3W CopperTop 9mm 450nm Copper Build

I am offering 3 lasers from my latest build. First I'll get to the bottom line. If you want more details check at the end of the post.

There are 3 of these, labeled A, B and C. Each has built the same way and you can see from the pictures the nature of the build (details at the end of the post). They have been burned in and measured and the price reflects the average power output over 60 seconds.

Components:

• 9mm 450nm installed in copper module from DTR
• X-Drive set to 2.4A from DTR
• MSV5 Copper head hosts from sinner
• 405-G-2 lens/Conical host focus ring (for best power)
• 445 3-element glass lens in aluminum knurled focus ring (for best beam profile)

Build:

• Solid 100% copper head
• Press-fit 12mm solid copper module, De-oxit oxidation protection applied
• Host was hand polished and protected with 3 coats of Everbrite
• Coating ensures the copper and aluminum will remain bright and oxide free
• All threads lubricated with De-oxit to ensure good electrical connection
• 2 AW 18350 batteries included, positive case, spring negative terminal
• Unique pill design, each side of driver is thermally adhered to a 2mm thick piece of copper hand formed to a tight fit in the copper top, De-oxit used and set in place with thermal epoxy
• Lenses set in focus rings with blue threadlock
• Lens spring loaded in module

Testing:

• 5 minutes of burn-in, no more than a 60 sec duty cycle
• Beam profile shots, converted to black and white and exposure balanced
• Power measurement with 20W Ophir head, Kenometer Pro, 10cm on axis

Prices are shipped in NA. For other parts of the world add $15US. Paypal

ALL SOLD!
For reference the selling prices were my asking prices: A: $300, B: $280, C: $290US plus shipping (thanks buyers!)

Details
I have done a number of builds for myself including a 750mW 405, 120mW 520, a couple 1.4W M140, a 9mm Scorpion... I really like smaller hosts and builds that have a cohesive look. I really like the Aurora SH032 host and many of my builds use it. However its a challenging host to work with.

When considering a 3W laser I wanted one that I knew was build with thermal dissipation in mind. I had in my head the way I'd do it. When sinner came out with his V5 copper head hosts I decided this would be a great host for the 3W laser that I wanted in my own collection. Instead of just building one, for me, I decided I'd build 4 and share 3 of them with you.

I liked that the module was press fit in the copper head for optimal thermal performance, something very important with a build like this. Especially trying to keep the size down. So the large thermal mass of sinner's host's head was ideal. I used De-oxit in the interface between the module and head to ensure there would not oxide build up reducing thermal performance.

Mounting the driver was going to be interesting. I wanted the driver to be very well thermally sunk. I tried a few things and decided on the method show. For each laser I cut two slugs of copper, 10mm x 4mm x 3mm. I then camfered the edges on one side to provide more surface area coupling to the copper head. I then manually filled them down so that when two of them sandwich the driver, it fits tightly into the back side of the copper head.

The driver is thermally adhered to each copper slug one on the driver chip and the other on the inductor on the other side. Arctic Alumina epoxy was used for this to ensure no electrical impact to the driver. This "pill" was soldered to 24AWG silicone wire to the laser diode including heat shrink tubing to prevent shorts. The pill was pressed into the back of the 12mm bore in the copper head. The design was made so that the pill would wedge in at some point so that some pressure could be applied to ensure a good mechanical connection between the copper slugs and the copper head. This is for good thermal performance but also because one of the slugs is soldered to the + wire going to the driver. This provides a good high current connection from + on the battery, through sinners excellent high current clicky, through the host, to the copper head, through the thick copper slug and less than 5mm of 24 AWG wire to the driver.

The driver pill is then secured with Arctic Silver thermal epoxy. The part of the slug that meets the head has De-oxit on it to ensure a long term good electrical connection.

I tried to do everything thinking about heat dissipation and electrical current flow. I even applied some De-oxit to the threads in the clicky and head to reduce any negative effects of oxidation. Those areas are not coated with the Everbrite.

Speaking of which, I hand polished the hosts and heads and applied 3 coats of Everbrite which is an expensive product for protecting metal from oxidation. This means the copper heads will remain bright and shiny and not require any polishing. same with the hosts.

The lasers out perform my expectations. The prototype I ran for 2 minutes and it did not drop under 2.7W and maintained a pretty linear drop which implies good thermal and electrical performance. I did not run the lasers for sale that long. The graphs are 60 seconds and you can see they perform very well. After 60 seconds the head is merely slightly warm! Wow!

Sometime you want power, for burning and sometimes you want a nice beam profile, for admiring. I have mounted a 405-G-2 lens in the hosts supplied polished conical focus ring using blue semi-permanent thead lock. This is for power. For beam profile, I also include a 445 3-element glass lens mounted the same way in a nice aluminum knurled focus-ring. Both are included for the posted prices, along with 2 new AW 18350 batteries.

The other benefit of this design is that its easy to work on. The driver pill easily be removed and reused to replace the driver if needed. The De-oxit around the press-fit module allows the module to be removed easier than otherwise for laser diode work.

Details of the sale:
The use of these lasers can not be controlled other than by you, if you choose to buy them. I accept no responsibility for the use of these lasers and that includes malfunctions. I have burned-in and tested these lasers and provided detailed performance metrics for each laser. It would not be possible to determine the exact cause of a malfunction due to misuse and so you have to accept no warranty on these lasers. However I will help you all I can to do any repairs and can also do the repairs if you want for a nominal charge. You also accept any issues that arise in shipping the laser(s) to you. If you have specific concerns about any of this lets discuss in PM.


CopperTop A
3212 mW average
SOLD!

CopperTop B
3055mW average
SOLD!

CopperTop C
3158 mW average
SOLD!

bumb. i put a lot of attention to this build. check the performance of these. i plan to keep the 1st one i built because its such an ideal 9mm build.

you've got some specks on the third diode window, I bet some q tips and some vinegar would clean it up, might increase the output. those 9mm diodes have nice big windows, much easier to clean than a 3.8mm

I'm not interested, but bump for a well put together unit and thread

Shakenawake said:

you've got some specks on the third diode window, I bet some q tips and some vinegar would clean it up, might increase the output. those 9mm diodes have nice big windows, much easier to clean than a 3.8mm

I'm not interested, but bump for a well put together unit and thread

Click to expand...

thanks very much. as for the dust... its just a speck of dust and not worth possible damage to the aperture. although a low risk, it is a risk and i didn't want to take it on these nice builds - i dont think it would result in that much of a power increase. I will try and blow it out using a dust off bottle.

:bumpit:

Take a look at the power charts for these lasers. They are very stable and very powerful. I use mine to light incense sticks. If you have any questions, want more pictures or details please don't hesitate to ask. Feel free to make offers as well. I'd like to get these out in the wild.

Sweet looking lasers. Sinner does nice work. Would love to have one, at last no funds.
Here's a free bump. Beautiful lasers and a excellent build. +1 rep.

COMMANDR said:

Sweet looking lasers. Sinner does nice work. Would love to have one, at last no funds.
Here's a free bump. Beautiful lasers and a excellent build. +1 rep.

Click to expand...

Thanks Commandr. If you are interested in these lasers and want to make an offer feel free to do so. I am really proud of the build and the way the heat management is done. Those massive copper heads that Sinner created inspired me to get as much heat off the driver as possible to ensure stable operation and longevity. And the beautiful design of the hosts by Sinner inspired the polishing and specialized clear coat to keep them shining as much as the laser diode itself!

If you consider that the prices including shipping, the extra lens and focus ring and 2 new AW batteries, that makes the price of the lasers themselves (with G2 lenses) $290, 280 and 270 - not bad for a well built 3W 9mm laser in a Sinner copper head host!

I am keeping one of these lasers because its so powerful and stable. I use it for lighting incense sticks at home.

If you have any questions feel free to post or PM me.

Hello everyone. Watching this buy/sell forum over the past months it seems like people are selling their lasers and otherwise are hard up for cash. Makes sense with prices going up so much and such a sluggish economy.

I've decided to slash my prices on these lasers. I've taken $50US off each laser. This basically gets me a small amount for the labour involved in building them. They are better off in your hands than in a box sitting here and I made them to share my idea of a solid build with you guys.

These are not your usual portable 3W'ers: the build was very difficult because I wanted to ensure the driver was sinked very well to the main copper head and that meant hand machining copper slugs on BOTH SIDES of the driver and coupling to the head. Also, I wanted these lasers to be easy to work on in the event you need to repair or re-mod them. Finally, unlike a lot of builds these are fully documented in the thread so you are seeing exactly what you are getting, inside and out. Even down to using an expensive product to clear coat the hosts so they don't oxide up which not only looks worse but can also interfere with heat dissipation.

These price are shipped priced within NA by non-tracked air mail. I can use tracked and faster shipping if you pay the extra. These prices are really the lowest I can go without basically giving these lasers away for what I paid for the parts + a token gesture for the time I put into them. I put about 2-3 hours into each laser.

So, hopefully you will see the value here and can afford them.

These lasers are really impressive! >3W is pretty powerful. and as you can see they are very stable over a decent run time. as burners they are scary powerful especially with the G lenses and at the focal point.

So hopefully you will consider these builds for your collection. I am pretty proud of them.

I have a few 9mm builds at 2.4A and they hover around 2.7-2.8W. Anything over 3W is good. Looks like a good set up too.

Just a bump. :bumpit:

Sent you a PM last night. Get back to me when you can.

Thanks
Kyle

Hi....
I am interested in Copper Top A. Please let me know if it is still available.
Thanks
Proffessor

PayPal payment sent.

Thanks,
David

Message sent for C

Back from vacation! B&C still available.