2 x Kryton Groove

G'day Folks. A little while back I joined this forum after becoming interested in lasers. I had a "Small Sun" red and then purchased a couple of Diode Modules from ebay. When I joined here I discovered there was so much more out there in the laser world and my next purchase was a plug and burn Maglite build from Jayrob. Whilst waiting for that to arrive I purchased some hosts from all over the place including a couple of Kryton Groove hosts from "Grainde"

The Kryton Groove with GITD:drool:


Then it was a visit to DTR's online store for some diodes and drivers. I was planning to press the diodes directly into the heatsink head of the host but being a "Newbie" I guess i did not explain myself that well and was sent 12mm diode modules with the drivers already attached. This meant that I would have to drill the preset 9mm heatsink heads out to 12mm, not a problem! Then I also drilled a small hole and fitted an M3 Grub screw to hold the module in place. That being done I fitted to one host a 520nm Osram PLP520-B1 Diode In Copper Module W/Microboost Driver & Three Element Glass into the head and then passed a 16.8mm battery contact board up from the switch end of the host and soldered the wires to the driver. Also on the 445nm I added a homemade heatsink to the driver. I got the contact boards from Flaminpyro and also DTR gave me some with my order!
Hope you can read my instructions here, a bit scrawly I know!

If you were using a press fit diode I guess you could thermal glue your driver to the inside of the host, (plenty of room there) then solder the wires from that to the diode pins. Note: There was no driver pill with these hosts.
Green and Blue with the inside too!



To the second Host I fitted a 1.3W 445nm Copper Module W/Microboost & 405-G-2 Glass Lens. Both of these house a single 18650 Li-ion battery.

Side by side beam shot.

Now for those who have never done a build before I must say that if you have a little bit of mechanical/engineering and electrical skills this was very easy. most do it yourselfers would have most of the tools needed except maybe a tap and dye set which you can do away with by using a bit of thermal glue.
After spending a little more money, "After" meaning after spending Lots of money! I purchased a Radiant LPM which arrived in the mail yesterday. The 520nm measures 125mW (Retested @ 160mW) and the 445nm measures at 1242mW. Not real sure how accurate these meters area as the seems to be some question there. Have not downloaded Peregrine data logger yet as the seems to be a LOT of question there at the moment!

Adding a bit more "Green" to the trees!
Some Beam Shots.

Into the "Southern Cross" The Crux is on it's side.


Sorry about the lack lack of technical detail in this review but at the time of the build I did not think of doing a review. Ooops!
Coming up soon I will also review 2 MS Envy hosts from Sinner that I did builds into and some C6 builds. Stay tuned!

Wow, they look great! Nice job with the builds and excellent choice on the host

Can you give some more insight as you how you put these together? I'm planning on getting one of these hosts but still sort of confused as to how it fits.

Adam

EDIT: Figured out what I was trying to figure out... Sometimes reading more thoroughly will help

I was confused about the battery contact, but I read more about how you used the battery contact board and soldered those leads to the driver.

PM incoming with a couple questions

The Kryton Groove is an amazing host without GITD!!
But with GITD, I would say its the best looking single 18650 host out there!
Very nice set of lasers you have!

Can't beat a classic Kryton Groove. Mine is still waiting for a 250mW 520
Unfortunately for me, money is low...Also the tailcap is being a bi$@#$ lol

Excellent work Busman! I really like the tenth pic with the glowing GITD and the blue beam. Looks like you also got a very good diode from DTR, not many will hit 125 mW.

If I get time I might do a little tutorial on building the grooves. As you probably noticed, there are several ways to set up the driver board and make contact with the host. Anyway, Ill post details in another thread. +1 :beer:

Edit: Sorry got to spread some first...

Those hosts are very nice, I like how they glow.

Great builds busman! Twin Kryton grooves w/GITD at that, sweet.
Nice beam shots too; the tenth one is also my favorite.

Looking forward to seeing your Envy and C6 builds.

:gj: +1

These little gem's make a very decent looking laser. :gj:

Hey thanks Guys. These really are a great little Host, simple but well constructed and with the GITD don't the just look superb! If anyone wants to get one of these hosts Grainde still has a few left, go check out his thread here. http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/new-kryton-groove-fs-thread-85693.html

I do have to say that the colour of the 445nm in this host is noticeably different from my 9mm 445nm with the former heading more toward the violet range?:thinking:

Pm sent to Adam.

Interesting. What current are you running the 445 at and which 445 diode did you get from DTR (m140 or 9 mm)? Generally if you underdrive the diodes they are closer to 445, the more you overdrive them the more they shift toward the red ie longer wavelengths. The 445's arent the most sensitive diodes but shifts have been noted. It could also be psychological; the blue GITD phosphoresces at longer wavelengths than 445 making the laser appear more blue shifted...? Just some thoughts. :beer:

Grainde I have the M140 diode and from memory I got DTR to set the driver to 950mA.
It will be Dark soon:scared: So i will venture outside and do a comparison shot between the M140 445nm and the 9mm 445nm and then i will put the pic here!

Yup I thought it might be an M140. If you have a look around on the forum there were comparisons of the old A140's against the M140's. The A140's were blue shifted ie slightly more purple. IIRC the 9 mm are also slightly bluer still than the M140's, so it seems that the newer generation diodes have become more red shifted.

As you begin to overdrive the diodes they also shift red and I guess your maglight build is being pushed. An M140 at 950 mA is definitely underdriven (for us anyway! ) Nice pic btw! :beer:

Thanks Anthony. That explains a few things to me. Now I must get out a screwdriver and wind that sucker up! :crackup:

Go for it! Max recommended though is 1.8 A for an M140. Some have lived at higher currents, but I wouldnt risk it.

FYI I have just built 4 x 3 W (3.3, 3.2, 3.2 and 3.1 W) lasers for someone in the Kryton Groove host. I cherry picked the diodes to give these output powers at 2.26A. . So the host can cope with high power diodes...Just keep the duty cycle to max 1 min if you do go up to 1.8 A - M140's will get hot quick at that current. :beer:

I need to make a correction here. The M140 is not running at 950mA. After going back and having a look at my invoice to see what I purchased from DTR I see that it was just a M140 @ 1.3A. Fixed current driver? I don't know? I can't remember any more:thinking: I have bought that much stuff lately I am loosing track but I know I had something set to 950, might have been my alarm clock for all I know! :bang head: So there ya go, The 455nm when i tested it was 1242mW. Some people have said that their Radiant LPM reads about 10% lower than other meters so i guess it is around the 1.3mW

Those things are just awesome! I like the one with "adding a bit more green to the trees"
Good job, and +1rep from me if I can!