which KD laser?

mikeeey · Mar 6, 2008

ive had my eye on these 2 KD lasers:
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3899
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3726

and if i were to save up for them, im not sure which one i would want. the only difference is one uses a CR123a 3V battery and one uses a 3.6V/3.7V 18650 battery. the 18650 is about $20 more expensive. it uses a higher voltage, so i wonder if that one would be better?

what do you guys think?

o yes and another question..
is DX and KD the only 2 places to buy ultrafire lasers? i notice on the box there is a checkbox for 200mW but neither DX or KD sell a 200mw version of this laser.

toked323 · Mar 6, 2008

i wouldnt buy it i would buy there 150mw for 95$

mikeeey · Mar 6, 2008

toked323 said:
i wouldnt buy it i would buy there 150mw for 95$

err....but its a pen. ive had bad luck with pens. they just heat up and the laser dims and i need to give it a 5 minute cooldown after a minute of use. then the button itself gets a bad connection with the metal when trying to push it. i stay away from pens. they also break easy when dropped. i like the flashlight styles, nice heatsink, strong build, clicky button so no worry about bad connection.

IgorT · Mar 15, 2008

The pen style DX lasers have a built in design flaw - the button is on the driver PCB and the PCB is only "supported" by the weak legs of the pump diode. If they made a simple plastic collar for it, of at least stuck a bit of plastic under it, pushing the button wouldn't put so much strain on the LD. In mine it actually dislodged it from it's position and misaligned the diode and the crystals. I put a piece of plastic under it, and it became much more stable.

So you are right about the pen lasers. They are far from perfect..

But seeing how badly the UltraFire 90mW laser failed, do you really trust them for the 100mW one? There is no guarantee, it is actually any better. It is possible, that KD simply cares less than DX about customer satisfaction.

The CR123 is a little smaller, so i would go with that. You can buy 3V rechargable CR123, so the capacity doesn't really matter that much, IMHO. Both can deliver the required current.

If you trust KD, decide based on your size preference. There is not much other info to go on.

Oh, and about the 200mW checkbox.. They make different checkboxes, so they can only have one box made for all their lasers, to save some money, so I believe they were just thinking of the future possibilities. It could mean a 200mW is in developement, but there is no way of telling when it will be available..

mikeeey · Mar 23, 2008

IgorT said:
The pen style DX lasers have a built in design flaw - the button is on the driver PCB and the PCB is only "supported" by the weak legs of the pump diode. If they made a simple plastic collar for it, of at least stuck a bit of plastic under it, pushing the button wouldn't put so much strain on the LD. In mine it actually dislodged it from it's position and misaligned the diode and the crystals. I put a piece of plastic under it, and it became much more stable.

So you are right about the pen lasers. They are far from perfect..

But seeing how badly the UltraFire 90mW laser failed, do you really trust them for the 100mW one? There is no guarantee, it is actually any better. It is possible, that KD simply cares less than DX about customer satisfaction.

The CR123 is a little smaller, so i would go with that. You can buy 3V rechargable CR123, so the capacity doesn't really matter that much, IMHO. Both can deliver the required current.

If you trust KD, decide based on your size preference. There is not much other info to go on.

Oh, and about the 200mW checkbox.. They make different checkboxes, so they can only have one box made for all their lasers, to save some money, so I believe they were just thinking of the future possibilities. It could mean a 200mW is in developement, but there is no way of telling when it will be available..

thanks for the response =)

yes your right, the DX 90mW didnt go well, only cuz i thought something was wrong with it, so when i tried to take it apart i broke it. lol i was lucky i got one with the same problems as other people but even then, i broke it.
well the DX Ultrafire 20mW is reported to run VERY well. everyone likes it, aparently it measures 50mW..

see i was leaning more towards the longer KD laser, cuz it takes a 3.6/3.7V battery. wouldnt that be a bit brighter than the 3.0V cr123a ones? i already have the DSD charger which will charge both types of batteries.

it just worries me that no one has bought any of the 2 lasers from them, atleast not what ive heard..

mikeeey · Mar 23, 2008

do you find it strange that they both say "Availability: Out of Stock – Ship in 1 to 4 weeks" and there are no customer reviews?
do you also find it strange that it's out of stock and DX's are out of stock?
I dont know if this was out of stock when i first made this thread.. but i think its strange that something that no one bought is out of stock..

bob12345 · Mar 23, 2008

UltraFire are crap. The only decent laser on Kaidomain is the 50mW Copper/Edwina, which is better than the rest of them put together.

styropyro · Mar 23, 2008

bob1122 said:
UltraFire are crap. The only decent laser on Kaidomain is the 50mW Copper/Edwina, which is better than the rest of them put together.

I second that. There have been a lot of bad reports about those Ultrafire lasers.

mikeeey · Mar 23, 2008

does the 50mW Copper/Edwina burn? how bright is it? and how does it compare to a famaliar laser such as a DX True 20/30/50/etc..

Razako · Mar 23, 2008

mikeeey said:
does the 50mW Copper/Edwina burn? how bright is it? and how does it compare to a famaliar laser such as a DX True 20/30/50/etc..

The 50mw KD laser should melt through black trash bags and pop balloons at close range. Other than that it probably won't do much actual burning.

zoriahnyc · Mar 23, 2008

I just received a KD 50mw copper edwina. It is a very nice quality case, but there are some issues with it, the main one being: The output is MUCH brighter for the first second, then drops substantially...more than 50% drop I would guess. It will not melt bags or pop balloons. The on/off clicker is a bit wobbly.

I like the unit and for $26 I think it is excellent. I have searched the other posts for info on the output spike and then drop and it seems no one has an answer but most people think that units that display this behavior (MOST DX units are reported to do the same thing) are actually putting out close the the advertised output consistantly, but peaking over that output in the first second or so and then dropping down. If anyone has and more information on the subject, it would be nice to have an answer and to be able to give a higher recommendation on this laser...

bob12345 · Mar 23, 2008

zoriahnyc said:
I just received a KD 50mw copper edwina. It is a very nice quality case, but there are some issues with it, the main one being: The output is MUCH brighter for the first second, then drops substantially...more than 50% drop I would guess. It will not melt bags or pop balloons. The on/off clicker is a bit wobbly.

I like the unit and for $26 I think it is excellent. I have searched the other posts for info on the output spike and then drop and it seems no one has an answer but most people think that units that display this behavior (MOST DX units are reported to do the same thing) are actually putting out close the the advertised output consistantly, but peaking over that output in the first second or so and then dropping down. If anyone has and more information on the subject, it would be nice to have an answer and to be able to give a higher recommendation on this laser...

It's a very common problem.

You need to solder down the 3 contacts on the click switch. There are two contacts for the brass switch casing and one contact that will touch the battery pos. terminal - you need to add solder to all of those to ensure a good electrical pathway. See the 16 page long thread on this laser in the "Reviews" section.

Once you do this, it will maintain the peak output you get in the first second - or at least it does for me. My laser is now very bright but it was like yours when it started. It now stings my skin after about 2-3 seconds.

zoriahnyc · Mar 24, 2008

Thanks so much for the suggestion. I checked out your post and tried the contacts soldering but it did not seem to work. If I half press the switch down, it powers up VERY dimly. If i put a bit more pressure on the switch it gets very bright, only to ramp down to the dimmer level again. It is very frustrating as it is obvious it could be a very nice, bright laser...unfortunately it only stays that way for a split second.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks so much!

mikeeey · Mar 24, 2008

zoriahnyc said:
Thanks so much for the suggestion. I checked out your post and tried the contacts soldering but it did not seem to work. If I half press the switch down, it powers up VERY dimly. If i put a bit more pressure on the switch it gets very bright, only to ramp down to the dimmer level again. It is very frustrating as it is obvious it could be a very nice, bright laser...unfortunately it only stays that way for a split second.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks so much!

sounds like you need to try my toilet paper mod, it cures everything! (actually it just raises the circuitboard, but u can try):
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1205451213/0

zoriahnyc · Mar 24, 2008

Hmmm...LOVE the sound of that!!! The TP Mod!!! Ok, what about all of the glue in there, the huge globs that seal the board in the barrel? Do you mean that I should just stuff the TP above and below the board, pushing up against the cilindrical copper screw that surrounds the board? Which direction should it be "pushing" it seems to be perfectly centered at the moment.

Thanks!

bob12345 · Mar 24, 2008

zoriahnyc said:
Thanks so much for the suggestion. I checked out your post and tried the contacts soldering but it did not seem to work. If I half press the switch down, it powers up VERY dimly. If i put a bit more pressure on the switch it gets very bright, only to ramp down to the dimmer level again. It is very frustrating as it is obvious it could be a very nice, bright laser...unfortunately it only stays that way for a split second.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks so much!

Try bypassing the switch (unscrew the tailcap and connect the battery terminal to the case) and check if it does it again.

If so, your best bet is probably an RMA although you may be able to open it up a little more ^^

Also, have you tried using fresh, fully charged batteries?

I would also say that adding TP would be a good idea. The driver on this laser rests freely and too much switch pressure can cause the dimming problem you are talking about (sometimes the driver board bends downwards).

which KD laser?

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