RPL adjusted

To be quite honest, when I received my RPL 225 about a month ago, I was kinda disappointed. It lacked power (I don’t have a meter, just judging from experience), and always mode hopped, and was never consistent at all power levels but 1. I decided to take it apart (finally) although it technically voids the warrantee (I don’t really know why – I would understand if someone really messed with one). Not like I took it completely apart, all I did was unscrew the cap, then unscrewed the four screws where the collimator and diode connect at the base. I decided to do this because I noticed that it wasn't glued together. So I marked it so I knew which side was which. Then I messed around with the naked IR diode for a bit, noticed how freaken powerful it was, lit up the entire house (using a camera), and I burned some black tape with it by putting the cap on it (using the lens).

Anyway, as I begun to re-assemble it, I found that it wasn't so easy as there was little play for the entire collimator to move. I don't know what is the real construction differences from one model to the next (mW). I realized that it was just a little off alignment since I received the unit. I adjusted it to where I thought looked just right, and now I KNOW it is WAY more powerful, more consistent and keeps TEMOO. The divergence is better, and overall way brighter! Maybe it was thrown around during shipping, I don't know. Before I would have to hold my skin on the beam for around 3 sec to feel anything, now instant sting! It used to take 5 sec to light a match, now instantly (@ 5').

I thought it was a cool laser when I first got it, but wasn't sure I felt content with spending so much on it. Now, I absolutely love it and realize the inner workings, (VERY, VERY NICE DIODE) and with out a doubt know it was worth every penny.

I hope you had some good IR goggles when you did that. All of the RPL lasers use an IR diode that puts out 2.5 Watts at power level 9

Btw did the the insides look anything like this? The order of the parts in this picture is Lens cap-->Heatsinked head containing the collimating lens and IR filter--->Crystal set output.

I'll post some pictures when I get home later.

thats quiet strange, my old 225 model was class, i could light matches over 2 meters away. what did jack have to say about this? i wonder if something went wrong in shipping.
as for construction differences, arent they all the same, just better crystal efficiency?
is it possible to focus the dot of a 2.5W IR laser? that would be a burning beast

darklandz said:

thats quiet strange, my old 225 model was class, i could light matches over 2 meters away. what did jack have to say about this? i wonder if something went wrong in shipping.
as for construction differences, arent they all the same, just better crystal efficiency?
is it possible to focus the dot of a 2.5W IR laser? that would be a burning beast

Click to expand...

If you could it might make sense to buy an rpl-165 just to remove the crystals and have a 2.5watt IR burning laser.

that would be awesome if someone wanted a high powered burning laser.
anyway i just wanted some input about how your RPL's perform in the cold?
i have used my RPL outside in winter at 2 degrees and there wasnt any visible difference on beam visibility - still very bright and stable, with no mode hopping.
maybe interms of mw, it may have decreased slightly due to the cold?

darklandz said:

that would be awesome if someone wanted a high powered burning laser.
anyway i just wanted some input about how your RPL's perform in the cold?
i have used my RPL outside in winter at 2 degrees and there wasnt any visible difference on beam visibility - still very bright and stable, with no mode hopping.
maybe interms of mw, it may have decreased slightly due to the cold?

Click to expand...

If my blue RPL is really cold it takes a couple of minutes before it warms up and reaches its full output. It starts out weak and slowly gets stronger as it warms up. The colder it is the longer the warm up time. After it successfully warms up it stays incredibly stable and very bright unless you turn it off and let it cool for a long time. As long as you keep it turned on it has no problem with being carried around on a freezing night.

My green RPL is much less sensitive to the cold. It stays stable during warm up unless you turn the power level up to 8+. After it warms up it works best on level 8 for stability and burning. Level 9 doesn't seem to produce much more power and it drains the battery faster while causing the laser to heat up.

yeh i noticed the exact same thing with my 20mw blue. starts kinda weak and takes alot longer for it to warm up and gets brighter as it gets warmer.
but when at its brightest, 473nm rules!

Sorry for the delay! I got lots of shit going on.

another

on.

hey ace & darklandz i was talking to ace i guess jack tests units to thier best setting mine was 291 on # 3 setting it burns way better at say 7-8-or 9 but shuts down after a couple of minutes i should be happy. 291 mw isn't a joke but we all know more power more power more power
oops ive got to stop doing that RPL RULES Iwish I had the Rpl 400 now

john_lawson said:

hey ace &  darklandz i was talking to ace i guess jack tests units to thier best setting mine was 291 on # 3 setting it burns way better at say 7-8-or 9 but shuts down after a couple of minutes i should be happy. 291 mw isn't a joke but we all know more power more power more power
oops ive got to stop doing that RPL RULES Iwish I had the Rpl 400 now

Click to expand...

haha ;D mee too! But I think I'd rather keep my 225 and get the 35 blue. I dream of it, so I know I'll have it soon.

is that last pic lasing without the collimator lens? must be a huge green blob everywher.
man, do you guys just play with your RPL at home? or even shine it around locally or outta the window? i cant even think of taking that risk, allthough there is alot of street lighting in my street, if i shine my RPL outta the window, it seems like its leaving a green glow across my street, and is visible from any angle.
its attracts way too much attention and i cant risk being spotted with this RPL, theres alot of jealous/moody neighbours who could easily dob me in to the authorities, so for me to play with my RPL means a 10 mile journey into the countryside. its sure worth it all day long.

darklandz said:

is that last pic lasing without the collimator lens? must be a huge green blob everywher.
man, do you guys just play with your RPL at home? or even shine it around locally or outta the window? i cant even think of taking that risk, allthough there is alot of street lighting in my street, if i shine my RPL outta the window, it seems like its leaving a green glow across my street, and is visible from any angle.
its attracts way too much attention and i cant risk being spotted with this RPL, theres alot of jealous/moody neighbours who could easily dob me in to the authorities, so for me to play with my RPL means a 10 mile journey into the countryside. its sure worth it all day long.

Click to expand...

Most of my neighbors are cool people who are impressed by my lasers and I have actually sold dx lasers to a lot of them. This one bitchy old lady finally moved away and I don't have a problem with anyone else. Also there hasn't been any laser attacks on planes in my area for a couple of years so people aren't really on high alert for lasers. Still I only use my green rpl outside at night after 1am when most people are sleeping. Also I don't use it if I see any helicopters around.

darklandz said:

is that last pic lasing without the collimator lens? must be a huge green blob everywher.
man, do you guys just play with your RPL at home? or even shine it around locally or outta the window? i cant even think of taking that risk, allthough there is alot of street lighting in my street, if i shine my RPL outta the window, it seems like its leaving a green glow across my street, and is visible from any angle.
its attracts way too much attention and i cant risk being spotted with this RPL, theres alot of jealous/moody neighbours who could easily dob me in to the authorities, so for me to play with my RPL means a 10 mile journey into the countryside. its sure worth it all day long.

Click to expand...

Yes it is. But it is only a huge green blob @ approx 20'. That close it's actually smaller then when collimated.

I'm always careful as possible while using my lasers. The police department is right down the street, the helicopter is always in the sky, I live next to an air port and in the middle of lots of homes. From my back yard I can see 14 houses! After 1 am it is really mellow and I can star point, shoot at some trees, and play limbo in my back yard! j/k. Otherwise, I use it outside during the day where it's not as noticeable, or around 6 am on the weekend where the sun is rising but you can still see the beam. This weekend, I used a magnifying glass to light a match from about 80' with no problem! I did that in my back yard from one side to the other using my goggles at 6:00am.