RGV Adjustable Sled Mount Heat Sinks - Feeler

[jayrob]

Will do!

:thanks:
Jay

 

[jayrob]

I got the kit yesterday and had some time to get started on the build today...

I must say that this kit is awesome! Well worth the money. (sled included)

I have a couple pictures of the initial mounting to the sled:

I really like the threaded mounting design with the blots drilled through the center.

I will also mention the obvious, that this kit/build, is the type of thing that will need DIY 'tweaking' no matter what. (sled trimming, drilling, etc...) As seen in my pictures, I have noted a couple of things that I did for my mounting.

But I can say with complete confidence that the adjustment and beam alignment will be so sweet with this kit.

And of course, the ability to turn the modules as well. Plus the ease of diode replacement if necessary. Really a great design. Very small too!

And the looks of the machine work on the finned heatsinks speaks for itself. Awesome!

Thanks for this kit and excellent workmanship!
Jay

 

[nikokapo]

Quotes last (OMG I just typed "laser" instead of "last") jayrob's post

Jay, is that going into a box or a big pointer like rog's?

 

[jayrob]

I'm planning on putting it into another translucent polycarbonate box like my first one. Must show off this beautiful machine work...

Only this one will be 350 to 400mW's of white beam!
Jay

 

[jayrob]

Initial testing...

Here you can see a nice turquoise beam using my high quality beam alignment tool. (Pepsi bottle with a plastic flashlight lens in the cap)

This highly sophisticated tool :crackup:, will hold the smoke from a single match for about an hour or so.

Power measured after sled optics:

Blu-ray - 174mW's (GGW/185mA's/405-G-1)
Green - 20mW's

I have found that beam alignment at aperture, (by adjusting the turning mirror) is an important first step. Later, I can do fine adjustments with these mounts for dot alignment at distance.

Anyway, this power blend seems good, but I believe the main thing will be adjusting for a nice yellow beam. I will use the same power for red... 174mW's after sled optics. I have a feeling that I will need a little more than 20mW's of green. This picture looks greener that it is...

Heatsinking for blu-ray and red will be plenty. (IMO) But I'm going to put another small heatsink on the green module at the base. (where the diode is)
Again, I must say that I love this kit from sightfx! :gj:
Jay

 

[MISTERWILLING]

The red diode is negative ground and the green is positive ground, is this a problem? It looks like that using this fixture the green laser and red laser will be conductively connected. I guess if you are using different power supply for the red and green this wont be a problem though. Let me know, I am a n00b when it comes to electronics.

 

[Darkarmyofone]

Interesting point Willing. i think i read someplace that jayrob used twin "or even tripple" flexdrives on this project "or i might have this confused with your 7 colour laser project"

correct me if i am mistaken J

Dark

 

[jayrob]

It is ok for the green positive to be connected to the red negative, as long as the battery supply and switching is separate for each laser...

Green can be on, and reds battery negative can touch the green positive all it wants, as long as reds battery positive is only going to the red laser.
Jay

P.S. I made a thread on building the 7 Color laser using this adjustable sled mount/heatsink kit from sightfx. (Good information for power/color blend settings)
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/b...ng-adjustable-sled-mount-heatsinks-41942.html

 

[sightfx]

The red diode is negative ground and the green is positive ground, is this a problem? It looks like that using this fixture the green laser and red laser will be conductively connected. I guess if you are using different power supply for the red and green this wont be a problem though. Let me know, I am a n00b when it comes to electronics.

This is absolutely correct. If you look at my latest pic update at the top of this thread you can squint and see that I insulate the Green module from the sled with some heat shrink tubing. The hollow threaded bolt is also insulated from the mount on the inside. I will have some better pics of all this in a new thread for officially selling these kits. The build I did in the first pic is using an all in one RGB driver with Analog modulation. I am building a fully functional RGV projector with it. Because the driver is all in one and draws power from a single supply it has the problem you discribed here untill I insolated the mount. In the kit I will offer a well plasti dipped mounting piece if requested for insulation.


-Ryan

 

[pullbangdead]

Yeah, I'm necroing this thread.

Any news on the smaller model, model 3 I think? I'm interested in such a set up, for a small pointer, at least as small as I can get it.

 

[MISTERWILLING]

There is a different thread for this, this is the old thread that was just a feeler.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/custom-7-color-diy-laser-kit-42013.html

 

[pullbangdead]

^Yeah, I saw him selling "model 1" on that thread. I'm interested in his "model 3" that he gave a couple of pictures on this thread.

 

[sightfx]

Hey PBD,

There realy hasn't been any interest till now in that model so I may have some time this weekend to make some progress on it. The size will be more compact but I worry about how well of a heat sink the mounts will be. Finding some large gap heat sink compound would be worth looking into I think.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[pullbangdead]

I want to use it for presentation pointing, so I really care nothing about heatsinking. I was likely going to base it around a 5mW green turned down to be about 1-2mW after optics, which would then only need 5mW or less each of red and violet, giving less than 15mW total when on white.

I have no need to heatsinking, I really just want it to look more like a regular presentation pointer, nice and compact for carrying and using a lot. Plus you said it would likely be cheaper.

Or, even if I put some more capable lasers in there (that I could still turn down for presentations), I never put very much runtime on my lasers, very short duty cycles. I may have had my 6x violet on for a total of 10 minutes now in the several months I've had it. That stuff is most fun in short bursts for me, so I'm fine with no heatsinking.

 

[sightfx]

Sounds like Version 3 is perfect for what you are doing. Yes the mounts will be easier to make and therefore cheaper it is always labor that makes custom parts cost what they do. The adjustments will be harder to work with but not too bad I wouldn't think. Loosening a set screw or two and tightening the other till it all is all lined up. Fastening them to the sled will be done with the same nut and bolt as the released kit has.

I can't start up on it again till I have my current orders filled but when I do it shouldn't take me long to have a working prototype. Then I will let you know what kinks is has if any and what the cost is to make them.


Thanks,

Ryan

 

[pullbangdead]

^Excellent, sounds great. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.


I'm always impressed with good metal workers. I grew up a woodworker's son, and I have the basic tools for that, so I can work up great wooden parts for custom lasers, but I don't currently have to skills, tools, or space to do any metal work. But I've made some great wooden spacers for lasers. Sucks for heatsinking, but with low duty cycles the wood works ok when I need something in a pinch.