Survival laser kit help

offroadfreak8582 · Dec 24, 2011

Hey everybody,

Today i received my kit from survival lasers :wave:

So i have one with a copper heatsink 3 element glass lens and a 1.5A driver My diode is an M-140 from flaminpyro. With a good efficiency :eg:

So i assembled the laser, soldered the driver to the diode. Protected the soldering with heatshrink.

This is what it looks like now:

I got it with the extension tube which is very nice By the way :shhh:

But here is the thing.... :undecided: this it it compared to a 1.2W Rifle:

You can barely see the beam ?!? It is super weak and after 20 seconds it fades out..

I allreadt tried two different kinds of 18650's with the extension tube and two diferent 16340's without the extensiontube.

What could be the problem? Iexpected this to be even brighter as my Rifle>?

greetings,,

jcranmer · Dec 24, 2011

Even with a single 18650 you should be getting a better beam then that. Either that diode isn't getting the proper current or perhaps the diode was damaged when you soldered it.

Since you have ruled out the batteries, you might want to test the switch to make sure it's not at fault before replacing anything more expensive. If it checks out, I would unsolder the diode and hook up a test load to verify the driver is puttiing out the current you expect.

offroadfreak8582 · Dec 24, 2011

jcranmer said:
Even with a single 18650 you should be getting a better beam then that. Either that diode isn't getting the proper current or perhaps the diode was damaged when you soldered it.

Since you have ruled out the batteries, you might want to test the switch to make sure it's not at fault before replacing anything more expensive. If it checks out, I would unsolder the diode and hook up a test load to verify the driver is puttiing out the current you expect.

Well maked sure i wasnt static by touching someting grounded and i did that also with the driver i did not touch the diode, because the leads were allready attached by flaminpyro. And the diode was also tested by flaminpyro.

I am going to try the tailcap issue if its not that it has to be the driver right?

Greetings,,

DTR · Dec 24, 2011

Can you take a picture of the raw output of the diode on a wall?

jcranmer · Dec 24, 2011

offroadfreak8582 said:
Well maked sure i wasnt static by touching someting grounded and i did that also with the driver i did not touch the diode, because the leads were allready attached by flaminpyro. And the diode was also tested by flaminpyro.

I am going to try the tailcap issue if its not that it has to be the driver right?

Greetings,,

Since the leads were already attached that does lower the possibility that the diode was fried. Unless of course the driver is the issue and it took out e diode as well. Hopefully that's not the case.

Did you use a test load to verify the driver output before connecting everything up?

As DTR suggests, take the lens off and get a picture of the raw output of the dot on a wall or something.

offroadfreak8582 · Dec 24, 2011

offroadfreak8582 said:
Well maked sure i wasnt static by touching someting grounded and i did that also with the driver i did not touch the diode, because the leads were allready attached by flaminpyro. And the diode was also tested by flaminpyro.

I am going to try the tailcap issue if its not that it has to be the driver right?

Greetings,,

I will make a picture of the raw output tommorow morning! Well the problem is i havent got a test load -.-

I will keep you up to date because i really want this thing to work as soon as possible

Thanks for all your help guys :beer:

Greetings,,

jcranmer · Dec 24, 2011

offroadfreak8582 said:
Well the problem is i havent got a test load -.-

I highly recommend that you either buy or build one before you attempt another laser build. There are several members here that sell them or if you want to build one yourself, it will only cost you a few dollars in parts.

Even with preset drivers, especially any that are adjustable via a pot, it's a good idea to verify the current with a test load and a cheap multimeter, before you risk a diode. The adjustable ones can get bumped in shipping and anything else could just be plain bad.

offroadfreak8582 · Dec 25, 2011

jcranmer said:
I highly recommend that you either buy or build one before you attempt another laser build. There are several members here that sell them or if you want to build one yourself, it will only cost you a few dollars in parts.

Even with preset drivers, especially any that are adjustable via a pot, it's a good idea to verify the current with a test load and a cheap multimeter, before you risk a diode. The adjustable ones can get bumped in shipping and anything else could just be plain bad.

You are tottaly right! I am going to by a test load as soon as possible! I just assumed that both Garoq and flamin pyro knew exactly wat they sent me

And i still believe this is the case. So i just asked it here to check if it was something simple i did wrong

I am going to make a picture of the raw output and brindge the tailcap to see what happens. I personnaly dont think it has anything to do with the tailcap but it is worth to try!

Hope i get this thing fixed soon!

Greetings,,

lazeerer · Dec 25, 2011

You dint mention once that you rubbed the 2 leads on the driver together to discharge the capacitors.! This IMO is one of if not the number 1 or 2,3 killer of laser diodes for first builders.

Garoq · Dec 25, 2011

The driver was checked before shipment...IIRC it measured exactly 1.50A on my test load. The actual measured value is written on the driver pill.

Even though the tailcap switches are tested 100%, they occasionally fail in use or have an intermittent connection.

I would like to know what current the diode was tested at. A few 445nm diodes cannot take 1.5A. Right Lazeerer?

lazeerer · Dec 25, 2011

Garoq said:
The driver was checked before shipment...IIRC it measured exactly 1.50A on my test load. The actual measured value is written on the driver pill.

Even though the tailcap switches are tested 100%, they occasionally fail in use or have an intermittent connection.

I would like to know what current the diode was tested at. A few 445nm diodes cannot take 1.5A. Right Lazeerer?

Yes diodes very and can die at any currant really. You never know. Ive lost a couple at 1.2A just for Example.

Most likely the the caps where not shorted. Thats my thought.

offroadfreak8582 · Dec 25, 2011

lazeerer said:
Yes diodes very and can die at any currant really. You never know. Ive lost a couple at 1.2A just for Example.

Most likely the the caps where not shorted. Thats my thought.

I did shorted the leads. Thats what i ment by touching something grounded (translation fail) that is to emtpy the capacitors right? So yeah that wouldnt be the case ..

Uploading raw output in an hour

Greetings,,

EDIT:

so here is the raw output :

also i bridged the tailcap which did not lead to any difference

so the tailcap is not the issue.

greetings,,

EDIT:

On the bag of this diode says this:

700mA in 772mA out no lens @5.11V

So it is tested with 700mA

greetings,,

EDIT:

So i compared the raw output with my Rifles output but the output of the aurora i kinda weird. here is a pic ( With lenses of but defocused):

It seems that the diode is crap! Am i right? Also after 30 secs the heatsink is getting quite a bit warmer even though t has this crappy output. Does that mean the diode does get the proper current?

greetings,,

Garoq · Dec 25, 2011

The raw output looks reasonably normal, just a lot dimmer than it should be.

Voltage at that current seems way too high (5.1V @ 700mA), should be around 4.1-4.2V. Even at 1800mA I get around 4.7V max.

Lots of heat generated with low light output is not a good sign.

lazeerer · Dec 25, 2011

The output of the diode looks fine to me just dim.

Your next step should be to test the driver with a testload.

Also are you sure these batteries that you used work just fine.?

Is it possible for you to test how the how much currant its pulling at the tail cap.?? If you are able to do this can you post the results.?

Garoq · Dec 25, 2011

lazeerer said:
Is it possible for you to test how the how much currant its pulling at the tail cap.?? If you are able to do this can you post the results.?

Excellent suggestion. What do you think of the voltage at that test current?

offroadfreak8582 · Dec 25, 2011

lazeerer said:
The output of the diode looks fine to me just dim.

Your next step should be to test the driver with a testload.

Also are you sure these batteries that you used work just fine.?

Is it possible for you to test how the how much currant its pulling at the tail cap.?? If you are able to do this can you post the results.?

Garoq said:
Excellent suggestion. What do you think of the voltage at that test current?

Measuring the draw on the tailcap asap :wave: But in comparison to the rifle the shape seems really weird? or is it just because it is dimm? Wel i will keep you updated

thanks for everybodies help!

greetings,,

EDIT: By the way how do you guys explain what happens after 20 -25 seconds? Then it stops lasing and turns even dimmer? And it still gets hot. When i turn it of for a while it does the same thind?

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