Driver options for more than 2A ?

[m0f]

I'm wondering what everyone's doing for drivers nowadays when more than 2A / 2.5A is required ? Of the two available drivers I know of, both are limited to 2A (though I believe both can do 2.5A with threshold set to max, though that is undesirable for many circumstances)

Is it possible to combine more than one channel with any of these drivers such that one channel is driving the anode and the other channel driving the cathode in order to double the current capacity ? If so, how exactly would that be done ? And how important would it be that both channels be exactly matched in output ?

The only other hobbyist option that goes above that to 4A and earlier version 6A is the Flexmod. I'm not sure of current availability however the last few times I've needed drivers I had to abandon the idea due to the delay as there always seems to be an approaching deadline. In general though I pretty much haven't even thought of these as an option in recent builds.

I'm looking to drive potentially anywhere from 2.5A - 3.5A or so at max.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated

Miles

[buffo]

If you can wait about a month, X-laser will be releasing the modified Pangolin reference driver. It has plenty of features, including support for higher forward voltages, higher drive currents, and several built-in diode protection schemes. It was presented at SELEM this year, and a prototype was hooked up and on display.

Contact Andrew at X-laser for more information.

Adam

[slicklasers]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3A-analog-la...item25916dc4f7

It can drive up to 3 amps.

[swamidog]

are the final stats for this finalized?

there were some requests from SELEM that i hope get implemented like SBS and electrically isolating the power transistor from the heat sink.

If you can wait about a month, X-laser will be releasing the modified Pangolin reference driver. It has plenty of features, including support for higher forward voltages, higher drive currents, and several built-in diode protection schemes. It was presented at SELEM this year, and a prototype was hooked up and on display.

Contact Andrew at X-laser for more information.

Adam

[tribble]

I'm trading emails with the folks at www.teamwavelength.com regarding their driver capabilities... they have a few in the < $100 range, but not sure those particular ones are suitable yet. Some of the bigger units are more expensive, but who knows, maybe you'll find what you're looking for:

http://www.teamwavelength.com/produc...erdiodedrivers

[VDX]

... when starting with driving high-power LD's for engraving and brazing I've wired some LM317 and/or LM338 in parallel for combining their currents for up to 8Amps (2xLM317@1A + 3xLM338@2A) and switching the complete circuit on with a MOSFET for PWM with up to 500kHz pulsing rates.

For finer tuning and analogue modulating I've changed to an double-OPAMP driving two MOSFET's, each capable of driving up to 20Amps for short times with sufficient coolers ...

Viktor

[m0f]

Wow, great find! Sounds like a good option when needing just that little bit extra. From the listing they appear to have some nice features as well. Anyone here have any experience with them ? I wonder how they are for long term quality and diode life..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3A-analog-la...item25916dc4f7

It can drive up to 3 amps.

I'm trading emails with the folks at www.teamwavelength.com regarding their driver capabilities... they have a few in the < $100 range, but not sure those particular ones are suitable yet. Some of the bigger units are more expensive, but who knows, maybe you'll find what you're looking for:

http://www.teamwavelength.com/produc...erdiodedrivers

I forgot about them, I looked into them in the past, unfortunately found anything at that power level to be quite pricey, but appeared to be top notch as far as quality. I see a 5A model for sale used on ebay that looks like it might be a nice option and a decent price, though if I'm reading the specs correctly is a low side driver. Which I guess doesn't matter as long as diodes are case isolated nowadays.

If you can wait about a month, X-laser will be releasing the modified Pangolin reference driver. It has plenty of features, including support for higher forward voltages, higher drive currents, and several built-in diode protection schemes. It was presented at SELEM this year, and a prototype was hooked up and on display.

Contact Andrew at X-laser for more information.

Adam

Sounds interesting, can't wait to hear more about these. Though I'd likely have to wait for future builds or possibly upgrading my existing projectors, as unfortunately I'm in a bit of quick need for the current project and so will likely have to go with a different option for now. But very interested to find out more about these as they get closer to release.

... when starting with driving high-power LD's for engraving and brazing I've wired some LM317 and/or LM338 in parallel for combining their currents for up to 8Amps (2xLM317@1A + 3xLM338@2A) and switching the complete circuit on with a MOSFET for PWM with up to 500kHz pulsing rates.

For finer tuning and analogue modulating I've changed to an double-OPAMP driving two MOSFET's, each capable of driving up to 20Amps for short times with sufficient coolers ...

Viktor

In the past when it seemed nothing was available, I really looked into the possibility of building one, but I'm somewhat limited in my knowledge of electronics. If supplied with a schematic I could likely design a pcb and build it, but as far as designing a circuit I lack practice and have had very mixed results in the past in some of the projects I've taken on. I appreciate the info but for something like an analog driver though I'd be at a bit of a loss without a schematic.

[Bradfo69]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3A-analog-la...item25916dc4f7

It can drive up to 3 amps.

Are you actually recommending this and have knowledge of it or, did you just stumble across it in searching for an answer to the OP?