Guys
I bought one of Sparkles lasers on Sunday, just before this sh*tstorm broke out. I PM'd him with concerns over these issues. Of course, I got assurance from him that as long as I didn't try to lase for 10 minutes at a time, the laser would perform fine.
Has anyone looked at his craftsmanship and components to determine if these things are the junk this community suspects they are? I haven't received mine yet, and I'm very worried that I've been screwed out of $280. Romogracie, were there any issues with your unit before you left it on for 10-15mins?
I PM'd him yesterday to get instruction on how to turn the current down on the unit to give the diode some safety, but he has yet to reply. His banning will prevent a response via LPF but he has my email address from Paypal & I would have thought he'd drop me an email letting me know he had been banned.
I have plenty of experience with paypal's dispute resolution on Ebay transactions...how are they on private transactions like these? I hope my experience with Sparkles doesn't get as ugly as this one did, but if it does, I'm going to have to rely on Paypal to mediate it.
I'll also agree with what another member said earlier. You guys need to write out some guidelines for how folks do business here. Someone mentioned an unwritten code that exists. You should make that written so there's no question about how sellers are expected to behave. I don't think Sparkles was professional at all in copying JayRob's design or quoting him without giving any credit, but it also seems like he was excessively mauled for this shortcoming. What ultimately got him banned?
I realize I'm also a newbie here, and I hope you don't ban me for asking these questions.
I think I read above where as many as 11 folks may have bought these lasers. Maybe we could turn this thread into something that would help those of us who bought these lasers....starting with some instructions on how to dial the current on this down from 1.8A to 1.4A to ensure these diodes aren't hammered.
The "guideline" is NOT "unwritten." The concept that this guideline follows is part and parcel of business in the world. The "unwritten" guideline is simply respect for intellectual property. Jayrob says that he doesn't "own" anything. I totally disagree. Designs and ideas are property. Jayrob is kind enough to show us how to build one for ourselves. However, the design is his. He owns it. Stealing someone's idea to make a profit with it is theft, pure and simply.
If Sparkles had bought the kits from Jayrob and then assembled lasers from them, he could charge whatever he wanted to for the labor, additional parts, and skill needed to assemble it into a working laser. What he did, was steal Jayrob's idea and design to bypass the designer and collect money from, Jayrob's design
Can I get advice from one of the Vets on this thread on what I can do with this Sparkles laser to ensure it lasts more than a few minutes (other than not running it for 10 minutes straight...I'm pretty clear on how that's a bad idea).
Over in PL there has been some experience with and discussion of the Flexmode popping diodes. In projectors, most of the builders there include a Lasorb (
http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_diode/LASORB.php ) to protect the diodes. You also need to keep track of it to figure out how long you can run it before it begins to get hot
I have no idea at what current Sparkles was actually running these. There seems to be some confusion whether he included a stock acrylic lens (really bad idea) or whether he included an AixiZ glass lens. It is pretty clear that he did NOT include a G-1/2 lens. If he was running them at a current capable of exceeding 2W with an acrylic lens, he was flat out crazy
If he was running them at a current at which he could get 2W out of an AixiZ, he was pushing this diode to the very edge of its "believed" capabilities.
When you push a diode to its "edge", you have to decrease the run time. Big heat sinking alone will not protect the diode at the extremes. The wires and die heat up much faster than it can be transferred. In labbys and in projectors, when these diodes are run at the extremes, they are
ACTIVELY cooled (TEC, etc)
Will some survive at the edge? -- Absolutely. :eg:
Will MOST survive at the edge? -- Probably not. :cryyy:
Remember, it is a heat
sink,
NOT a heat
black hole. Even a big heat sink has a maximum capacity to absorb and move heat
Peace,
dave