Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose....

[hobbybob]

Today i harvested the diodes i bought from DDL.
As i discussed with Rob, Robin and Simon there are several (two?) ways getting them from the metal casing:
1. Sawing (not recommended by some because of the sawdust), but if done careful it is possible
2. using 2 pair of plyers and twist and turn, knack, clean, no dust.

So i went for option 2, placed an antistatic bag underneath, applying force it twisted the pair of plyers, screech crack..... But to no avail.
I scraped of some metal and stupid thing didn't break.

So i thought i go for option 2, the saw.
I put the diode in a vise, diode facing down, carefully only sawing downwards not taking dust up. I sawed and when i was through i took it from the vise. Screwdriver in the sawed slot and turn. Voila...
Ehm... i noticed one of the "walls" of the open can was a bit bent.
Well do the other and started sawing at a different point (the "back" of the wall" of the open can). This protects the diode facet stuff thingy against the saw. This worked better.
Soldered some wires to it, looked up the instructions for Robins Die4Drive.
Easy i first played with the board, running it in a short circuit and turning the pots to "get the hang of it". I cut J3 so i could potentially run 500mA max.

Since i wanted to protect the diodes against dust and stuff i decided to place them quickly in an Aixiz housing (i think it's what they are called , the metal cans with lens i bought from DDL).
I used the CR&RDM method for mounting the diodes... CR&RDM i hear you think ?Yeah the Combined Rob & Robin Diode Mounting Method ;-)
The learned me this trick at UKLEM and it works:
I took a 5mm socket, put it in my drill press, put the wires i soldered to the diode in the socket in the drill press head , placed it carefully over the Aixiz housing and carefully pressed the diode to a snug fit into the front end of the diode housing. Nice....

Not surprisingly the "bent" one, didn't work...oh well, it was my first harvest.... so the other worked and emitted nice and BRIGHT red light. Ok, i thought, now it works, mount a Lasorb to protect it.
Soldered a lasorb to it and placed in a very cool black Z-Bolt cooling block.
Connected it again to the die4drive.... slowly turned R2 for the offset, where as before soldering the LASorb it started emitting light at around 20ma and started lasing around 60-90ma it didn't do anything.
Checked all my wires, the meter , the supply....

Well....sigh... too bad , i probably killed it stripping and touching the wires to mount the lasorb. Unbelievably sensitive then ? It worked damnit...
The light was cool and bright (i only run 150ma through it, it was already very bright and i could focus it into a nice dot)
Since i first wanted to protect it , then measure it with the LPM....
I already had the Die4chill ready to mount the Z-bolt blok on a TEC and see if i could make something "professionally".
Well professional and me are a long way from here, as it now seems

Well....sometimes you win some, sometimes you loose
Today i lost, but did learn a lot about harvesting, ESD, setting up a die 4 drive (thanks Robin, excellent piece of kit!). That's the positive thing.
Also thanks to Rob and Robin for sharing their CR&RDM method with me.
Will order some more diodes i think, since i liked the red light i saw.

Any tips, hints how to protect the diodes while working on them is appreciated. I WILL create dual red setup with tec cooling in the future !
I won't give up yet.

[MechEng3]

I usually solder a small blob on the pins quickly or use a shunting wire. Now I only employ a shunt to keep heat away. This will help a lot. Also a good practice is to have a shunting wire on the driver PCB with the diode power leads. After all wiring is completed the shunt can be cut and heatshrinked. This way going in for service work of any kind....you simply reconect the shunt and the diode is safe. The plus side is if there is any caps on the driver it will drain them before powering it up. Just my .02

[allthatwhichis]

Just my .02

His .02 is probably worth .05 to .10... Unlike mine that sometimes doesn't break even.

[hobbybob]

Well make that 10$ then, since that's what those diodes cost ;-)
Good tip about the shunt as well. Will think about it when my next diodes come in ;-)

[Doc]

It's good to keep everything at the same potential when working with sensitive components, that is you, your work area and the components.

The easiest way to achieve this, is to use a metal work area and ground yourself to it with a wrist strap, keep all your components on there proir to installation etc.

[mccarrot]

You are sure you didn't put the lasorb wrong way arround?

Those LOC's are very sensitive. After killing a couple of LOCs I now use the Closed cans from sony. you can even drop them on the ground without killing them.
The sony are capable of 200mW after optics.
I also rather want the LOC's because they can do 300mW but It can be expensive when you kill them all the time.

Also you need to short the output of the die 4 drive when you have turned them on with no diode connected because I think there is a cap in the output.

[300EVIL]

Bummer dude, Unfortunately it happens to most of us. I broke the window extracting my first diode. The little mount for the diode is made out of tin. I find the easiest way to extract the diode is to use a nice sharp and sturdy set of small electronics side cutters. Just carefully snip away in little bites on the tin until you have a deep groove on both sides. From there just use a tiny vise and needle nose pliers to wiggle and fatigue the mount until the diode slides out. There may be a better method, but that works for me. Also, When soldering definitely use a heatsink and having an adjustable temp soldering station is a major plus. I like to set my iron to the coolest temp I can and still complete the joint quickly. Better luck next time!
Adam

[daedal]

Ouch! Really sorry to hear this. Send me a PM and let me know when you place your next order...

Adam, I used to use the "extraction by snips" until I hit myself in the nose with a piece of the snips themselves (I broke 5 sets so far... 2 of which are excelta, and that ain't cheap $#!T )

Make sure you have a grounded solder-tip. Ground yourself to the table/mat. Use ESD tweezers.

Here are the things I do now...

Step 1. Mount the laser diode in a vice, and use a VERY hot iron with a very clean and well-sized piece of solder to pull the three solder joints simultaneously (it took me a diode to learn that trick, to others it's second nature... somehow ) The trick here is to have a nice pair of tweezers properly located to quickly pull the piece of PCB up before the solder has time to overheat the diode.
Step 2. Using two small vice-grips I snap the case around the diode. The trick here is to have a firm enough grip, but not enough to crush the metal, then wiggle just enough to create a crack in the mount, but not bend hard or far enough to bend the can itself, or the diode is toast. The diode could be free after your first push away from the pins, as that will release the diode from the mount just enough so you can use tweezers to pull it out safely. (this set may work for you)
Step 3. Mount into AixiZ (or mount of choice/availability)
Step 4. LASORB
Step 5. After discharging the cap on the driver... Wire to driver.

You can devise your own step 6 onwards

The pins on the LOC are tough... and short. Any hard push or pull will break the hair-thick wires connecting the pins to the dye. The Sony diodes are better with regards to pins as they are more flexible.

I have never used the saw method, but have talked to others who swear by it.

I also prefer a hot iron. Using a cold iron will make you stick in the same spot and heat the diode case too much (and thus the dye). A hot iron will melt the solder before the case can get hot enough. If you are having difficulty with silver solder or lead-free solder, use the flux-core lead-tin solder. it melts nicely, quickly, and flows easily. Make sure you use just enough solder. Using too much will conduct too much heat to the case and the dye.

Hope this helps;
DDL

[mccarrot]

I also prefer a hot iron. Using a cold iron will make you stick in the same spot and heat the diode case too much (and thus the dye). A hot iron will melt the solder before the case can get hot enough. If you are having difficulty with silver solder or lead-free solder, use the flux-core lead-tin solder. it melts nicely, quickly, and flows easily. Make sure you use just enough solder. Using too much will conduct too much heat to the case and the dye.
DDL

I agree with deadal, a Hot iron (not too hot) is much better than colder iron because the time to solder is quicker.

Also the pins of the Sony's are about 3x as long, so less chance of overheating when soldering.

With LOCs its best to order the double amount as needed so you can screw up half of your LOCS

If you need sony's please PM me, if you are going to order LOC's maybe we can share shipping costs

[Lazerjock]

Daedal and I live around the corner from each other. Thank god since I have destroyed more diodes then I wish to admit to.

I am one of the people Daedal refered to that uses the saw method. Be very careful and saw in only one direction to prevent drawing metal into the diode.

I also agree a hot iron and speed is the trick as well as grounding.

Good luck on the next extraction.


Lazerjock