GGW-H20L Questions

Hey LPF!

I know this question has popped up, but I have a few twists on the question.

I just finished my first Blu-Ray build (but that was my 12th overall laser build) And I have a GGW Sled coming in the mail sometime this weekend/Monday.

I have searched a lot about these diodes, but haven;t found an answer to my question yet.

I've heard reports that the GGW Sleds have been using lower quality diodes recently. So am I still safely able to drive a GGW Blu Ray diode at 210mA? If not then what is the recommended current used to drive these for a good balance of power and longevity?

If this question resolves itself and merits deletion, I will immediately remove this thread.

NO. THe New GGW Sled IMO should not run more then 160mA - 170mA MAX. 210mA was a Long time ago. GGW where safe to run at 190mA and the SF-AW210 where safe to run at 170mA.

Dont be surprised that your GGW diode does not put out more then 200mW with a Regular 405nm Glass lens. It will probebly do ~175mW at 170mA.

If you want a Long Life Keep it ~165mA. If you want a short life but more power run it at 180mA.

Ive tested about 10 GGW sleds from my last order and they all with the exception of 1 freak i got at 165mA gave ~150mW. If your curious the freak gave at 165mA 198mW.

:beer:

the ggw's are the better 6x in my opinion. i run mine at 160. but come to think of it my sfaw i got for 10 bucks, is set at 16 also and is my go to violet. and it has some good time on it.

but back on track... stick to around 160ma.

michael.

Lazeerer, which lens did you use for your GGW builds? I am getting 125-130mW from mine. Current is 170mA and I am using a three element glass lens.

If you look at my post above you can see that most of them i tested where around the 150mW Mark and less.

I was using the stander Acrylic lens that comes with the modules. I like them better then the 3 element ones as IIRC they gave me a few mW More.

The New GGW Sleds that have been around for the past year to maybe even a couple years are just not good anymore power wise.

Yours is about 10mW-15mW Lower then the Average GGW Ive test and seen.

What driver are you using.?


Try the Acrylic lens and let me know what you get.?

These are my latest data (10min ago):
PMMA lens:137mW
half-threaded glass lens:136mW
full-threaded glass lens:139mW
The driver is a boost driver, the only driver I bought and not made myself. I had to use a 4.5V power supply (wall wart) for these numbers. I got much less with the 3xAAA NiMh batteries (~110mW). I guess, it is time for a diy boost driver...

Hmm. I dont know what to tell you. GWW now Adas 140mW is acceptable.

I just wish they where like the use to be.

I agree. After all, that is not too bad. I was surprised to see that with the wall wart the performance increased. I had tested the driver with a test load, but I can't remember what power source I used back then when I had built it... :beer: