Another first time build

Hey guys,

I have been looking around the site for a month or so & after much research and reading so I didn't look like a complete idiot , I have decided to build my first 2W 445nm laser.

First off I wanted to make sure my parts list was on the rite track for my build considering this is my first time going through this. I would also like to add that I am very familiar with soldering etc. as I have been building and repairing computers for the last 6 years.

This is my part list as of now any tips or suggestions on the build or part I could use like the proper driver would be greatly appreciated.

Eye Protection (ordered a similar set to what Billiam posted.) (Safety first)
445nm M140 Diode
405-G2 lens
X-drive driver (Not really sure what to get as of now)
Aixiz module (Copper housing.)
Heat-sink (not sure on this either as I have read the M140's tend to heat up quite a bit.)
Host Body
Key switch (Safety first)
Wiring (I couldn't find anything on proper wiring or if certain gauges made a benefit to certain builds etc.)
Li-po Digital voltage readout/ low voltage alarm
2s jst-xh male connector (helps with charging so I don't need to take batteries out of host if needed)
Batteries x2 3.7V 750Mah Li-po wired in series (7.4v nominal)(8.4 full charge) (not sure what a good charger would be to get)
Focus rings

So far this is what I have and am kind of thinking I am missing something but that could just be me always second guessing myself. I was also wondering what price I am looking at spending realistically considering this is my first build & what company's/Forum users I should keep be leaning towards for good quality parts and serive etc.

I don't want to bother anyone with my build but I figured I could use some help from people who know what they are doing and honestly there is only so much reading and searching a person can do before you start going crazy and have to ask questions.

Like I said before any help or tips anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated so I will finish off by thanking people in advance for having to read all of this crap! :thanks:

For Eye Protection: Eagle Pair® 190-540nm Standard Laser Safety Goggles | eBay

Can also be found on The sellers website, He's a member here.
Definitely go with a copper module, and heatsink(If possible) At that sort of powers, Theres a lot of heat, and Copper conducts much better than aluminium.

Your definitely on the right track with your parts list, the only thing that you might want to consider is adding a focus ring so you don't have to adjust the focus using just the lens barrel.

Look at your goals with the build, do you want a max power burner at 1.8A or 1.2A driven for longer runtimes. Large host, med, or pocket mini. How you do invision wanting to use this laser and what's your price range, also are you ok with buying a kit or do you want it to be uniquely your own design? Knowing this will help us make a good recommendation.

Billiam said:

For Eye Protection: Eagle Pair® 190-540nm Standard Laser Safety Goggles | eBay

Can also be found on The sellers website, He's a member here.
Definitely go with a copper module, and heatsink(If possible) At that sort of powers, Theres a lot of heat, and Copper conducts much better than aluminium.

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Thats what I figured thanks.

TheDukeAnumber1 said:

Your definitely on the right track with your parts list, the only thing that you might want to consider is adding a focus ring so you don't have to adjust the focus using just the lens barrel.

Look at your goals with the build, do you want a max power burner at 1.8A or 1.2A driven for longer runtimes. Large host, med, or pocket mini. How you do invision wanting to use this laser and what's your price range, also are you ok with buying a kit or do you want it to be uniquely your own design? Knowing this will help us make a good recommendation.

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I am looking for something I can possibly put inside a medium/semi-small host body. I have a few objects/cases in mind that would allow for extra heat dissipation from the heat sink,housing etc., so I figured with all of that my heat issues would be fine as long as I keep the laser to short/medium running times with a max output in Amperage for the strongest burner that is why i picked the G2 lens and the m140 as i have read these are great quality options that produce great results with high power builds & I was hoping to build a few other less powerful yellow/green/every other color I can get but not until i am finished this which I am very set on doing.

This is honestly the only thing I am having trouble understanding is setting up the driver for the specific amperage I am looking for (as I don't know what I would need I assume the higher the amperage the stronger the beam) and I am still a newb to this but I seem to be catching on decently quick(I'm more of a hands on kind of guy id rather spend $100 to get parts and learn making it then read to much and order blindly only having the research aspect down. You can look at as many builds and read whatever you want but if you don't have first hand knowledge then your kind of shit out of luck in the first place in my mind.

As for the use and price-range it would be more for a recreational/personal fun/experimentation use as these higher power laser are dangerous to be screwing around with if you do not know what you are doing. As for the price range I don't really have one but seeing as this is my first real build besides ripping a few blu-ray players & other laser pointers etc. apart and screwing with the lens and diodes and seeing how they were set-up then storing the parts until I had learned more. I was hoping to keep the cost down to a minimum as I don't want to end up spending a fortune just to screw it up you know!

Also I would prefer to build it myself rather then a kit but the kit idea is not off the table. I just feel building it myself would give me a better understanding of putting it together and the whole soldering aspect of the build as well as everything else like setting up the amperage etc. unless you can buy specific board with amperage pre-set and unchangeable.

Thanks for the help and suggestions so far.

Just be sure your heatsink is large enough !
The M140 diode produce a lot of heat especially with high currents like ~1,8A and don't overplay it with the duty cycle

Th3dArKn3o said:

Just be sure your heatsink is large enough !
The M140 diode produce a lot of heat especially with high currents like ~1,8A and don't overplay it with the duty cycle

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I figured I should be good for 30-45 second duty cycles with a nice cool down period in between. With the copper Aixiz housing shoved in a nice big heat-sink that would go within the host body I figured I should be good with the heat issue. + I don't want to give away any hints on the host bodies I may use because I plan to do a write-up ( I figured it might be nice for new users to see a write-up from a new users perspective) but some of my host body choices have the possibility of heat venting itself.


Also does anyone know of any users or companies that would sell most or all of the parts I would need individually I generally like to bulk order from the one source if I can to save shipping and building costs.

Jon709 said:

I figured I should be good for 30-45 second duty cycles with a nice cool down period in between. With the copper Aixiz housing shoved in a nice big heat-sink that would go within the host body I figured I should be good with the heat issue. + I don't want to give away any hints on the host bodies I may use because I plan to do a write-up ( I figured it might be nice for new users to see a write-up from a new users perspective) but some of my host body choices have the possibility of heat venting itself.

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Yeah I know what you mean !

Btw: One of my Custom Machined Heatsink is designed to heat venting itself too resulting in a continuous duty cycle @1,9A

Th3dArKn3o said:

Yeah I know what you mean !

Btw: One of my Custom Machined Heatsink is designed to heat venting itself too resulting in a continuous duty cycle @1,9A

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Nice , I really want to build a very power one myself but I think it would be crazy to have a continuous duty cycle.

Dealing with Computers I have learned alot about passive heat-sinks as well a liquid cooling heat sinks/blocks and at some point I was hoping to try a liquid cooled laser for a laugh! don't know if it has been done before I am sure it has i have a few hilarious ideas floating around in my brain.

Jon709 said:

Nice , I really want to build a very power one myself but I think it would be crazy to have a continuous duty cycle.

Dealing with Computers I have learned alot about passive heat-sinks as well a liquid heat sinks and at some point I was hoping to try a liquid cooled laser for a laugh! don't know if it has been done before I am sure it has i have a few hilarious ideas floating around in my brain.

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My batteries run out before i need to cool down the laser

I thought of cooling the laser diode with LN2 like in extreme oc events

Th3dArKn3o said:

My batteries run out before i need to cool down the laser

I thought of cooling the laser diode with LN2 like in extreme oc events

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Me and a few friends that I have built Pc's with, have used Dry ice and liquid nitro for a crazy over-clock we did on a PC sadly there ended up being a leak and the motherboard fried.

What is the highest wattage and amperage a very high power laser can go to within a handheld unit, and are there any better lens,diodes or anything that would allow me to go more powerful like maybe 3-4W hehe

Jon709 said:

Me and a few friends that I have built Pc's with, have used Dry ice and liquid nitro for a crazy over-clock we did on a PC sadly there ended up being a leak and the motherboard fried.

What is the highest wattage and amperage a very high power laser can go to within a handheld unit, and are there any better lens,diodes or anything that would allow me to go more powerful like maybe 3-4W hehe

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The Limits of an M140 Diode are ~2A (for longer life 1,8A) more will kill it if you get an rare diode with good cooling maybe it will survive 2,2A but not for long !
@2A the M140 will output around 2500mW (with G2 Lenses) but it really depends on the diode a rare diode will go to 2600mW and more a lousy just to 2100mW at 2Amps

The new 9mm Diodes are much better I've seen someone pushing it to 2,6Amps and more hitting like 3400mW peak on the lpm ...

as a newb myself who signed up in this forum to build a laser similar to your specifications and for reasons similar to yours, keep us updated pls :wave:

neo64 said:

as a newb myself who signed up in this forum to build a laser similar to your specifications and for reasons similar to yours, keep us updated pls :wave:

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Not a problem In the mean time do what research you can on the topic. Also looking and reading other peoples build thread has helped me understand quite a bit of how these lasers work as a whole as well as the individual parts and their functions.

Th3dArKn3o said:

The Limits of an M140 Diode are ~2A (for longer life 1,8A) more will kill it if you get an rare diode with good cooling maybe it will survive 2,2A but not for long !
@2A the M140 will output around 2500mW (with G2 Lenses) but it really depends on the diode a rare diode will go to 2600mW and more a lousy just to 2100mW at 2Amps

The new 9mm Diodes are much better I've seen someone pushing it to 2,6Amps and more hitting like 3400mW peak on the lpm ...

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wow, jon709 you might want to do some research on your own as this noob isn't quite giving good info about the m140 or the 9mm.

awillis2589 said:

wow, jon709 you might want to do some research on your own as this noob isn't quite giving good info about the m140 or the 9mm.

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I never really took this into consideration, I kind of just past it over because I seen many write-ups of people using the M140 and the 9MM and many people have pushed the m140 past 2W+ without blow the diode. You just need to use the proper parts for the build to avoid over heating and not running it on duty cycles that are unrealistic for the heat-sink/host etc. you have choose.

I know most of what I need for my build, as of now i am just searching for the rite parts from the rite people.

Thanks for the heads up though :wave:

no problem, if your interested I've got some nice hosts with large heat sink and that take large battery's for sale, theres a link in my sig if your intersted.