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4 diodes in one housing?

L

Lascannon

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Ok, so someone probably already did this, but I couldnt find the thread for it. Sorry!

That said, heres the question:

Could I put 4 diodes through one lense to make a more powerfull laser?

If I can, would I wire them in parallel to one driver, with the same power suply, or do I need a drive and a powersuply for each, or do I put them in parallel with 4 times the voltage?

I would have to put them all in one heatsink, any ideas on how to make one?

Thanks guys!
Liam.
 





3zuli

3zuli

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it's not that simple as you think. you could knife-edge 2 and 2 diodes together and then combine these 2 beams using a PBS cube. it would be very hard to make that assembly reasonably small and portable. also, you would need LOTS of power to drive it (like 3S3P LiPo pack for a reasonable runtime) and very good heatsinking (probably using fans).
you can choose, what's beter to you: you can either have 4 diodes, each with it's own driver, or all 4 diodes connected in series to one driver.

try PMing member wannaburn, he has recently made few 2-diode portables, but don't expect it to be cheap ;)
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/4sale-2-8w-twin-monster-445-custom-host-67408.html#post971781
 
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L

Lascannon

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Ok. So basically I wind up with 4 lasers stuck together. that I can manage. My real question is this: How would I focus them?

Thanks,
Liam.
 
jeffreythe00

jeffreythe00

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Yes and no. It would be much more difficult than you think. Yes the outcome would be a more powerful laser but your way of doing it is all wrong.

First off, each laser needs its own driver.
Secondly you would need a way to combine the lasers. Many people will tell you to knife edge them. If you don't know what knife edging is then you need to search the forum.

While more lasers in the same path will give you a stronger output... they will never be ONE laser. If you are just looking for higher output than knife edging is your best bet.

You can use the same psu to power them all as long as you are not drawing more than the psu's rated current.
 
L

Lascannon

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So, theoretically, I could knife edge these things, each with its own driver, and power them with the same suply I would use for one?
 
jeffreythe00

jeffreythe00

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You can attach multiple lasers to one supply. you will need to make a new lead for each driver though.

Each laser will need its own housing and lens.


May I ask what kind of lasers you plan to use? What colors/powers? What will be the purpous? (I'm going to assume burning by the question ^^
 
3zuli

3zuli

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that power supply should be powerful enough to power 4 diodes + drivers, that means 4x as powerful as for a single unit. so, the answer is NO.
 
L

Lascannon

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I dont realy have a purpose. I may not even buid the thing. I was just curious. So, why do they go in series? Why not in parallel with 4x the normal power suply and a driver each?

Thanks,
Liam.

Edit: Sorry, I cant find any instructions on knife edging. I assume I just put 4 axis modules in a :: formation? How do I focus it after that?
Thanks,
Liam.
 
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R

robertkoa

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I thought you meant four different colors in one housing- that would be cool !

Violet - Blue - Green - Red

Or better IMO Yellow - Blue- Red- Green
 
L

Lascannon

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Ok, for funding reasons, and because I actually want to do this, I have reduced it to 3 diodes. Now, how do I focus the beams from 3 seperate diodes into one? Any ideas?
 
L

Lascannon

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I have been told that several times, and all I come up with is threads mentioning it, is there a tutorial?
 
Jmillerdoc

Jmillerdoc

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Not really any tutorials I could find either but of you look carefully at the threads out there you will see what they mean by knife edging...seems there one basic idea...the use of a mirror of sorts (or a prism for that matter) to to redirect one beam where the bounced beam is bounced right on the edge of the mirror and the second beam is shot in parallel to the bounced beam right over the edge where where the two are brought in extremely close proximity to each other in parallel. There are several picture on the forum. I have been thinking of building a two diode laser using a PBS cube...much easier IMHO than trying to knife edge three. I guess you could use a PBS cube for two of the beams and then knife edge it to the third. You can't continue a string of PBS cubes for reasons of polarity, two is the max for combining with PBS cubes.
 
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foulmist

foulmist

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just as Jmillerdoc said
I will show it on pic to see what he means

attachment.php

so you get a fatter beam ...
actually 2 beams very close to each other :beer:

and for 3 diodes you can use this setup.. knife edge and then pbs cube:
actually it has been posted before by andy_con so the credits go to him
:D :beer: see here
attachment.php
 

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