Are the Osram PLTB450B 1.6W 445nm Laser Diodes good at burning?

I have recently stumbled over a good deal on the Osram PLTB450B 1.6W laser diode. The price of these things seem to be cheaper than other laser diodes of the same colour so I did some research on it. I found this thread on this forum with the diode being tested. 1.6W should be a good burner right? Then why does the beam in the pictures in the thread so weak? You can barely see it at all. It could just be the lighting in that particular situation but I want to be safe than sorry and buy a useless diode. How does the burning effect compare to another violet laser of 445nm?(Like the M140)
(PS. I already have a pair of Eagle Pair laser safety goggles 190-470nm, OD4+, this should be good for this laser right?)
(PPS. This is my second build so I am still a sort of noob XD)
Any help would be appreciated, even a short answer like "It will burn" or "It won't burn" is ok.

Update: I have just ordered all the parts, cost around 100$ in total, should be in the mail in 3-4 days. In the meantime I have a question, I got 3 types of lenses, a 3 element lens, M9 lens and a acrylic lens. Which one should I use for best burning power?

Yessir it will burn. It has good beam specs and 1.6W is good for (some)etching, balloons, matches, black tape..whatever the kids are burning these days...

Do you have a plan for a host and driver yet? @ 1.8A I've achieved almost two Watts w/ G2 lens
My PLTB build: http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/olight-baton-died-lets-put-pltb450b-91038.html

Down with Umbrella said:

Yessir it will burn. It has good beam specs and 1.6W is good for (some)etching, balloons, matches, black tape..whatever the kids are burning these days...

Do you have a plan for a host and driver yet? @ 1.8A I've achieved almost two Watts w/ G2 lens
My PLTB build: http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/olight-baton-died-lets-put-pltb450b-91038.html

Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply. I wasn't actually planning a host, I want to put it in a 1 inch by 1 inch aluminium heat sink since I didn't want this one to be portable. The driver well...I have no idea what are the specific driver specs (stupid Chinese website) Because i don't actually know which one will work I actually bought 3 different drivers. One is rated 1.4W 1.6W 2W 445-450nm driver, another says 6.5-7.5V 405-445nm driver, and the last one says 3.7-4.2V 405-445nm driver. This left me confused and thus bought all three. LOL. If you have time would you mind looking at the 3 site I just linked and see if you can tell which one is correct. (I know you probably can't read Chinese but can you at least look at the picture)
Also any tips you have for building this would be greatly appreciated since I saw that you have used this diode before.
Sigh... probably shouldn't be building this since this will be my second laser build and is 13 years old... BUT IM NOT LIKE MOST TEENAGERS

Haha well I'm sorry I cant read Chinese, I'm jealous of you bilingual people. I can read/speak high school level Spanish.

Anyways the first option appears to have an adj. Pot so you will need to set this to the appropriate mA. This requires a test load.
Or you have another option. Buy a drive here on the forum, or from survival laser.
1.8a is what you're looking for. voltage usually ranges from 7-12V for a buck drive.

X-drive
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/x-drive-x-boost-88589.html
Or
Survival Laser Driver
Or select a driver you have already purchased. I believe ebay seller "techhood" should be able to see you some really fan cooled heat sinks as well as various other parts

Down with Umbrella said:

Haha well I'm sorry I cant read Chinese, I'm jealous of you bilingual people. I can read/speak high school level Spanish.

Anyways the first option appears to have an adj. Pot so you will need to set this to the appropriate mA. This requires a test load.
Or you have another option. Buy a drive here on the forum, or from survival laser.
1.8a is what you're looking for. voltage usually ranges from 7-12V for a buck drive.

X-drive
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/x-drive-x-boost-88589.html
Or
Survival Laser Driver
Or select a driver you have already purchased. I believe ebay seller "techhood" should be able to see you some really fan cooled heat sinks as well as various other parts

Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply again. I will use the first driver then. I will set it to 1.2 amps and hope for the best. I really hope a one inch by one inch heat sink with a 12mm hole down the middle will be enough to dissipate the heat and keep it below 40 degrees C. The problem is that I live in China so I can't really buy stuff off of LPF.

Also I have another question, do you have a link to a thread that teaches about how to calibrate/set driver circuits can how to make and use a test load?

I'd assume any diode of that wattage is good at burning.

Heres a link for the test load. As far as setting the driver you might want to research its requirements. Again I can't read the description but some drivers especially boost drives/flex drives have a first and second range so you might need to bridge 2 resistors.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f67/m140-test-load-90729.html

Down with Umbrella said:

Heres a link for the test load. As far as setting the driver you might want to research its requirements. Again I can't read the description but some drivers especially boost drives/flex drives have a first and second range so you might need to bridge 2 resistors.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f67/m140-test-load-90729.html

Click to expand...

I don't know what a first and second range is... I'm assuming it is when the driver increases the voltage by a certain amount the first range and a second amount for the second range. That was just plain old guessing...lol. The description says that this driver is used to bring a 3.7 volt 18650 lithium battery to 5.5 volts. It also says that you can directly use 5.5 volts from somewhere. (I will use a wall plug that brings 220v AC to 5v DC) I think this means I don't have to bridge resistors. Also, I want the laser diode I will be using to work at 1.2A at 1600mW. According to the seller this requires 4.8V. But the driver apparently brings all voltage it gets to 5.5V. Is the driver still suitable for this diode? I still don't understand how to use a test load, I understand how to make one, how to measure one but not how to make one for my specific laser diode. Is the goal of the resistor and diodes of the test load to bring 4.8V down to 0V or from 5.5V down to 0V? Or have I gotten my understanding messed up? Is an approximation close enough? So is it "drop of resistor"+"drop of the diodes" supposed to equal 4.8? Thanks in advance any information you give me.

A test load is used to simulate a laser diode. The diodes on the test load should drop roughly the same voltage that the laser diode you want to use drops. The resistor is for easy current mmeasurement. Although you actually read the voltage drop across it, which is the same as the current.

The driver can output up to 5.5v, but doesn't alway output that. If you connect it to a LD with a 4.8v drop, that's the voltage that should be coming out of the driver.

ChaosLord said:

A test load is used to simulate a laser diode. The diodes on the test load should drop roughly the same voltage that the laser diode you want to use drops. The resistor is for easy current mmeasurement. Although you actually read the voltage drop across it, which is the same as the current.

The driver can output up to 5.5v, but doesn't alway output that. If you connect it to a LD with a 4.8v drop, that's the voltage that should be coming out of the driver.

Click to expand...

This is probably the worlds most noob question, what is the voltage drop of the diode? Is that the same as operating voltage (Ie. 4.8v)
Sorry for the noob question

Deathunter88 said:

This is probably the worlds most noob question, what is the voltage drop of the diode? Is that the same as operating voltage (Ie. 4.8v)
Sorry for the noob question

Click to expand...

Diodes are current source not voltage source so they don't have a operating voltage they have an operating current. The voltage they draw at a given current and temperature is the voltage drop. Also a laser driver does not increase or decrease(regulate) voltage it increases and decreases(regulates) current. Voltage is passed from the power source based on the drop from the diode. This is one reason a test load is needed to set the driver.:beer:

Those Eagle Pair should work fine. You
will need them for up close burning. These
diodes are excellent. They do burn very
well. They also have some built-in ESD
protection, but I wouldn't count on it when
handling bare diodes. Be sure to handle it
while wearing a wrist strap like the ones
sold for PC repair until it is safely
closed up. Be safe out there, people.

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://laserpointerforums.com/f55/closed-osram-pl-tb450b-1-6w-substitute-m140-86408.html&sa=U&ei=hKpIVN6XFoS2yQTehoGABQ&ved=0CAYQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNE1giJON8khyVqPtxD_IuOaZTHXoA

DTR said:

Diodes are current source not voltage source so they don't have a operating voltage they have an operating current. The voltage they draw at a given current and temperature is the voltage drop. Also a laser driver does not increase or decrease(regulate) voltage it increases and decreases(regulates) current. Voltage is passed from the power source based on the drop from the diode. This is one reason a test load is needed to set the driver.:beer:

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Thanks for the reply DTR According to the data sheet it says in order for it to run at 1.6W it needs 4.8V. From what I understand from your post is that 4.8 should be the voltage drop I will be aiming for with my test load. Am I correct? :thanks: If I am wrong, would you mind telling me what I should be aiming for with my test load? Thanks again :thanks:

Yep according to the datasheet under ideal conditions the unit should pull 4.8V running @ 1.2A. So aim for around a 5V voltage drop from your test load.:beer:

DTR said:

Yep according to the datasheet under ideal conditions the unit should pull 4.8V running @ 1.2A. So aim for around a 5V voltage drop from your test load.:beer:

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WOW!!! you are the most helpful member ever Thanks for the reply and good day to you :thanks::thanks::thanks: