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LF a 445nm laser

maxkillz

maxkillz

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seeing as taxes are coming in and i have 3 dependents I might be getting a little extra...hopefully.. idk if being 19 with 3 kids would bring in any extra moneys

I haven't been in the laser scene in a while but I got a lot of my friends into lasers. So when taxes come in I will be interested in a Laser for me and maybe 2 more for my friends :p

I want to know how much a complete >1W 445nm laser would cost vs me buying the parts and making it myself

(if i can't afford it I would try for a nice blu-ray laser or high powered red)

all I want is to just burn stuff and look at the pretty beam and same with my friends (and i know for a fact they are not laser retarded hence why i would trust them with a laser)

sorry if my english is kinda broken or whatever, I haven't been speaking much of it lately..
 





rhd

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I don't think a high-powered blu-ray is actually much (if any) less expensive now - certainly not if you're talking about a 12x.

The dirt cheapest approach to a 445nm in my mind is:

$15 Moh's hotlights host
$45 For a 445nm diode
$5 to build a driver based on LM317
$15 for Aixiz + Lens

(Presumes you have 3x 10440 batteries on hand)

That's $80.

If you don't have 10440 batteries, use 1x 18650 and buy a Flexdrive instead. Still at slightly under $100.
 
TTerbo

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^^^ provided you can make an lm317 driver that can fit into a small host...
 
ped

ped

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Yeah wasting ur time trying to put a 317 in a hotlights, not enough room and the 317 will produce as much, if not more heat than the diode its self, it'd have an awful duty cycle.
 
rhd

rhd

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There's plenty of room in a hotlights for an LM317 driver ?!?

I've done that a couple times. That was the first 445nm laser I built :)

If you put it in the little plastic pill area, you're fine. I don't know about the duty cycle, but I sure used my first 445 for long periods at a time, and there was never a heat problem. I think I had the LM317 set for ~1A.
 
ped

ped

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Set at one amp? that thing would have been glowing ! along with the heat of the diode.
 
rhd

rhd

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Hmmmmm...
Well, I don't really know how hot it actually gets. I didn't heatsink it, but it at least didn't get hot enough to melt the plastic it was mounted in. I don't know what to tell you? I used a 2W resistor, but I don't think that changes the LM317's heat output ?
 
Raybo

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If you're strapped for cash you might want to consider taking care of your "obligations" first. :beer:
 
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rhd

rhd

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It really CAN. I don't understand why there is the uncertainty.
It's really easy to do. GREAT host for an LM317 :)
 
TTerbo

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At one amp that lm317 will be really hot.
but you can try it with a 10 second duty cycle or something along those lines...
 
Helios

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I swear I read somewhere that the 317s can be set up to 1.5A...I cant find where at the moment and I usually stick to premade drivers so dont quote me.
 
rhd

rhd

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They can -
LM317 Current Calculator - Electric Circuit
"Do not forget that the maximum continuous current which can be managed by the LM317T is 1.5 Amps, and that is with a decent heatsink fitted."

Side question:
I really don't know much (anything?) about transistors. I get the sense that there may be a really simple way of incorporating one into a basic circuit (for my needs, the DDL driver) in order to allow me to use a low-current-rated push button, to turn the DDL circuit on and off.

Is this s super simple task? Or is there some complexity involved. I wouldn't even know what kind of transistor to use. I'd really love not to have to learn anything about transistors ;)
 
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