DX200 FIXED!!!

I bought a DX 200mW and I played with it for maybe 5mins before it started mode hoping. I would turn it on and after about 3-5secs it would "shake" and split into 2 beams. I let it cool down thinking it overheated but after letting it sit for over 3 hrs it took about 10secs to beam split instead. I read the batteries might be low so I put e2 lithium AAA energizers. I thought it worked, as it wouldn't do it but after about 30secs it did it again. I was like damn. Then with these batteries it went faster and faster to splitting almost instantly when I turned it on. I arranged with DX to send it back. I thought though that I might be over powering it and causing it to over heat. I bought some rechargeables since they are 1.2v (the lithiums registered almost 1.8v on my multimeter). I charged them and left the laser on for 120secs and no beam split, I played with it so much at a friends house over a few hours till it died with the rechargeables and it never beam split once. It is very powerful too, it burns fast, pops balloons from over 10ft and everything it could do with the other batteries before it would beam split. I tried some cheapo batteries again brand new and some AAA titanium energizers and the titaniums are ok for like 30secs and cheapos I can leave on constantly. I still noticed it loves fresh energizer rechargeables, it burns the best with these and lasts very long as well as no beam split no matter how long I left it on. Just thought I would share my experience.

you got lucky

goldfingerfif said:

I bought some rechargeables since they are 1.2v (the lithiums registered almost 1.8v on my multimeter).  I charged them and left the laser on for 120secs and no beam split, I played with it so much at a friends house over a few hours till it died with the rechargeables and it never beam split once.

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That's why i told you on the other thread to try Ni-MHs before giving up on it.. Glad to hear it helped! Makes me hopefull mine will be ok as well..


These are seriously overdriven as it is, and don't have any kind of real regulation.
I'm only gonna use Ni-MHs on mine, and maybe even convert it to constant current, to get the same power over the entire battery voltage range.. I'm also thinking of putting it into a different enclosure with AA size Ni-MHs.. (almost triple capacity)


Could you tell me, how much it heats up? Would it make sense to also use active cooling?


Mine could be here by the end of next week. Can't wait!

IgorT said:

[quote author=goldfingerfif link=1204416398/0#0 date=1204416398]I bought some rechargeables since they are 1.2v (the lithiums registered almost 1.8v on my multimeter).  I charged them and left the laser on for 120secs and no beam split, I played with it so much at a friends house over a few hours till it died with the rechargeables and it never beam split once.

Click to expand...

That's why i told you on the other thread to try Ni-MHs before giving up on it.. Glad to hear it helped! Makes me hopefull mine will be ok as well..


These are seriously overdriven as it is, and don't have any kind of real regulation.
I'm only gonna use Ni-MHs on mine, and maybe even convert it to constant current, to get the same power over the entire battery voltage range.. I'm also thinking of putting it into a different enclosure with AA size Ni-MHs.. (almost triple capacity)


Could you tell me, how much it heats up? Would it make sense to also use active cooling?


Mine could be here by the end of next week. Can't wait! [/quote]

That's right you're the one that told me rechargeable, I should edit and give you full credit. It doesn't heat up much but you can feel it get warm but after a couple seconds it feels like it goes back to room temp. I don't think passive cooling like a heat sink will help much, I think a peltier will help (i got one) but with rechargeables, I now left it on for 5mins and it didn't mode hop, but I don't want to ruin the diode so I don't think I'll be doing that again but I was just trying to see if it would over heat and mode hop.

goldfingerfif said:

That's right you're the one that told me rechargeable, I should edit and give you full credit.

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You don't have to give me credit.. But i was hoping to hear about the results on the other thread, since i'm getting one soon as well.. Luckily i found this thread now...

In case the same happens to me, i want to know what helps... Otherwise, it was some people on CPF, that tigured out it's unstable on alkalines and lithiums and very stable on Ni-MHs, and i also discussed it with Curiously_Coherent, and he said Ni-MHs are the way to go for longevity..

On the other hand, he can actually use Alkalines when he want's more power for burning, so it would seem the quality of these varies widelly..

But no matter what mine does, i'm gonna use Ni-MHs exclusivelly, for longer lifetime.

It doesn't heat up much but you can feel it get warm but after a couple seconds it feels like it goes back to room temp.  I don't think passive cooling like a heat sink will help much, I think a peltier will help (i got one) but with rechargeables, I now left it on for 5mins and it didn't mode hop, but I don't want to ruin the diode so I don't think I'll be doing that again but I was just trying to see if it would over heat and mode hop.

Click to expand...

Looks like it's within a safe voltage range now.

I was thinking about peltier cooling, yes, but since you say it doesn't heat up, there's no point.. Freezing a laser doesn't help much..

I am still considering using my SEPIC converter on it, to maintain a constant power over the entire battery voltage range.. I just succesfully built my first laser using this SEPIC driver, and it can regulate the current from only two Ni-MH cells.. I can finally make my lasers small, without giving up current regulation.


Anyway, thanks for the info about the DX200.. I want to know as much as possible about it, before it comes.. I'm all excited..

Hows the divergence?

I can't believe it!

My first DX paxkage is here already, and it only left Hong Kong on the 27th... The laser left HK on 28, which means it could be here tomorrow.

Goldfingerfif...


Could you please tell me, how big the envelope was, that your laser came in?
Small envelopes usually pass our customs without anyone looking into them.

The batteries i just got were in an envelope 20x14cm (8x6 inches), and the customs didn't even look at it..
My laser will be here tomorrow, and i'm a little worried...


I still can't believe, how fast they got here.. Only 6 days after leaving Hong Kong.

may i ask something? there's no "true" dx 200 right?

ngiapy said:

may i ask something? there's no "true" dx 200 right?

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Nope, there isn't.. And this one "only" puts out around 120-130mW on Ni-MHs, but it does go as high as 178mW on a regulated power supply, with only around 25mW of IR or so.


Still, since it's green, it looks MUCH brighter than a 200 or even 300mW red, even at only 100mW of output power..

All i want is a nice visible bright green beam, and for it to live as long as possible.. So i'm only gonna use rechargable 1100mAh Ni-MH batteries, as they have a slightly lower voltage than alkalines but also remain at this voltage for a longer time...


It is possible, that a "true" 200mW will appear, but are they really that much better?

Do NiMH need to be charged before being used? i just bought a pack and put it into my DX True 30 and only a faint red glow lights up inside the barrel. i checked out the batteries on my multimeter and they read 1.2 volts.. sitll kinda confused how batteries work in general in terms of battery capacity and voltage

by the way.. can i charge duracell nimh batteries in a energizer charger?

Do NiMH need to be charged before being used? i just bought a pack and put it into my DX True 30 and only a faint red glow lights up inside the barrel. i checked out the batteries on my multimeter and they read 1.2 volts.. sitll kinda confused how batteries work in general in terms of battery capacity and voltage

by the way.. can i charge duracell nimh batteries in a energizer charger?

r34p3rex said:

Do NiMH need to be charged before being used? i just bought a pack and put it into my DX True 30 and only a faint red glow lights up inside the barrel. i checked out the batteries on my multimeter and they read 1.2 volts.. sitll kinda confused how batteries work in general in terms of battery capacity and voltage

by the way.. can i charge duracell nimh batteries in a energizer charger?

Click to expand...

The ones, that come precharged usually say so on the package.. They should still hold some charge, even if they are not full, but if the laser pulls a lot of current, this can drop substantially, very fast.


Yes, you can use any Ni-MH or even Ni-Cd charger for any Ni-MH batteries.. The only thing you need to check is their capacity and divide it by the charging current, to get the time you need to charge them, and leave them in a little longer.. If it's a smart charger, that know's when they're full (delta peak), it ends charging by itself.


Ni-MHs do say 1.2V, but that is their average voltage.. When they are full, they measure up to 1.4V and 1V, when they're completelly empty..


Since yours measure 1.2V, it is possible, that your laser is dead..


Oh, and you should NEVER look down the barrel! There could be IR coming out, which you wouldn't even see, but could damage your eyes!!!


Why am i getting the feeling, that this post was a joke?

IgorT said:

[quote author=r34p3rex link=1204416398/0#11 date=1204663239]Do NiMH need to be charged before being used? i just bought a pack and put it into my DX True 30 and only a faint red glow lights up inside the barrel. i checked out the batteries on my multimeter and they read 1.2 volts.. sitll kinda confused how batteries work in general in terms of battery capacity and voltage

by the way.. can i charge duracell nimh batteries in a energizer charger?

Click to expand...

The ones, that come precharged usually say so on the package.. They should still hold some charge, even if they are not full, but if the laser pulls a lot of current, this can drop substantially, very fast.


Yes, you can use any Ni-MH or even Ni-Cd charger for any Ni-MH batteries.. The only thing you need to check is their capacity and divide it by the charging current, to get the time you need to charge them, and leave them in a little longer.. If it's a smart charger, that know's when they're full (delta peak), it ends charging by itself.


Ni-MHs do say 1.2V, but that is their average voltage.. When they are full, they measure up to 1.4V and 1V, when they're completelly empty..


Since yours measure 1.2V, it is possible, that your laser is dead..


Oh, and you should NEVER look down the barrel! There could be IR coming out, which you wouldn't even see, but could damage your eyes!!!


Why am i getting the feeling, that this post was a joke?[/quote]

ahah dont worry.. i'm well aware of the IR hazards.. used a webcam to peek inside.

turns out that the switch had come loose - i have to press pretty hard right now to get it to light up

i charged the ni-mh for about 6 hours and they reached 1.4 volts (thought i killed them x.x) but turns out, works great just as goldfinger promised no more TEM01 after a few seconds ALL HAIL NI-MH!

r34p3rex said:

i charged the ni-mh for about 6 hours and they reached 1.4 volts (thought i killed them x.x) but turns out, works great just as goldfinger promised no more TEM01 after a few seconds ALL HAIL NI-MH!

Click to expand...

Oh, so you also have the DX200? You guys are lucky....


Mine just got here, and at first i thought it even works great, even on the included alkalines, but i did notice it spliting into two parallel beams.


So i put in my Ni-MHs, but it wouldn't help much...


After only a few tries, it starts mode hopping almost instantly. First it splits in two beams, one of them brighter, then the brighter one dims, and it looks pathetic.... Sometimes it starts jumping between bright and dim and almost "blinks"...

When it's dim, the beam is still more visible, than a <200mW red, but the spot looks the same brightness..



I tried two different Ni-MH types, but nothing helps. What capacity Ni-MHs are you two using?

I guess i really am going to have to return mine...

This is bizzare..

Mine seems to work MUCH better on alkalines... This is really confusing...


I just did some more testing, and it would seem, mine prefers higher voltages.. On Ni-MHs ic shuts down at slightly over 1.2V per cell.
Then i put fresh Duracells in, and now it seems to work better, than with the original batteries..



So instead of trying different batteries, i decided to try different currents.. Maybe this will tell me something.

I measured the current at 550mA, with completelly fresh alkalines. And my laser seems to like this.. In the worst case, i'll convert it to constant current driver.


Now i have to hook it up to a current sourse and see what happens.