Another newcomer

Stu said:

every time i buy a diode they come wit max current settings,the 1 watt ones i have bought use about 1amp of current,the 500mw ones use about 500ma's of current,i wouldn't put 2 high current batteries on a diode,like i said i'm no expert but at the end of the day if the batteries capacity is as close to the diodes required current as possible you'll probably get the diode to last a lot longer,i was advised by a so called expert about using 2 batteries on my first blue handheld,the higher current and higher voltage of the batteries killed the diode in a flash,so since then i try to use batteries that aren't massively high on the current side.plus 2 batteries at whatever ma in line will still be the same amps it's the voltage that gets doubled is it not?

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Yes the voltage is doubled but you don't get my point. The mah of a battery is how much "fuel" it has in it's tank. And no, if you double the mAh in line it does double the mAh because it is the fuel.
Alsp, Yes you are also right that diodes come with a max current (mA) but again that has absolutely nothing to do with the mAh of a battery.
That is not how it works. The driver is what regulates the current, not the batteries. Having the wrong Voltage batteries will kill a diode but the mAh has nothing to do with the actual current supplied to the diode.

And what sort of goggles do you have??

2 batteries in series (like you get in a torch) only doubles the voltage not the amps,
what does it matter what goggles i have? do you think i'm dumb enough to stare directly into a laser beam, iv'e been playing with lasers since the first handhelds where released about 20+ years ago,i have numerous disco lasers and handhelds.and my eyesight's just peachy thanks,
and what business is it of yours what power diodes i choose to buy? absolutely none.
i'm sure you meant well but it reads like you're having a go,just because i base my battery choices on the current requirements of the diode,which to be frank is a bit petty.peace out dude

It seem's like you know (from reading this thread and the rest of your posts) next to nothing about lasers and you obviously don't own goggles rated for IR and your buying a 3W IR diode? Yes, I am having a go. That is stupidity?

When you get the diode and accidentally catch a reflection of a 3000mW IR beam don't say I didn't tell you so. You realise IR is invisible...yeah?

if i was dumb enough to stare directly into the light emissions (which i'm not) i'd agree with you,and yes i don't know that much about lasers which is why i joined this forum,but judging by a lot of the posts iv'e read there's quite a few people on here that are all to quick to jump down someones throat for their lack of knowledge,

do we not ask questions when we're unsure of something?

did the Un-human race get to where it is today without making a few mistakes along the way?

at the end of the day i would get some goggles if i thought i was dumb enough to even consider staring directly into a static beam,i swear most people on here think they're some sort of laser god.thanks for your advice on the amps,and if i need any advice i'll be sure to pm you with a whole essays worth of questions

Once again you fail to heed my point.

You do not only need to "stare directly into the beam" but you could be pointing the laser in a completely different direction and the beam could "reflect" of any surface and still be more than strong enough to blind you. I cannot count the number of times I have been using or testing lasers and had twice or even thrice reflected beams hit me square in the middle of my goggles. If I were not wearing them, guess what.. I would not be typing this to you now.

I still do not think you understand how insanely dangerous 3W of IR is! It is invisible! You won't even see the reflection coming you fool.. Jesus! At least with a high power 445nm or 650nm you can see if the beam is going to hit you. A 3W IR beam bounced off several surfaces will still blind you!!

You know what.. It's cool. Don't worry. Your smart enough not to blind yourself? Yeah? No problems.. WE'll just leave it at that then. But I highly doubt anyone on here will ever sell you another thing with that kind of attitude against lasers. Have fun.

You're very presumptuous, now you're assuming that i'll be pointing lasers at reflective surfaces,which i don't because i understand the implications of static beam exposure,
and i doubt that there will be any reflection off of my wooden shed roof,or at least there hasn't been so far.as it's not reflective.
seriously what the hell is it with people on this site,
there seems to be a lot of angst on here especially towards new comers,
it's amazing anyone joins up here when all the elite do is have a go at people.
is it any concern of yours what i do and what safety precautions i chose to take or not take? no,so please don't consider me dumb enough to blind myself,or even consider staring directly into any beam of any wavelength,i swear you must think that all new comers have an intelligence quotient of zero.and fyi i don't have any attitude against lasers at all, i have a very healthy respect for them to be honest and i only point beams at stars at night and only then around the star in question.and if i do get a shot of ir in the eye then that's my own fault yes but that's upto me,i know i'm not stupid enough to look directly onto any beam or even chance a reflection,which is why when i'm testing things out the beams are always directed at non reflective surfaces like the wooden shed roof which the last time i checked was completely NON REFLECTIVE,
thanks for your concerns though,duly noted,and if people want to judge me before even getting to know me then i would not want to know them anyway,as those that judge before getting to know someone aren't worth knowing anyway.& no it's not cool as you put it,your attitude towards new comers stinks pal.and the sooner you realize that not everyone that is new here is brain dead the better the forum will be.

sorry Rob there's us debating allover your thread like we own it.

The smell of death hangs in the air. I am haunted by the souls of lost diodes and fried eyeballs.

The smell of death? fried eyeballs? here we go again,
let me just clear this up,when i'm putting together a pointer using ir diodes,they are clamped in a vice in a vertical position and i will be sat 90 degrees to the beam of light,the light itself is shining onto a bare wooden shed roof which is light absorbant non reflective,no i don't have any safety goggles but the world has gone health and safety mad in the past 20 years,if i thought for one second that i'd be firing lasers at my eyeballs i would buy some goggles but at this time i don't feel they are necessary as i'm not stupid enough to point any static beam anywhere near my face.the beams are always pointed away either at the shed door or the shed roof whilst am tinkering.
so if you can smell death and fried eyeballs it must be some one with a bit less common sense than I

The Lightning Stalker said:

The smell of death hangs in the air. I am haunted by the souls of lost diodes and fried eyeballs.

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That's wierd- I smell somebody 'touching roses'....

TLS you are giving away our old age- are any of TBOL still alive???---lol

really guys a tad too much thread hi-jhack here-

@Stu-- there will never be a time when you do not get asked about protecting the eyes- -- & why take offence because some one assumes how much one knows or does not--

OP you should have spilt thias into ONe tyhread in the WELCOME section with NO questions- then made a thread for the rest in the proper section-

I will be sending you an invite to our Texas group- BUT after you JOINit do NOT fail to subscribe to the groupo as if you do not you will not know whats going on in TEXAS==+example some members are meeting Aug 9th at Larry's in Fort Worth- i hope at least 6 forum members will be there

Best place to even buy a laser is from the seller ( or better the MAKER) and in person with a LPM to show the actual output=- If you can meet us on the 9th I will have a few to show you--

There will also be a second gathering in DFW when I retrun from SELEM around Aug 19 to the 24th=there will be some laser projectors at both to enjoy--


PM me your contact info --

hak

Lake Jackson area- hour S of Hou.

So, you, "understand the implications of static beam exposure". How about the hazards of scanned exposure? And how about the fire hazard implicit in focusing a 3W laser (of whatever wavelength) on a wooden roof? Seriously, a 3W laser is something that must be respected at all times.

Oh well, you're gonna do what you wanna do and we can't stop you. So you go right ahead and hook that diode up to a 2-3000 mAh battery (I'd recommend a quality 18650) and have at it.

Stu no offense but I think you should refrain from giving "advice" to anyone about lasers. Firstly you can never be too safe when dealing with lasers. Secondly the people here are not over sensitive to safety because of the world but rather because of the destructive power of lasers themselves. Thirdly you are wrong about batteries. Yes the voltage doubles if in series but so does the capacity aka mAh (milliamps per hour).

Your driver on that laser couldn't take the voltage of two cells. It wasn't because of amperage.
If you had a battery with the capacity of say 1 million amps it would never ruin the diode simply because the diode will only take what it needs. Voltage spikes on the other hand can destroy the diode so that's one of the reasons we have drivers.
Hope that helps and sorry to the OP for being off topic :s

Stu said:

if i was dumb enough to stare directly into the light emissions (which i'm not) i'd agree with you,and yes i don't know that much about lasers which is why i joined this forum,but judging by a lot of the posts iv'e read there's quite a few people on here that are all to quick to jump down someones throat for their lack of knowledge,

do we not ask questions when we're unsure of something?

did the Un-human race get to where it is today without making a few mistakes along the way?

at the end of the day i would get some goggles if i thought i was dumb enough to even consider staring directly into a static beam,i swear most people on here think they're some sort of laser god.thanks for your advice on the amps,and if i need any advice i'll be sure to pm you with a whole essays worth of questions

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First off you are Completely wrong about batteries and obviously have very little knowledge of electronics. Having a higher capacity battery will give you longer run time not higher output. The amount of current to a laser diode will be controlled by the driver and will be the same if you hook you it up to a 1000mah battery or a 10000000mah battery.

Second I agree with the others above who are telling get you to take laser safety seriously. You know why accidents are called accidents right? Because they are Not planned and they can happen to anyone. No one gets out there laser and says to themselves hey I'm going to blind myself for life today, accidents happen and can happen to you no matter how careful you are. You can't see ir lasers anyways so really you have no reason not to be wearing safety glasses and are being very reckless by not doing so. And as others have mentioned using a wood back stop for a 3w laser is just stupid, sure wood is alright at not reflecting light however when it burns it can sometimes reflect light and you have no way to control in which direction that reflection is going to go.

If you want to risk your own eyes and blind yourself that's one thing but don't post about it so that no one else gets the impression that it is OK or safe to use a 3 Watt laser inside with no protection because it most definitely is not.