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Thread: Laser power supply fun

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    108

    Default Laser power supply fun

    I'm going to document my fun with manipulating laser heads and their power supplies.

    I HIGHLY recommend anyone reading this thread do NOT toy with the powers supplies. This documentation is for educational purposes only.

    In my case, I aquired several VERY low cost TTL lasers. And I want to conver them all to analog. So, I aquired Chinese analog supplies of various types and have been toying with them. This thread will document my notes and pics as I take them.

    Three types of connectors:

    #1) The barrel connector. six pins. Pin 6 in the center.
    #1 = diode +
    #2 = diode -
    #3 = TEC +
    #4 = TEC -

    The barrel connector is for a single diode and a single TEC. IE: Green and red lasers.

    Blue lasers require dual TEC's. One TEC for the diode and one TEC for the crystal assembly. This is one reason the blue's are more expensive.

    #2) The 9 pin DIN connector.
    #1 Diode -
    #2 Laser TEC -
    #3 crystal TEC -
    #4 Diode temp "-"
    #5 Crystal temp "-"
    #6 Diode +
    #7 Laser TEC +
    #8 Crystal TEC +
    #9 Laser and Crystal temp ground

    Next is the pin arrangement for the common 15 pin DIN CNI connector:
    #3) The 15 pin DIN connector
    #1 = Diode -
    #2 = Diode - (paired to compensate for current draw)
    #3 = ?
    #4 = Crystal temp
    #5 = ?
    #6 = Crystal temp
    #7 = Laser TEC +
    #8 = Crystal TEC +
    #9 = Diode +
    #10 = Diode +
    #11 = ?
    #12 = Diode temp
    #13 = Diode temp
    #14 = Laser TEC -
    #15 = Crystal TEC -


    That's it so far. I'm going to fuse a 100mw CNI laser into a Chinese analog dual TEC controller. IE: 15pin to 9 pin. I'll document how it goes.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    Central Florida
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    7,067

    Thumbs up

    You're on CRACK!!! I wish you well, and will pray for my old blue. Definatly document this as there are many of us that wanted this to be possible and were told it would be far easier to save the cash for an analog. A CNI dealer told me they would have to send the unit back to CNI to have it customly "mated". An email to CNI basically said the same.

    May the force be with you man!
    Love, peace, and grease,

    allthat... aka: aaron@pangolin

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    108

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by allthatwhichis View Post
    You're on CRACK!!! I wish you well, and will pray for my old blue. Definatly document this as there are many of us that wanted this to be possible and were told it would be far easier to save the cash for an analog. A CNI dealer told me they would have to send the unit back to CNI to have it customly "mated". An email to CNI basically said the same.

    May the force be with you man!

    While it's true I may be on crack, I DID sucessfully join a CNI 473nm head to a el-cheapo Chinese analog power supply.

    Originally connected to the CNI TTL power supply, I was getting about 87mw. Now I'm getting about 80mw. I'm glad to take that hit to get analog modulation. See the pics.

    Anyway, I mapped both the 9 pin connector of the analog supply and the 15 pin connector of the CNI head and breadboarded them together testing the TEC's and diode keeping a close eye on the diode power output and the diode temp. The cool thing about analog is you can start at 0v and work up from there adjusting the power supply until you get a stable operating current at the max 5V signal. Also, when I purchased the PSU from Snoctony, I specified I wanted one from a 100mw blue laser head. Made things a lot easier. The ultimate outcome was an adapter dongle.

    -Roger
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails P1000818.JPG  

    P1000819.JPG  

    P1000823.JPG  


  4. #4
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    Talking

    I am ecstatic to see someone else not afraid to modify or make better! I thought I was the only one to take a new laser apart and do the likes to it. Congrats and I await your progress and findings!
    You are the only one that can make your dreams come true....and the only one that can stop them...A.M. Dietrich

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    Mantova (Italy)
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    Default

    Wonderful work! I have a laser (unknown manifacturer) whose TTL psu looks exactly like that one in your picture! Maybe is CNI...Anyway I messed up with the pots and though without modulation it looks bright, when I modulate it it gets quite dark and has some problems which seems very probably connected with the TEC system. I think I have done something wrong to two of the pots (one regulates diode power). By studying that psu did you get some information to give me to adjust the pots to turn the TEC system to its optimal state?
    Thanks...

    Giovanni

  6. #6
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    Yorkshire, UK
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    Default

    Curiosity's got the better of me and i've got to ask...

    Why H2SO4 ?

    Sulphuric (or sulfuric for those on the other side of the pond ) acid has only one use as far as i'm concerned and thats for making EDTA bleach for bleaching holograms post development

    Jem
    Quote: "There is a theory which states that if ever, for any reason, anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened.”... Douglas Adams 1952 - 2001

  7. #7
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    Default

    wow you can make holography chemicals from car parts!

    Rob
    If you need to ask the question 'whats so good about a laser' - you won't understand the answer.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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    Stanwax Laser is a Corporate Member of Ilda

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  8. #8
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by stanwax View Post
    wow you can make holography chemicals from car parts!

    Rob
    ??? Car parts - Why would you want to make car parts from sulphuric acid ???

    I know i'm probably going to regret this and show my ignorance, but go on... please explain

    Jem
    Quote: "There is a theory which states that if ever, for any reason, anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened.”... Douglas Adams 1952 - 2001

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    108

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by h2so4 View Post
    Wonderful work! I have a laser (unknown manifacturer) whose TTL psu looks exactly like that one in your picture! Maybe is CNI...Anyway I messed up with the pots and though without modulation it looks bright, when I modulate it it gets quite dark and has some problems which seems very probably connected with the TEC system. I think I have done something wrong to two of the pots (one regulates diode power). By studying that psu did you get some information to give me to adjust the pots to turn the TEC system to its optimal state?
    Thanks...

    Giovanni
    All I know is it's doing a balancing act. Two of the three pots control TEC output relative to the thermistors. In addition, there is either a small single turn control resistor for the diode or a fixed 5W resistor. If you have the single turn model (like mine) you can turn to your hearts content and the PSU will not give you any more power because the temp is too high for the TEC. So, you have to turn up the TEC power. Like I said, it's a balancing act. The third control pot may be biasing control. I don't know.

    I have another cheap non cni PSU and it has a sophisticated monitoring daughter board with timing relays to control the power on sequence. It has a fixed 5W resistor. Dialing that up will require soldering on a 5W variable resistor in parallel (and being damn careful).

    All this being said...there is no evidence that my frankenstein will last longer than 10 hours. Until I really push it I won't know if my experiment worked.

    Also, there is NO blueprint for ANY Chinese electronics unless someone has taken the time to reverse engineer one. The Chinese turn these devices out so fast that they don't even bother releasing any relevant technical data. I wish the Japanese would start turning these out. Of course, they would cost three times as much.

  10. #10
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jem View Post
    ??? Car parts - Why would you want to make car parts from sulphuric acid ???
    He meant the other way around... You can get the material you need (sulfuric acid) to make holograms from car parts - namely from the battery.
    I know i'm probably going to regret this and show my ignorance, but go on... please explain
    A car battery is a standard lead-acid battery. The acid is sulfuric (sulphuric) acid. If the battery is fully charged, the acid concentration is around 34%.

    So - charge your battery, then drain the electrolyte out and you've got some acid. Distill it if you need a stronger concentration. Then use it to make your bleaching agent for your holograms!

    Or just order some reagent grade acid from a chemical supply house...

    Adam

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