200mW Focusable Red Laser HLP18130 breakdown, modify/upgrade

Let me know your opinions (or insight) on this little project. I replaced the diode in this laser with a 20x open can Sony diode. It works great but I have no LPM to measure its output. Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions about this particular unit I can probably answer them. There is a review of this unit in the Reviews section I think.

After unscrewing the focusable head from the laser, a small open can diode is visible inside (sorry, no pic). Without measuring, i would say the 'can' part is about 3mm wide. With the batteries removed, I just knocked it right out. This left me with the following heatsink, which screws up out of the base. I like the fact that the diode presses right into the sink.



The driver that originally came installed in this laser serves as the driver for the new diode as well. It is adjustable via a pot, and I have it set at 400mA short circuit current. This allows about 380-400mA to the diode until the batteries weaken signicantly from 20 or 30 minutes of use. The case and heatsink disperse the heat fairly adequately, and the case (or handle, whatever you call it) heats up as fast as the internal heatsink. This is probably a result of liberally applying arctic silver to both the male and female threads and tightening.


Here is a view from either side of the diode/heatsink/driver after the new diode was pressed in and soldered to the driver. Note that the goo on the threads is arctic silver (too much of it), . This makes a great thermal connection with the aluminum case of the laser, and seems to be nearly as effective as the internal heatsink. The gray stuff on the PCB is a hardened glue -looks like arctic silver- which held the board rigidly in place prior to disassembling, which had to be scraped off to remove the diode and driver.




Next I replaced the glue with some one minute epoxy. this works great as long as no epoxy gets on a spot where it can cause trouble. Allow 5 minutes at least, so the epoxy will further cure. It is still a bit soft for another 20 minutes or so but strong enough to get back to work.
After the epoxy cured for a few minutes, I screwed the heatsink/diode/driver back into the case tightly.



Finished:

This is exactly what im trying to do on my own laser, which is the same as yours.
But instead of only replacing the diode im also going to replace the driver with a rckstr because both of these things blew up!.
Just wondering, was it difficult press fitting the diode in the hetsink of the dilda?

Also, is the host for this laser as good as those custom built ones such as jayrobs?.

Hey, sorry for such a late response- hope I can still help. As for your question about pressing the diode- it is not much different from pressing one into a regular Aixiz module. Since you say your diode is fried, you can just knock it out of the heatsink. I used a .22 bullet casing to press the diode in with a vice. Just try to note how far the original diode is recessed so you know how far the new one is gonna need to go. If you don't have a spent 22 bullet casing just find something similar.
I once installed the batteries backwards and the driver smoked when I turned the power on. I turned it off quickly, but I was sure it was toast. I was wrong, so I suppose the smoke came from a reverse protection diode shorting and burning up. I imagine it wouldn't have taken much more before failing and destroying the board. I cant say for sure that this would kill the diode, but I wanted that 20x LOC in there anyhow.
What made it burn up? I assume either reverse battery or you turned the pot on the driver up too high. If the latter is the case I would try to see if your driver is still good and use it for the new diode.
If you use a rckstr driver, there is one issue you need to work out. The original driver is fairly large and has the positive batt spring on the end opposite the diode, and the rckstr is tiny by comparison. You just have to figure out how to make that connection.
I would set the driver to about 380 ma or so for a good lifespan. Since starting this thread, I installed a different lens. The 650nm AR coated glass lenses from modwerx work very well in this laser, but you will have to increase the diameter with 2 to 4 layers of teflon tape so it doesn't wiggle or move.
This host has fairly adequate heatsinking, even better if you put some arctic silver on the threads of the heatsink. The rest of the body becomes part of the heatsink. Those custom heatsink/hosts have better cooling, but personally I like the lens focus module and the heatsink is plenty for my purposes.
I hope some of this is useful to someone, and good luck. Let me know what you wind up doing.

hi
thanks for the reply. i did manage to fix mine with an LOC and rckstr, i posted some pics in my thread,

slifer said:

hi
thanks for the reply. i did manage to fix mine with an LOC and rckstr, i posted some pics in my thread,

Click to expand...

Good deal. Can you post a link in this thread? I'm curious to see how you handled the size issue with the rckstr.

here it is
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/my-dilda-broke-need-help-upgrading-47200.html#post652121

i just used the same spring from the old driver, and then streched and bended it to fit properly