1.2W in custom build

I was getting rather tired of modifying and using flashlight hosts as laser bodies, so I decided to try out something more personal.

This is in no way finished, and I have some work to do on it before I can have a nice laser. (mostly with the driver and module).

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you guys think, I would appreciate feedback and suggestions for any improvements.

Thank you.

Re: 1W in custom build

Nice work, good job. I like the sand blasted texture.

Re: 1W in custom build

/me is getting horny

Re: 1W in custom build

Thanks guys,

here are some more pictures of the tail.

the hole is a fit for the protected 18650 cell, there is 1mm slack on the hole for the battery to wiggle a little bit (so it doesnt get jammed inside the host)

At the thinnest, the battery compartment's walls are about 0.6-0.7mm thick.

From the tail switch's cap to the head, the whole thing is around 9" long, and at the head, 1.5" wide.

Re: 1W in custom build

GBD very cool!

Re: 1W in custom build

What Focusing lens are you using?
Where do i procure such focusing lens?
I bought a driver, laser and have everything else. I just need the flippin lenses!

Thankies and thankies.

Re: 1W in custom build

Berc12321 said:

What Focusing lens are you using?
Where do i procure such focusing lens?
I bought a driver, laser and have everything else. I just need the flippin lenses!

Thankies and thankies.

Click to expand...

Hello,

Im using an O-like module (the whole thing, both head and aluminum body) and the lens that came with it.

the whole package can be bought for around 10 bucks I think
here:

405nm/445nm laser module housing w/glasses lens [OL1845-BL] - $10.50 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

405nm laser /445nm laser collimation lens/glasses lens [OLBLE] - $8.00 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

Ive been fairly satisfied with both module and lens (you can also buy the lens seperatly on thier site if you want)

Mine came with one lens, half threaded.

Re: 1W in custom build

It looks like you built a host around a host. I love the sand-blasted texture, too.
Very creative. +1

Re: 1W in custom build

GBD said:

Hello,

Im using an O-like module (the whole thing, both head and aluminum body) and the lens that came with it.

the whole package can be bought for around 10 bucks I think
here:

405nm/445nm laser module housing w/glasses lens [OL1845-BL] - $10.50 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

405nm laser /445nm laser collimation lens/glasses lens [OLBLE] - $8.00 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

Ive been fairly satisfied with both module and lens (you can also buy the lens seperatly on thier site if you want)

Mine came with one lens, half threaded.

Click to expand...

Ahh,
I have a housing already. So i could just chop suey the head of the body and mount that into my housing. aluminum is certainly a good conductor of heat!

Do you have any problems with cooling? a 1W laser generates a good amount of heat so i hear...

Re: 1W in custom build

For this build, I picked out the best diode I have (most efficient)
I dont have an LPM, but given an input voltage/current, this one seemed the brightest and produced least heat.

with the bare O-like module I linked you, I was limited for about 10 second run times at most, the module got warm, it could probably do more, but I wouldnt trust it.
with this host, since the body is made of 2 pieces
one is the gaint host itself, the other is a small tail switch

the module is just pressfited tightly into the front of the laser with thermal compound.
with this host, Id have to give it 100% duty cycle, ive torchured it for 1/2 an hour and it did not degrade or fail (but was warm). however since my own driver sucks and im redesigning it, the battery itself drains way too fast. (im pulling like 2.6A for 4.8V 1.2A output).

Using a nice heavy heatsink, keeping the least ammount of "material to material" between it is best. what I mean when I say this, is that you should have the least ammount of objects between each "wall" so to speak, so the convection of the heat to the air is more efficient.

I was thinking to do a copper/aluminum hybrid at some point, copper has less thermal resistance then aluminum, so what I will try at some point, is a copper heatspreader of a sort to transfer heat better, then aluminum to convect it.

In flashlight hosts, this is done something like: diode > module > heatsink > flashlight wall
my case is diode > module > heatsink (as the heatsink is the whole host)
I saw some people's builds here that directly go as diode > heatsink (ehgemus does this I think with a direct press diode)

I think those are the most efficient, but for simplicity of design, I chose to do it my way as it does not need some very tight tolerances for the diode mounting and lens directly into the host.

maybe in my next one Ill give that approach a try, but at the moment I dont feel like bothering with the percise dimentions needed for a direct diode mount host.

hope that helps out a bit.

Re: 1W in custom build

Im impressed it doesn't heat up mud more than that.
2.6A? Does seem rather high for a lower output haha.
I think I will use some copper sheeting I have laying around and rough it up for some heatsinkage.
Good job comrade, keep up the fine work!

Re: 1W in custom build

Berc12321 said:

Im impressed it doesn't heat up mud more than that.
2.6A? Does seem rather high for a lower output haha.
I think I will use some copper sheeting I have laying around and rough it up for some heatsinkage.
Good job comrade, keep up the fine work!

Click to expand...

The current draw is because im using a home-made boost converter style driver, and due to some bad math and hurry up construction, its extreemly inefficient.

O-like has a new 445nM/405nM driver, it looks fairly cheap, so I ordered one to try out.. should come soon.

I would really advice against copper sheeting. for good heat transfer, you want as tight and best contact as possible.
(or if you mean, that is unless you have thick copper sheeting (like 1" thick) and you plan to drill out a "puck" or something and use that as a solid large heatsink, then thats fine I guess)

find or make a decent thickness bushing to pressfit your module into.

wrapping layers of copper sheeting around your diode housing it will trap air. and INSULATE more then transfer heat.

just as a final note, the heatsink will be colder then the source of the heat. once it gets between warm/hot to your hand.. its best to shut it off and let it cool for a bit. my last flashlight build did this due to a small heatsink.
you dont want your diode to overheat!


This is what I meant by the copper "puck", one solid piece of copper around the thing as a heatsink rather then copper sheeting wraping it.


-btw this pictures are old, this module is no longer in use and has been dismantled.

Re: 1W in custom build

Yea i totally get what your saying.
Its going to all be mounted in a box a 5'' long 5'' wide and 4'' tall. The back of the box looks like swiss cheese from my drill press. I will be mounting the diode right in the middle of the front panel. May actually drill holes in the front. Around the diode module is a good spot for heat sinks? i do have a dozen aluminum computer processor sinks in a box somewhere i could use if need be but i think that the surface area im achieving is good enough. Massive fins plus a high airflow cpu fan mounted inside will chill everything down so i can achieve the largest duty cycle possible.


Whats predicted spread of beam with the o-like lenses?
I wonder what sort of distance i can keep the beam visible at.

Re: 1W in custom build

Berc12321 said:

Whats predicted spread of beam with the o-like lenses?
I wonder what sort of distance i can keep the beam visible at.

Click to expand...

Focused to infinity, I found that 20' from the lens to a board, my beam diameter is 1.2CM. with this lens, when I point it to the sky it seems to go on for a mile and stay in decent thickness.. more or less what you will expect for a multi-mode diode and no correctional optics.
(and probably due to my perspective of bieng right under the beam)

I pointed it to a tree once, Id have to guess about 300'-350' away, and I saw a fairly large dot, it was around 2' wide.. but dont qoute me on that, as I dont have exact messurements to how far the tree was, or how wide the dot really is, this was just the way I saw it.

on a side note, heres a youtube vid of it, Ill make one of it outdoors at some point or another.

YouTube - Laser in a new host

EDIT: put vid in first post

Re: 1W in custom build

Thats not a terrible spread. Im hoping for an extremely large ratio but im afraid of an extremely large price....

Comments on the video~~
*Points laser at camera* I actually cringed and moved my head away from my screen...

Youve sure got balls using your laser indoors pointing at shiny wood floors and furniture. I would be terrified of catching a reflection even through glasses and getting maimed and such.

Re: 1W in custom build

Berc12321 said:

Thats not a terrible spread. Im hoping for an extremely large ratio but im afraid of an extremely large price....

Click to expand...

I didnt quite understand what you said, could you rephrase it? :thinking:

If I did understand though, if you want a narrower beam, then you do need correctional optics and an expanding lens assembly, that will indeed cost a nice chunk of money, but will be good for the beam.
I think a member somewhere here has done this already, but I dont remember the thread.

Exactly how much you can get out of such a system, I dont know, but I heard it works very well for green lasers, and gives them incredible range. (doubt it will for these diodes.. since its a multimode emitter).
But for the price, and the power of the laser, I think a regular 3 element lens is more then impressive IMO.

the big difference between the two is pretty obvious though, 8 or so dollars for the lens im using, or several hundred for the other optics. (although probably worth thier money when you talk about green lasers and less spread)