?
2. Is it bad for the health of the diode to adjust the current while it's operating?
3. Am I going to need to make a full driver board, or can I just cut the 10-turn pot off an existing one and run new wires to a new pot?
I'll be doing all of my testing with a 2W 445nm diode since it's about 1/5 the price, and I bought a benchtop 50-3000mA driver that looks pretty simple but won't fit in a reasonably sized host. Ideally, I'd love the finished version to include a tiny arduino of some sort with a readout for real-time current draw and approximate wattage. If there's a reason that's very doable or very impossible, I'd love to know about it.
Thanks in advance for your help!
A key feature that I want is the ability to adjust the current in use, I've found plenty of adjustable drivers so far but they all rely on tiny 10-turn trimpots that aren't designed to be accessible when mounted. Ideally, I want a handheld laser with a knob that will let me change it from 'stupidly dangerous' to 'mildly irresponsible' and back without having to crack it open in between.
I have a couple main questions:
1. Is it bad for the health of the diode to run it at low current? It's nominally a 2W diode at 1.8A, but the testing images show it functioning at 25mW at 200mA. Is this an acceptable way to run it in everyday use, or only for brief periods while showing the response curve?
2. Is it bad for the health of the diode to adjust the current while it's operating?
3. Am I going to need to make a full driver board, or can I just cut the 10-turn pot off an existing one and run new wires to a new pot?
I'll be doing all of my testing with a 2W 445nm diode since it's about 1/5 the price, and I bought a benchtop 50-3000mA driver that looks pretty simple but won't fit in a reasonably sized host. Ideally, I'd love the finished version to include a tiny arduino of some sort with a readout for real-time current draw and approximate wattage. If there's a reason that's very doable or very impossible, I'd love to know about it.
Thanks in advance for your help!
