Build tutorial for Sinner type hosts!

Well I was going to do this as a FS thread with a small tutorial on how to build a laser, as I havent done any with these hosts, but it got a bit longer than I planned. So Ill just link the FS threads to this one.

Ok these are the diodes I extracted from an X..J..V..1 projector. They are the NUBM44 diodes - 7 in all.



Cut your wires and solder to driver, in this case I am using the new Blackbuck 6 drivers.



Remove the tips of the wires, pre-tin and solder to drivers.



Next step was to set the current this is done by supplying 8.4 V from a PSU and turning the pot on the driver very slowly, with a load and DMM in series. Here you can use either a test load (without the 1 Ohm resistor) and a DMM in 10 A mode, or simply use a beefy 1 Ohm 50 W resistor, which will give the same result. Please note the latter method works because I am drawing 4.5 A through the 1 Ohm resistor giving a 4.5 V drop. This is very similar to the NUBM44 voltage drop of around 4.8 V at this current.



The drivers are then heat sinked to the alu inserts for the host.



Next step was to prepare the copper modules for pressing the diodes. Here I use silver based thermal paste sparingly and after pressing clean away any excess, both on the inside and out.



After pressing the diodes should be slightly recessed in the module, make sure you have pressed the diode in straight. A vice and diode press are the best tools here and will help to avoid you slipping and damaging the pins.



Of course the mat I am using is earthed and in addition to this I always use a wrist strap when handling bare diodes.



Next step is to solder the wires to the diode. Remember to short the wires from the driver first! Add heat shrink tubing to the wires first as well!



Here the wires have been soldered and the heat shrink added to avoid shorts and strengthen the link between wire and pin. Remember the one second rule; dont heat the diode pins longer than this. The best way to do this is add fresh solder to your iron and immediately draw this along the pins where you will attach the wires - less than one second contact. One the pins have been tinned, pre-tin your wires and move into position above the pin. Touch your iron to the wire and as soon as you see it melt move onto the pin (wire and iron together - dont remove the heat). You will see the solder from the wire flow on the pin, leave it there for half a second and remove the iron. Again less than one second here too.



Use a vice or a clamp to hold the copper module and tighten the back half with a pair of pliers. Dont over do it, just make it tight to ensure a good contact of the module back half with the diode.



Regular testing is the key to building. Its best to check along the way that everything is working rather than finish your build and discover that there is a problem somewhere! Here the module and driver were tested. I also test the diodes after, extraction and soldering wires. I double check the driver currents just before wiring them up and also check contacts on the host, check continuity across the switches (when on) etc. Basically check after every step that way it will be much easier to diagnose and isolate problems. In the latter picture the PSU was used to run the driver and set at 8.4 V the current needed by the driver at 4.5 A is 2.3 A so I just set it to around 3 A.



This is the set up for the Envy hosts. The driver sits in the alu tube which is then inserted from the bottom of the host via the battery chamber. Arctic alumina thermal epoxy is used to attach the driver heat sink to the tube.



The wires to the contact board are soldered on and the board pressed into the tube. The extra wire on the side of the driver is to ensure a good contact between the board and the host. Make sure there is plenty of thermal paste on the module and alumina epoxy on the outside of the tube to hold it in place and in both instances improve the heat transfer to the host.



Note the sacrificial acrylic lens used to protect the diode when inserting the module/tube assembly into the host. This will prevent any stray heat sinking compound from entering the diode chamber.



The next pictures show the set up fpr the V1 bodies. Here the setup is easier as with the Phobos and the driver is slotted directly into the head and thermal epoxied in place. Again the contact board is attached in the same manner as above.



This is how the head looks once the driver and board have been installed. Although it wasnt shown, here too plenty of thermal paste was used between the module and the head of the host. These are 3 finished examples; a Phobos and two Envys builds, all polished



And finally here are a couple of pics of the results!



The methods used here are generic to most laser hosts, so the tips and tricks described above will help with most other builds. Have fun building! :beer:

Nice and detailed tutorial! Thanks.

Nice, comprehensive build tutorial! :beer:
As you said, it's pretty generic to most builds, so this ought to help answer questions in most build situations.
I definitely agree with your statement that while you are building, check that things are still working at every step along the way; this will save a lot of time and trouble later.

Thanks for sharing! :yh:

Thanks guys!

@ Bowtieguy yes exactly there is nothing worse than finishing a build and finding out it doesnt work. Especially after having epoxied everything in Checking at each stage can save a lot of time! :beer:

Very nice build thread, pictures are so clear and bright. Great read! :gj:

One question, what are the little "socks" you've got over the freshly pulled diodes. Looks really safe? :thinking:

I had sinner make up six of these Envy host for me a couple years ago to mount some new M140 diodes into. My concern for the NUBM44 diodes is that the aluminum host is not very massive to act as a proper heat sink for this diode. All six of mine were perfectly functional and had a pretty good duty cycle of two minutes. The tutorial was very comprehensive and backed up with several excellent photos. Good luck with the sale. +rep.

BobMc said:

Very nice build thread, pictures are so clear and bright. Great read! :gj:

One question, what are the little "socks" you've got over the freshly pulled diodes. Looks really safe? :thinking:

Click to expand...

Thanks The socks are just heat shrink which protect the diodes from dust and other junk getting on the diode window esp. during the extraction process from the block. Warm them up with a heat gun at 100 °C and crimp with a pair of pliers. They pull off very easily, someone mentioned this in the NUBM44 thread.:beer:

paul1598419 said:

I had sinner make up six of these Envy host for me a couple years ago to mount some new M140 diodes into. My concern for the NUBM44 diodes is that the aluminum host is not very massive to act as a proper heat sink for this diode. All six of mine were perfectly functional and had a pretty good duty cycle of two minutes. The tutorial was very comprehensive and backed up with several excellent photos. Good luck with the sale. +rep.

Click to expand...

This is true but these are the copper pressed versions of this host:


They have a massive copper insert inside the alu tube and this significantly increases the heatsinking capability of the host. Even though, I still prefer to keep my run times short to look after my diodes. :beer:

grainde said:

Thanks The socks are just heat shrink which protect the diodes from dust and other junk getting on the diode window esp. during the extraction process from the block. Warm them up with a heat gun at 100 °C and crimp with a pair of pliers. They pull off very easily, someone mentioned this in the NUBM44 thread.:beer:

:

Click to expand...

Oh, coolness, someone thinking outside the box, think that's a great idea.

I followed the extraction thread with great interest... Im not sure whos idea it was though? I just adapted it, placing the heat shrink on the can, heating it with my reflow heat gun gently, before folding the tip over and crimping the tube whist heating to seal it. Taking the diodes out was not easy it took quite a bit of time. I didnt want to damage the diodes and so I used a hacksaw very carefully to cut them out - just flush with the diode this was enough to break the block pieces away from the diode.:beer:

grainde said:

I followed the extraction thread with great interest... Im not sure whos idea it was though? I just adapted it, placing the heat shrink on the can, heating it with my reflow heat gun gently, before folding the tip over and crimping the tube whist heating to seal it. Taking the diodes out was not easy it took quite a bit of time. I didnt want to damage the diodes and so I used a hacksaw very carefully to cut them out - just flush with the diode this was enough to break the block pieces away from the diode.:beer:

Click to expand...

Alex Barnett was selling diodes with the heatshrink on the cans when he was here!

Nice builds buy the way,

grainde said:

This is true but these are the copper pressed versions of this host:

They have a massive copper insert inside the alu tube and this significantly increases the heatsinking capability of the host. Even though, I still prefer to keep my run times short to look after my diodes. :beer:

Click to expand...

Ah, didn't see that at first. That does make a difference. Like you, I keep my run cycles low to protect my diodes. My Envy builds were capable of much longer runs that two minutes. The guy I sold five of them to had one in his coat pocket and somehow switched it on without his knowledge and it burned a huge hole in his coat, but the laser was still functional. The batteries had discharged as he didn't find this out until much later. I spent hours explaining to him how dangerous these were, too.

badboybilly said:

Alex Barnett was selling diodes with the heatshrink on the cans when he was here!

Nice builds buy the way,

Click to expand...

Might have been using the same method. Im not sure if he suggested it or someone else, if I find it Ill link the info on extracting diodes in the thread. I also took some pics during the extraction but I cant find them. I cut the block into 8 cubes and then cut each face down to the diode again with a hacksaw. A vice and a big screw driver work to break the corners and base off. I precut the base below the diode with a cross too. :thanks:

paul1598419 said:

Ah, didn't see that at first. That does make a difference. Like you, I keep my run cycles low to protect my diodes. My Envy builds were capable of much longer runs that two minutes. The guy I sold five of them to had one in his coat pocket and somehow switched it on without his knowledge and it burned a huge hole in his coat, but the laser was still functional. The batteries had discharged as he didn't find this out until much later. I spent hours explaining to him how dangerous these were, too.

Click to expand...

Wow he was lucky, was he wearing it at the time? Its damn painful touching the beam, I did that whilst photographing the other day - adjusted the focus with my goggles on.:beer:

Yeah, he was wearing it at the time. I've got a few scars from burn marks while adjusting focus on a few builds, too.

Just bumping this as its useful for all builds, not just sinner ones!:beer: