norbyx
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I finally got the laser I ordered to Rick Trent. It's a Red 638nm laser with Mitsubishi laser diode.
So as soon as I got it I managed to open up the box to see what was included. Fortunately everything was there and there was nothing missing or damaged. This for me is a big plus since living in Costa Rica, packages have to travel a long way and it is not uncommon to receive damaged things.
Now to the review, here is what you get, Laser host, there are two options for hosts from Rick one is the black one you can see in his web page (mostpowerfullasers.com) and the other one is the grey one, that I liked best because you have the option of using higher capacity batteries.
The laser module/ heat sink is packed separate from the rest of the things in a antistatic bag with wrapped around a foam tube to avoid for it to be damaged.
You also get two nice 18650 batteries and in this case two plastic battery adapters to make them fit in the host.
Included is the battery charger, a dual battery charger, and finally the protective glasses. I don't know the quality of this glasses and wasn't quite able to test them since I tried to put the glasses in-between the laser and the sensor of the LPM but due to the high power of the laser they started to melt quite fast. I don't think they are quality lenses but since they are free I would have to just thank Rick for including them in the setup.
Here are some pictures of all what I listed above:
Here is a picture of the host compared to other hosts in my collection. As you can see it's big but not as big as I expected it to be. Actually from the pictures I had seen on the net I almost thought that the laser would have had a size similar to a maglite, fortunately that was not the case.
Here is a picture of the host disassembled.
Here is a picture of the laser module/heat sink. It is easy to see that it is quite massive and I have to say that it performs very well, now it does lack a good finish, it could have been much better. On the back of the module/heat sink there is the a spring that is obviously set upside down, that is because the contact board doesn't have that much space available.
Also there are 4 solder joints on the contact board, talking to Rick this will be the last ones that he does this way, the next ones will have like a threaded ring that will avoid soldering.
One thing I noticed almost immediately was that the laser lens, when screwed in, it moved all around as if it was quite loose. That was something I didn't like, so I decided that I had to do something about it, went an put some Teflon tape around the lens screw to avoid it from moving. basically problem solved now it is quite firm.
I got this laser with a total of 3 lenses, a 3 element glass lenses, a 2 element and finally a G1 lens.
The power of the laser is measured with the G1 and it delivers way over 1W, BUT I have to say that in this type of diode I dislike the shape of the laser with the G1 lens, the 3 element is actually the one that resembles a small dot, even if its not a to but more of a small line. Obviously the power loss is quite big.
Here is a measure of the laser with my Laserbee II and the G1 lens installed, I did various tests and I have to say that the stability of this laser is incredible, I ended one of the tests (didn't do the log sorry) after 3 min. because I didn't want to push it, but the power was not going anywere.
The measured amperage at the tailcap is 0.4A now this was measured with an AMM (a good old Triplet 630), to have a better reading I would need the DMM that is somewhere and I don't seem to find it. (guess I will have to get a new one?)
Now what can I say about this laser, it is very nice and other than some minor details that could be better, it is quite a deal.
Also one of the most important things in a purchase is the customer service, in this matter I was very impressed by the way I was treated by Rick. I wrote to him various emails with questions and almost immediately I got responses, but most important he likes it better to talk over the phone, and the reason is simple, he can tell you dozen of things much faster than on an email. He was always very nice to talk to and I felt like if he had known me for a long time, basically he treated me as a friend, and that makes you feel good.
I hope you appreciate this review and if I missed something Please be kind, it's my first review on a laser (not the last). Any comments are welcome...
So as soon as I got it I managed to open up the box to see what was included. Fortunately everything was there and there was nothing missing or damaged. This for me is a big plus since living in Costa Rica, packages have to travel a long way and it is not uncommon to receive damaged things.
Now to the review, here is what you get, Laser host, there are two options for hosts from Rick one is the black one you can see in his web page (mostpowerfullasers.com) and the other one is the grey one, that I liked best because you have the option of using higher capacity batteries.
The laser module/ heat sink is packed separate from the rest of the things in a antistatic bag with wrapped around a foam tube to avoid for it to be damaged.
You also get two nice 18650 batteries and in this case two plastic battery adapters to make them fit in the host.
Included is the battery charger, a dual battery charger, and finally the protective glasses. I don't know the quality of this glasses and wasn't quite able to test them since I tried to put the glasses in-between the laser and the sensor of the LPM but due to the high power of the laser they started to melt quite fast. I don't think they are quality lenses but since they are free I would have to just thank Rick for including them in the setup.
Here are some pictures of all what I listed above:
Here is a picture of the host compared to other hosts in my collection. As you can see it's big but not as big as I expected it to be. Actually from the pictures I had seen on the net I almost thought that the laser would have had a size similar to a maglite, fortunately that was not the case.
Here is a picture of the host disassembled.
Here is a picture of the laser module/heat sink. It is easy to see that it is quite massive and I have to say that it performs very well, now it does lack a good finish, it could have been much better. On the back of the module/heat sink there is the a spring that is obviously set upside down, that is because the contact board doesn't have that much space available.
Also there are 4 solder joints on the contact board, talking to Rick this will be the last ones that he does this way, the next ones will have like a threaded ring that will avoid soldering.
One thing I noticed almost immediately was that the laser lens, when screwed in, it moved all around as if it was quite loose. That was something I didn't like, so I decided that I had to do something about it, went an put some Teflon tape around the lens screw to avoid it from moving. basically problem solved now it is quite firm.
I got this laser with a total of 3 lenses, a 3 element glass lenses, a 2 element and finally a G1 lens.
The power of the laser is measured with the G1 and it delivers way over 1W, BUT I have to say that in this type of diode I dislike the shape of the laser with the G1 lens, the 3 element is actually the one that resembles a small dot, even if its not a to but more of a small line. Obviously the power loss is quite big.
Here is a measure of the laser with my Laserbee II and the G1 lens installed, I did various tests and I have to say that the stability of this laser is incredible, I ended one of the tests (didn't do the log sorry) after 3 min. because I didn't want to push it, but the power was not going anywere.
The measured amperage at the tailcap is 0.4A now this was measured with an AMM (a good old Triplet 630), to have a better reading I would need the DMM that is somewhere and I don't seem to find it. (guess I will have to get a new one?)
Now what can I say about this laser, it is very nice and other than some minor details that could be better, it is quite a deal.
Also one of the most important things in a purchase is the customer service, in this matter I was very impressed by the way I was treated by Rick. I wrote to him various emails with questions and almost immediately I got responses, but most important he likes it better to talk over the phone, and the reason is simple, he can tell you dozen of things much faster than on an email. He was always very nice to talk to and I felt like if he had known me for a long time, basically he treated me as a friend, and that makes you feel good.
I hope you appreciate this review and if I missed something Please be kind, it's my first review on a laser (not the last). Any comments are welcome...
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