Suggestion needed P/S for 60,000mW laser..

wannaburn said:

[quote author=Diachi link=1232092889/0#14 date=1232146572]yeah, that is if your goggles are ACTUALLY OD4 at 808nm  

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They are rated on the side as OD4+ @ 808nm +/-20nm and have found even at 836nm no light passes. I may just buy a better pair to be sure, and like most, hide behind a CCD until the level of protection is confirmed.

I may even sacrifice my current set against a direct hit just too see what would have happened if my eyes were on the other side of the lenses. :-/[/quote]


test them with a camera first just to make sure and if you can't see anything, then go for it. or test them if you want , video it though

I have two of these same diodes, as well as various diode bars. My setup is just like mariomaster's. I use a variac to run a rewound microwave transformer, rectify with a 150a full wave brick, and filter with a large electrolytic. Voltage and current are monitored. Sams laser faq discusses this type of power supply. For water cooled diodes, you might want to consider a flow switch in the water line that will interrupt power to the diode if water circulation stops.

The attached photo show my power supply. Beside it and connected is a 60w diode bar on a copper mount attached to a finned heatsink. This burns holes in tin cans.

This next photo shows a top view.

This last photo shows the 60w bar on heatsink on the left, top center is a TEC based mount for a 40w bar intended for a handheld, on the right is a watercooled copper mount I machined.

For a driver, the parallel LM338's at 5a each will work.

FWIW that looks like a 160W coherent prototype laser, the 60W units look a bit different....

You can test it by running water through it and applying power with 2 or 3 freshly charged C sized NiCd batteries in series in a holder designed for high current, they will get it to turn it over at about 25 to 35A or so...

Be careful with that thing!

billg519 said:

This last photo shows the 60w bar on heatsink on the left, top center is a TEC based mount for a 40w bar intended for a handheld, on the right is a watercooled copper mount I machined.

For a driver, the parallel LM338's at 5a each will work.

Click to expand...

Is it just me, or do you have some seirious toys! I was thinking of starting a thread containing all my pics from day one. I would certainly like to see that monster of a collection you have

Im trying to figure out what im going to do with mine so I can get to the driver.

heruursciences said:

FWIW that looks like a 160W coherent prototype laser, the 60W units look a bit different....

You can test it by running water through it and applying power with 2 or 3 freshly charged C sized NiCd batteries in series in a holder designed for high current, they will get it to turn it over at about 25 to 35A or so...

Be careful with that thing!

Click to expand...

160W???????? I dont want to second guess that one, as I have seen the types of equipment you sell, and read many of your write ups.

Is there any way to tell what the output is via markings? By the looks of the pics there is no numbers or tags. I will certainly post many pics in hopes that may help.

Now im really not going to fall asleep easily tonight :

wannaburn said:

I remember the marhmellow video, wasnt sure who else had one around here.

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I've got one in this thread.

So my diode arrived the other day, im not sure if im happy though...

The ebay seller mi$$christine had a promising looking ad but was dissappointed with the way the item was recieved.

Nothing on the leads to protect from ESD, and an internal lens moving around

My new question is, can this seemingly sealed unit be opened? The only screws on the bottom are by the looks of it, to hold in the diode. The seller will ship me another, but they stated that the others have the legs on it. Im hoping that Heurr. was right and this is more than 60W "coherent protrotype"
So I have to figure out now weather to keep it or trade it in.

It looks to be in good shape, but I dont even want to power it up with the loose lens..

Any suggestions?

Ouch !!! The first one of these that I purchased in late 2007 arrived with the output window loose, I had to epoxy it back in place. I just bought and received another one of these from the same vendor. It is hooked up and running on one of my benches right now. Another one of these that I have burned out when a water hose blew off and sprayed my video camera. I was so concerned about the camera that I didn't switch off the laser fast enough to save it. I opened it without too much difficulty and I am going to replace the die, as I have 100w 808nm Coherent laser dies available. To open, take a utility knife with a sharp and hefty blade, score along the grey beveled edge of the top of the diode. You will be able to lever the top up and flip it back like in my attached photo. This is the diode that I am going to rebuild. Notice that I knocked the output window off as I was opening the diode. The other item is the diode bar itself, where I have to remove the old emitter and install a new one. Do not power up until you open it and reattach the optic. Do not use cyanoacrylate, use epoxy.

@Billg519..

Thanks!! I was worried about getting this thing open. I can see the seam, but cant mark this up if I have to send it back.

Which seller did you get yours from? Same as mine? They look the same, and am wondering if the bottom of yours was labeled 'SCRAP'? :-/

wannaburn said:

[quote author=Diachi link=1232092889/0#14 date=1232146572]yeah, that is if your goggles are ACTUALLY OD4 at 808nm  

Click to expand...

They are rated on the side as OD4+ @ 808nm +/-20nm and have found even at 836nm no light passes. I may just buy a better pair to be sure, and like most, hide behind a CCD until the level of protection is confirmed.

I may even sacrifice my current set against a direct hit just too see what would have happened if my eyes were on the other side of the lenses. :-/[/quote]

Man, if that thing can cut and melt glass, just imagine what it would do to a pair of goggles.

Now the purpose of the eye protection here, does it reflect the light from the lens, or absorb it? I can only imagine how quickly it would melt/destroy the glasses if it absorbed the light.

wannaburn - Yes, same vendor as you. Mine came with an ESD strap on it. Mine had no writing or markings on it apart from the Coherent label. Yours was probably marked "scrap" because the lens was loose inside. Also, the seams on yours don't look very tight, hopefully it will open nearly instantly for you.
From your photos, the lens looks loose, but not broken. I hope that this proves to be a quick and simple repair for you. Let us know when you get first light ...

EDIT : I forgot to mention one thing. I don't know where the vendor got 3.5V from.

I just did a run to give you some numbers.

1.49 V 0.10 A Voltage required for my diode to begin drawing current
1.60 V 4.50 A I can see faint LED emission on white paper
1.70 V 10.0 A Beginning to get heat, can slowly smoke black plastic
2.28 V 60.0 A Major damage and burning power !!!
2.62 V 90.0 A Serious power, I stopped here, as backstop slipped, beam hit a parts cabinet, instantly burning a big hole right
through the side of it

I didn't want to pursue 3.5V, I'm not sure that this is correct. I would be drawing a huge current and don't wish to blow this unit up.

Hope this helps ...

Yes that definately helps! I was hoping that there was someone on here who has run these before, go figure it was you You seem to have a serious collection, probably the meanest set of burners on LPF anyway ;D

I just got in, being Sunday and the family visits... Im getting to work now and will start with removing the cover. One things for sure, I wont rush any steps as this is the scarriest laser I currently own :-/

Thanks again

wannaburn : If you need any more help, feel free to ask me... You will enjoy this laser when you get it running. With proper collimation, it will burn through a tin can !!! Make sure that your water hoses are tightly attached, as an interruption of water, or forgetting to turn water on will kill the diode very quickly when it is running at power.

From what I can see, my unit is the exact same. I opened it with a sturdy slim blade much easier than I had thought.

Its funny that you mentioned that your one optic had fallen off as pictured above. While I had mine open, I checked the same optic and found it loose :-?

This is the first Coherent product ive had in pieces, and I must say im not impressed with the workmanship on this one.

I epoxied the two optics in their original position, and noticed right away that the lens that was floating was glued in crooked...
I also sealed the lid with a slim bead of epoxy while I was at it. Seems they only give them a tiny little spot weld on the four corners, but it can still be removed easily.

I doubt it will cause any issues, but expected that the postioning of the optics would be a little cleaner. As long as its a beast, im not too concerned

I will upload some pics of it's rehab, when I get a chance to resize them.


I am also curious.. What are these used for (mainly) in industry?

And what do they cost new? Definately a beefy little unit, they must charge an arm and a leg...

Dont think id sell this though, waaay too much of a liability :-/

I'm glad to hear that it opened easily for you.

I suppose that this type of diode could be used with a large, side-pumped Nd:YAG crystal to deliver a nasty beam of 1064nm on it's own, or drive a big KTP for a killer 20W green laser.

These are probably made to spec for a particular client, so may look a little rushed inside. As long as the light path is good, it doesn't matter if a lens looks crooked or off-center in a mount. No one is supposed to be looking around in here, after all. Just us experimenters who can't spend into the five figures on a single diode.
(Maybe not that bad for these, I'm not sure.) Never have had much luck finding a spec sheet either. Must be private.

A diode like this you don't sell. It's too much fun, even if you only pull it out once in a blue moon...

Looking forward to your first light ...