O-like with cheap 400mW greenies?

I ordered it a few days ago. I should have this week because I got the DHL shipping. Susie said it will be at least 350mW. Ill put a review of it on youtube when I get it. Ill try to get some nice beam shots and some burning for the people who care about that stuff. My channel name is bulltex95, you can subscribe to know when i post the video or just keep checking back. I have one laser video on lasers and a ton of other crap. I don't have my techlasers 95mW anymore so I cant do a comparison of the two. :thanks:

I've been watching this one for about a week as they were going throw web site trouble.
They have change the laser power offer back and forth from 350-400 no ir filter, to 300 with ir filter,
and now 350-400 with ir filter. I've been waiting for the site to settle down.
But now I will be at the bank monday to put money in to order one myself.
Don't you guys buy them all tonight :tsk:

Wow, that's sweet make sure to let me know when a review of this thing is up

Petacat said:

Don't you guys buy them all tonight :tsk:

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yus, save sum for christmas.

very nice host too. great find!

Hmmm, they also show a 500mW version that looks to be in the same host but that's $599!!!

I thought most of the modules over 200mW had to be those beefier ones that wouldn't fit in that host? Even the 300mW modules on O-like's site are $225. Freak 12mm modules perhaps? I hate to be sceptical about a trusted seller but it does seem to be a bit too good to be true doesn't it?

I really do look forward to the reviews on this though and hope they shut me right up!

M

I think it was Jetlaser that wrote something about switching from 12mm module to 30mm or so at around 200mW.
It appears that the 12mm and/or the crystals fitting in them cannot reliably handle more heat than that.

This is precisely my point Toke, I'm just not sure you're going to get a reliable 300mW output from those 12mm modules. You're also going to need a 5.6mm, 2W pump diode! Do 5.6mm diodes go up that far?

Just questioning really. As I said above, I'd love to be proved wrong.

M

I was the one who first brought up the power issues with the 12mm green modules.

Although the crystal sets are capable of handling more power (KTP has a much higher damage threshold) under the proper conditions (TEC stabilisation, proper heatsinking), these conditions are not present in the 12mm modules.

Damage to crystals in these modules is often caused by thermal stress as the tiny crystal set struggles to cope with the sudden expansion caused by the heat. There is not enough mass for the heat to be transferred from the crystals and into the surroundings.

There have also been several repeated cases of "sudden DPSS death" involving these high-powered 12mm modules. Upon closer examination all were caused by crystal set damage.

This is why in the larger 30mm modules sold by O-Like and used by JETLASERS have larger crystals, and independant YVO4 and KTP crystals. These modules also have independant optics to reduce the impact of thermal stress.

The larger modules are also pumped using C-Mount diodes which are screwed to the base of the module.

There's no way one of these larger modules will fit in that host. Someone pointed these new hosts out on LaserChat, but I didn't bring them up here because there'd be no way they would put out 400mW after IR filtering.

Although it is O-Like, and they do have a proven record for delivering on-spec lasers, I will remain skeptical until we get some reviews along with long-term updates to ensure there is not rapid degradation.

I'll be making an info thread about green modules soon, too.

@Morgan, the diodes that are used for pumping are special open-can 5.6mm diodes. These are often 300mW but there are 500mW versions available.

"Normal" 5.6mm canned diodes go up to 1W, however, these are usually off-spec by up to 10nm, which renders the diode useless for DPSS pumping.

CNI uses B-Mount diodes which are attached in a similar fashion to C-Mounts.

Morgan said:

This is precisely my point Toke, I'm just not sure you're going to get a reliable 300mW output from those 12mm modules. You're also going to need a 5.6mm, 2W pump diode! Do 5.6mm diodes go up that far?

Just questioning really. As I said above, I'd love to be proved wrong.

M

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You could go for a 9mm open can.
But I think that generally, >1W is C-mount.
CNI uses "B-mount" diodes in their pointers and C-mounts in the larger PGLs. They are similar to C-mounts but the block the die is attached to is much smaller, allowing it to fit in a 12mm module.
Edit: goninanbl00d beat me to it.

I don't think they are using 12mm modules in that host. For >200mW you cannot use a bonded crystal set. It is just too inefficient.
For short periods, I can see this laser hitting >300mW.
400mW and up is possible, but there is no way that power can be sustained (anyone remember the >400mW Endeavor?).
The specifications list a short duty cycle.

For those of you purchasing this laser...
Keep in mind that shops like O-like are not going to sell the top-of-the-line products. Don't expect exceptional quality. Rayfoss, DX, O-like, Priceanges, etc... They are all Bang-for-your-buck shops.
Don't forget that you still get what you pay for!


I'll look forward to seeing the reviews. This could be a good greenie for the price.

goninanbl00d,
Thank you for the correction/elaboration, I could not remember where I read it and guessed at Jetlasers, because they are using 30mm(or so) modules.

They are probably an in-between module that we haven't seen before. Hopefully we get them in OEM format too, outside of the host.

Waiting for reviews would be the best course of action now.

@RA_Pierce, there's no way a bonded crystal set can survive, even if it can put out the power. Thermal stress would un-stick and destroy the crystal set within hours, if not minutes.

The crystal sets in 12mm modules are less than 0.5x0.5mm on the diode face. No way they would cope with the sudden heating.

Worst case scenario they'd run in some TEM[sub]youbrokethenamingscheme[/sub] before shattering or coming apart. Even higher powers and the HR and OC coatings on the crystals get burnt off.

goninanbl00d said:

@RA_Pierce, there's no way a bonded crystal set can survive, even if it can put out the power. Thermal stress would un-stick and destroy the crystal set within hours, if not minutes.

The crystal sets in 12mm modules are less than 0.5x0.5mm on the diode face. No way they would cope with the sudden heating.

Worst case scenario they'd run in some TEM[sub]youbrokethenamingscheme[/sub] before shattering or coming apart. Even higher powers and the HR and OC coatings on the crystals get burnt off.

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Yes, that's what I was saying.
Bonded crystal pairs are not meant for that kind of power.
I suspect that it's just a miniaturized version of the larger modules that are available places like O-like.

CNI manufactures an "in-between" module for some lasers as well.
They have the PGL-IV modules which are 12mm available up to >150mW and 2 versions of the PGL-H modules. One is 20mm and is available up to >200mW. >250mW DPSS modules are 26mm diameter.

goninanbl00d said:

@Morgan, the diodes that are used for pumping are special open-can 5.6mm diodes. These are often 300mW but there are 500mW versions available.

"Normal" 5.6mm canned diodes go up to 1W, however, these are usually off-spec by up to 10nm, which renders the diode useless for DPSS pumping.

CNI uses B-Mount diodes which are attached in a similar fashion to C-Mounts.

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That's interesting, (I kind of knew this too), but how then can these ever exoect to produce 300mW green output? If 5.6mm diode packages are only capable of a maximum of 1,000mW, at 20% efficiency, there's no way to achieve the claimed outputs. Given that a crystal set MAY be able to cope with this much input, how far can a 1W, 5.6mm diode be over driven? Are we now looking at a non-C-mount diode being pushed in the same way we push our re-writer diodes? Perhaps there are now 2W 5.6mm diodes? Hmmm, I have my doubts.

BTW, what is the definition of a B-mount? :thinking:

M

It is the same principle as a C-Mount, just the body of the diode, where the screw hole is, is smaller overall, allowing it to fit into a 12mm module. I'll find a picture in a sec.

From here: http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/easy-500mw-ir-laser-36919.html

DJNY said:

My guess is that we get near 1W greenies for less than $400 before Christmas

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that would be awesome :drool: