5Watt portable c-mount ir

Is this possible, within reasonable specifications, with min 5min on time?, if so how?

Yes, I do believe this is possible. I myself have a c-mount running 4-4.5 watts that is "portable"(housing is unfinished) not quite "pocket size" but definitely portable. It runs off of two rechargeable D batts, and some 0.1ohm current limiting resistors. You will need some form of active cooling, such as a fan with a good heat sink or a TEC cooler. I'm using a small 12v fan(not the best, but flows ample amount of air) I say it's not the best bc this requires the addition of a 9v batt to power the fan. I know everyone is thinking you shouldn't use two different batt types together in a circuit but it's worked fine for over 6 months now and I make sure to disconnect the 9v from the circuit whenever not in use. Mine runs fine for over 5mins straight no problem. Burned through a 1/2 centimeter section of a wood shim in under 30seconds. I'm planning to make a custom carbon fiber host for this build too I've just been caught up working on the "white" or 7 color projects.

P.S. The C-mount itself was bought on ebay I can't seem to find the seller anymore but he was out of Jacksonville FL and I know he did have quite a few of these. It was right around $75 w/ shipping.

Could you help me out,I also would like to build a c-mount 5watt I.R. laser like yours...does 808nm "absorb" into most materials to burn like 650nm or 532nm? Where did you get the collimating lens and housimg for it also and can you see the beam in the dark with a fog machine to better adjust the beam to get it small to burn with? I know power is power but it seems that it is easier and cheaper to build a high power I.R. laser that combining reds to try to get close...have you ever used a "cube" to combine a red300mw and a 5watt I.R. laser together so it is more visible? How far away will 5watts of I.R. light a match?

Found this on ebay, but i'm not sure that is that what you need, anyway worth the effort to look at it

C MOUNT LASER DIODE, MOUNT, GRIN LENS, DPSS YAG 808nm - eBay (item 170345367689 end time Jun-26-09 10:52:33 PDT)


BTW, do someone know what is the more powerful red LD in c-mount with fast axis correction lens integrated that is possible to find around ? (without have to sell lung for it, ofcourse )

Zxn4741, hello, let me begin by stating that I do not know the wavelength of my c-mount, it is definitely IR but I don't think it's 808nm. I tried passing some KTP Nd:YVO4 in front of it but had no success with green output Anyway from what I have seen on videos of 808nm it looks like most objects do absorb it but I'm not completely sure. The collimating lens is uncoated glass 15mm in diameter. I found this lens at a local surplus store called Skycraft, it works very well for burning. With one lens it will produce a thin 1/2-3/4 inch line at a distance and a very tiny dot when focused to burn close up. For long distance burning use two lenses to correct both axis and produce a small dot at a distance. The lens holder was taken from an old telescope. The beam from my c-mount is totally invisible but from an 808nm at high power you can probably pick it out(faint red) depending on your eye's sensitivity to 808nm, however I DO NOT RECOMMEND trying to view the beam of an IR laser even with eye protection at this power level! It is much safer to view IR through a digital camera ie. cell phone cam works just fine. Use the camera to block any of the light emitted from hitting your eyes and just look at the screen! Yes you are correct IR is the cheapest way to go right now when it comes to mw per dollar. I have combined IR with red before but not with a c-mount IR only with a 5.56mm diode, I'm sure it could be done with a c-mount but you would need either a cube or dicro with a pretty high damage threshold. I have lit a match at over 50 feet with mine running between 4 and 4.5 watts, and using two lenses. I'm sure it would light at a much further distance if I had enough space. It can be quite difficult to get it focused that far away because you cannot see it with your naked eye and your having to view it through a display.

P.S. If anyone wants one these glass lenses I can ship them to you for $15 plus shipping. Again they are 15mm diameter 6mm thickness and they are brand new and work great with high power IR C-mounts, they barely even get warm after running for 3min+ in comparison to a 6mm, 600nm-980nm coated lens I have that gets to 150 degF after only 20-30sec.

Here is a short video of my portable c-mount. I mounted a new fan I found a in a ps2, better bc it's 8.5v instead of the old 12v one.

Can you show off more of it's burning capabilities

Sure themandalorian, what would you like to see?

Just what else it can burn and the length of time it takes to burn. See I was going to get a 5W c mount diode in a Kyrton beast (so I guess good cooling, then an AW battery that can support these, have you seen them> The 18650 batteries that can take this 5W beast).

Anyways now I am getting a 1 watt red but I'm still curious.

Ramsey_Innovations:
I am building a few 2W 808nm lasers. I started in january (I think) and due to complications sourcing parts I still have not completed it... If you could give me some more information on these lenses you are using I would appreciate it. I am trying to get some coated lenses but if that doesn't work out I may get some of these.

Are they coated?
What is the distance from the diode to lens for focusing at infinity?
What is the minimum beam divergence you are able to achieve?

The coated lenses from Larry or Jayrob won't work?

A few vids of the c mount vs. a disposable camera back and vs. a ball point pen. This diode eats black plastic like nothing! Unfortunately my camera battery died during one of the vids so I had to stop, change batteries and continue. It literally does cut a pen in half in well under a minute though!!! I was also trying a new lens setup with a small 7mm coated lens within the focal range(closer to the diode than focus to infinity) plus one of my 15mm uncoated lenses after that. This seems to focus the output to an extremely small dot thus a higher power density.

RA_Pierce, as far as the focal length goes, with the way I have my setup I cannot get one of my lenses close enough to the diode to find the focal length exactly(restricted housing), but I know it's less than 1cm. If I use two lenses to focus, the output is a thin line at distance of 25ft, about 2.5cm long X 1/4cm thick. The thing is the slow axis requires special lenses depending on the diode's specs. What I have used for this is the viewfinder lens from a camera (the rectangle type) to squish the beam for long shots but it’s tricky. The lenses I have are not coated but they do work very well for burning, they have a high damage threshold and their cost effective!

Over the max 16MB's

So are you thinking of Trying Larry's or Jayrobs lenses? Larry has some that are supposed to be better than meredith, I guess let 97% of the light through and are coated for around 600nm to 900 if I remember, Worth Checking out to get more power and a tighter beam.


Those are some CRAZY videos though THANK YOU. Watch out about smoke on your lenses!.

However Do you have any videos of it, sayy burning through newspaper. I can't imagine how fast you could cut a circle out of it, I had fun with my friends 200mw Red with newspaper 5 watts would be crazy.

Also what goggles do you have for these?

@ themadelorian

hey are you getting a 1W red in a kryton beast ?

What kind of amperage does a typical 500mW green handheld laser put out? I ask because I am curious if I can turn the pot on the driver of my old dead 500mW green laser and use it as a host/driver for a 4-5W IR burner