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589nm PGL-C teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

LtKernelPanic

LtKernelPanic

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Damn between this and your other fix I may have to bug you once I have the finds to repair my 589 GLP. Pretty sure the pump diode went LED on me and I've done exactly squat with C-mount diodes and realignment.
 





ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Yellow has certainly been a challenge like no other. It's still misbehaving a bit, but it's far better than it was. Pointers are a bit harder, but I can try. I actually have one c-mount left for those GLPs. I'm selling it for 30 Bucks.
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Ok probably the final add-on to this post. but I've actually managed to stablize it relatively. just got 3 consistent runs each with a fresh 18650. started at 47-50, rose to about mid 60s, then hovered between 50-67 and eventually settled in for about 30 seconds at 54-55mW at which point I stopped. beam is bright and excellent quality. hopefully it'll stay that way. the power may have dropped about 15mW, but its still bright as ever, if not brighter beam-wise. probably because the power is even throughout the beam, rather than dispersed and with hotspots.

I also promised a beamshot. so....:whistle:
Here ya go! natural beamshots, as always. no fog.
IMG_0380_zps1ef71555.jpg
 
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Sigurthr

Sigurthr

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Excellent work!! Quite the accomplishment. How's the duty cycle in that host? (How long of a run before output drops by half?)
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

I ran it over a minute with no issues. So I'm not sure. Output depends heavily on battery health, temp, and connection quality it seems,
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Sorry for the DP....but updated.

Just ran it for 3 minutes. Started at about 40, then climbed to 74, then dipped to the mid 60s and mid 50s, hovering there for over a minute, then had a small dip into the 40s at 2min but it quickly jumped back up to the mid 50s after about ten seconds where it stayed in the 50s to low 60s until I turned it off.

Host was at that point barely, but noticeably warmer around the neck
 
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Sigurthr

Sigurthr

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Yeah sounds like that host is much better than the current ones from DL. I get about 45sec before output drops to under half. On a COLD start I might get 1min 15sec at the very best.
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

It originally had a lower run time. I've realigned and changed the current several times now to get it like this...

I definitely think they'd do better in custom hosts, with the driver on a larger, dedicated heatsink. Contact in these hosts is rather poor. But they're big, so they do at least have that going for them. I may consider tearing apart the PGL-M as well so we can get module dimensions. Maybe we can make our own hosts for these. Frankly I don't know why they don't make the module out of something better...brass isn't exactly very good for heat transfer. probably to keep the cost down.
 
IsaacT

IsaacT

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

ultimatekaiser said:
It originally had a lower run time. I've realigned and changed the current several times now to get it like this...

I definitely think they'd do better in custom hosts, with the driver on a larger, dedicated heatsink. Contact in these hosts is rather poor. But they're big, so they do at least have that going for them. I may consider tearing apart the PGL-M as well so we can get module dimensions. Maybe we can make our own hosts for these. Frankly I don't know why they don't make the module out of something better...brass isn't exactly very good for heat transfer. probably to keep the cost down.
Click to expand...

Someone mentioned recently that brass is good at not expanding or contracting when the metal heats up. Which would be instrumental in a laser which hinges on alignment like this one does.
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Hmmm true. That might be why, and it's more robust than aluminum, and cheap. But the pointers use aluminum with a brass cover and back, as well as the labbies. I'd think that it'd be more thermally stable still in the long run. But perhaps they do that only in pointers just because they know they won't be run for long spans of time, and in the labbies because they have the TECs and huge body for helping to dissipate the heat.
 
Sigurthr

Sigurthr

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Yep, I think they use brass for the thermal-mechanical stability.

I'd definitely like to rehost mine into a labby format. I don't want to risk fatal (to the laser) injury trying to get the module out though, and I'd have to find someone willing to machine a block of aluminium for me for a reasonable price.

Are you able to tap such a large bore with the threads needed by the focusing lens disc and retaining ring, UK?
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Sigurthr said:
Yep, I think they use brass for the thermal-mechanical stability.

I'd definitely like to rehost mine into a labby format. I don't want to risk fatal (to the laser) injury trying to get the module out though, and I'd have to find someone willing to machine a block of aluminium for me for a reasonable price.

Are you able to tap such a large bore with the threads needed by the focusing lens disc and retaining ring, UK?
Click to expand...

Actually, all of the optics are the same in all of the heads. With the PGL-Cs and labbies, they're interchangeable, so they can be migrated to lab heads with some care. I've done it before, but it's quite a challenge.

Honestly you'd probably be better off trying to make it a custom handheld though, so you don't have to realign it.

As for boring it into a custom block heat sink, it would likely not be as efficient as could be. A long thin aluminum handheld with good thermal contact on the module, average mass and high surface area and a high capacity battery like a 26650 would do wonders for these.
 
IsaacT

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Ehgemus has made me a few custom handhelds that fit DPSS modules of that size. See my review threads "Frost" and "Ivy" in my signature. I'm sure he could manage something. The man is a wizard with metal.
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

I plan to. But I have the spartan and a hene supply to pay off first :) got another 1145P in today. But my old supply is tired so it can't maintain that high a load anymore. It's quite old. Gotta buy a new brick for it. I can't sell it till I test it.
 
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Sigurthr

Sigurthr

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

I wasn't thinking a true and honest labby rebuild that would require realignment. More of mounting the module into a larger Al block and mounting the block onto a large heatsink, perhaps with a TEC in between. I'd run it on a standalone power supply too. I'm planning on using the original driver, perhaps with a small heatsink mounted to the ICs at most. I just want better run times and more stability. I don't really care for handheld units, besides they're quickly becoming illegal.

ultimatekaiser said:
Actually, all of the optics are the same in all of the heads. With the PGL-Cs and labbies, they're interchangeable, so they can be migrated to lab heads with some care. I've done it before, but it's quite a challenge.

Honestly you'd probably be better off trying to make it a custom handheld though, so you don't have to realign it.

As for boring it into a custom block heat sink, it would likely not be as efficient as could be. A long thin aluminum handheld with good thermal contact on the module, average mass and high surface area and a high capacity battery like a 26650 would do wonders for these.
Click to expand...
 
ultimatekaiser

ultimatekaiser

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Re: the 589nm teardown and re-alignment [PIC HEAVY]

Sigurthr said:
I wasn't thinking a true and honest labby rebuild that would require realignment. More of mounting the module into a larger Al block and mounting the block onto a large heatsink, perhaps with a TEC in between. I'd run it on a standalone power supply too. I'm planning on using the original driver, perhaps with a small heatsink mounted to the ICs at most. I just want better run times and more stability. I don't really care for handheld units, besides they're quickly becoming illegal.
Click to expand...

Oh I know what you meant, just saying, you likely won't see a huge performance boost simply from putting it in a bigger heat sink. only so much additional metal can be added before no benefit is seen. because the source can only transfer it's heat so far, so fast. a mid sized, well cooled heat sink is often better than a large passive one. just food for thought :)

I was thinking of making a table laser out of one myself. putting the module in a small, but fan cooled heat sink, tiny amounts of thermal paste in between, and thermally sinking the driver to a separate block with a TEC, and a small DC 3V supply :) works great.
 
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