190mW 635nm single mode rebuild

So I had my green cheapie I bought from china many years ago and the green module inside started mode hopping and eventually failed so I decided to reuse the host and turn it into a medium power single mode red Here are some pics I took during the rebuild.

Disassembled the host:


Drilled out the old heatsink as it was designed for a smaller diameter module.


12mm module fits perfectly.


Back part is also drilled to push the module to the front


Driver boards that I have. You can see two versions, a single and dual AMC driver. I chopped off the excess parts so that it would fit inside the back part of the module. As most of you know, DTR sells the modules prewired, I carefully removed the heatshrink and desoldered the wire, soldered on shorter wires and made the case positive connection by tying diode+ and case.


Added some kapton tape for insulation.


Diode module in heatsink, tested and almost done.


I actually had a close call on this one. I was testing the module and then moved it a bit then it died. I was thinking the worse that the diode popped. Bench supply says there's no current draw, checked the diode pins showing 1.8V. Powered the diode direct off the supply and it worked! I replaced the AMC chip and I'm back on track.:wave:

Trimmed a PCB to size to fit inside the back part and attached a spring.


Added the foam ring (to prevent battery shorts to the host) and put it together.
(forgot to take a pic on that part)

Now what you've all been waiting for.

190mW at 360mA drive current.


Daytime beam shot (no smoke, just dust )


"Green Laser Pointer" is now RED.

*reserved for pics*

Cool refurb
Personally, i think the slightly beat up host adds a cool effect!

You made the heatsink yourself or did it come with the greenie?

@crazyspaz
thanks!

@zeebit
heatsink came with the laser which was used to hold the original green module.

I thought you made it yourself since you have a mini milling machine.

Back to topic. It's certainly not a very nice host but recycling helps the planet.

Nice.

It's often not easy to convert a greenie to a red host, good job.

Nice tut- +5
where did the diode come from-How much?
FYI for those that do not know-- 190mW of 635nm is brighter than ~300+mW of 650nm.

my read of this was a quick one-- did you have anything there about the divergence-
did you use the AixiZ red glass lens?

Thanks, the diode was from DTR. I used the acrylic lens. I did not measure divergence but pointing to a blank wall about a km away, the dot is much smaller than my 532 labby. And yes, the dot is indeed very bright and you can see the beam in clear weather

Very nice build, some superb work coming from you djQUAN lately. Keep up the good work :beer: +1

The glass Lens for reds from AixiZ is not expensive- not sure if its needed- sometimes we get more mW at the cost of divergence going from glass to acrylic and using a 'G' lens can make for highest output (& higher $$) IIRC

sinner said:

Very nice build, some superb work coming from you djQUAN lately. Keep up the good work :beer: +1

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Thanks. Yours are way better though :beer:

hakzaw1 said:

The glass Lens for reds from AixiZ is not expensive- not sure if its needed- sometimes we get more mW at the cost of divergence going from glass to acrylic and using a 'G' lens can make for highest output (& higher $$) IIRC

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I don't have a lot of spare lenses so I just used what I had on hand. Maybe I'll try others in the future, but for now, I'm quite happy with the acrylic. divergence is pretty good IMO I just wanted a bright red laser but don't plan to use this for burning that's why it's fixed focus.

The acrylic lens should produce a better dot versus the glass lens, IIRC.

Yeah my 450nm pen also uses an acrylic and has a pretty good beam too.

Here's a beamshot! Sorry if it isn't very clear since my cheap tripod broke so I had to improvise but it does look more or less that way in real life.

SWEET!!
Makes me want to break out my 632 nm HeNes-- altho it may not apply to your lasers anytime you notice anything odd about the 'dot' check the lens w/ a lupe asap- for the higher powered laser diode, s the plastic lenses have been known to burn slightly over time and thus being a brownish spot makes the lens absorb even more heat and a darker spot until it can actually melt and ruin the face of the die. That tiny window, for most, is very hard to clean.

nice pic there-- hk