Acquiring 445nm diodes direct from manufacture.

leukoplast said:

The only way prices will go up is if Casio stops making the projectors and doesn't use the diodes in anything else. Otherwise they will keep pumping out projectors and pumping out diodes. And as time works with technology, the prices will steadily drop from this point forward. They don't raise unless the demand is there and the supply is low.

These blue diodes are going to be eventually making their ways into laser TV's and various other display related electronics within the next few years I think. Especially once they start manufacturing green diodes, the market will now have direct diodes for red, green and blue which is all the colors needed to make any color display possible. And at that point, things such as laser TV's and probably even higher resolution projectors will start hitting the market and the 445nm diodes will be everywhere for dirt cheap.

Casio isn't going to be the only ones making these for long. A cheap blue laser with incredibly high output is going to be essential for various display electronics over the coming years. All that is next is cheap green diodes, which from what I read might start being manufactured sometime in 2011.

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It's equally possible that it could go this way, yes. But that's only because we don't know what the future will bring. My position is based on the idea that future diodes might not be as hobbyist friendly in terms of packaging... but hobbyists have never let me down before. Just because the possibility exists that packaging could be different doesn't necessarily mean they can't be used. If any group of people can figure ways to use new designs no matter what form they come in it's this group..

leukoplast said:

The only way prices will go up is if Casio stops making the projectors and doesn't use the diodes in anything else. Otherwise they will keep pumping out projectors and pumping out diodes. And as time works with technology, the prices will steadily drop from this point forward. They don't raise unless the demand is there and the supply is low.

These blue diodes are going to be eventually making their ways into laser TV's and various other display related electronics within the next few years I think. Especially once they start manufacturing green diodes, the market will now have direct diodes for red, green and blue which is all the colors needed to make any color display possible. And at that point, things such as laser TV's and probably even higher resolution projectors will start hitting the market and the 445nm diodes will be everywhere for dirt cheap.

Casio isn't going to be the only ones making these for long. A cheap blue laser with incredibly high output is going to be essential for various display electronics over the coming years. All that is next is cheap green diodes, which from what I read might start being manufactured sometime in 2011.

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Wrong---- the a-130 is no longer being made- so there is a finite number of them out there. the A-150 got abandoned before it was ever made.

That leaves the a-140-- and seeing how they are saying there are over-heating probs-- how long do you think the will continue to make it??

Then consider this-- Casio has prolly taken some undeserved heat( no pun intended) over how easy it is to build a instant skin flaming- eye destroying and neighbors dog killing lazer by a 10 yr old kid with lawn-mowing cash and a 5$ RatShack soldering gun(shades of KipKay).

IMO they will either change to way they power the blue(and green) or make it nearly impossible to harvest the diodes.

If you call one of the Main Casio service centers and ask about buying the array sled-- you will get about 10 questions about who you are and where you are located and how you can be called, emailed ,or written to AND then they will put you on HOLD for about 20 min. only to come back and say that that part is not available-- i know this from doing it Long Ago-- like right aftert the first diodes were being offered FS> And I know of one person with excellant China connections that agrees with me on this. He has purchased a half- dozen projectors and shipped them to China as they cannot even get the whole projectors over there.

so at this point in time I guess it would be even more of an impossibility of getting the diodes or the arrays any cheaper than just buying one of the remaining projectors out there.

I'm keeping some back for me until I get projector # 4.

thanks EF for the agreement--hakzaw

hakzaw1 said:

Wrong---- the a-130 is no longer being made- so there is a finite number of them out there. the A-150 got abandoned before it was ever made.

That leaves the a-140-- and seeing how they are saying there are over-heating probs-- how long do you think the will continue to make it??

Then consider this-- Casio has prolly taken some undeserved heat( no pun intended) over how easy it is to build a instant skin flaming- eye destroying and neighbors dog killing lazer by a 10 yr old kid with lawn-mowing cash and a 5$ RatShack soldering gun(shades of KipKay).

IMO they will either change to way they power the blue(and green) or make it nearly impossible to harvest the diodes.

If you call one of the Main Casio service centers and ask about buying the array sled-- you will get about 10 questions about who you are and where you are located and how you can be called, emailed ,or written to AND then they will put you on HOLD for about 20 min. only to come back and say that that part is not available-- i know this from doing it Long Ago-- like right aftert the first diodes were being offered FS> And I know of one person with excellant China connections that agrees with me on this. He has purchased a half- dozen projectors and shipped them to China as they cannot even get the whole projectors over there.

so at this point in time I guess it would be even more of an impossibility of getting the diodes or the arrays any cheaper than just buying one of the remaining projectors out there.

I'm keeping some back for me until I get projector # 4.

thanks EF for the agreement--hakzaw

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Well, there is always the XJ-A230, XJ-A135U, XJ-A240, XJ-A145U, and the XJ-A235U if the XJ-130/140 go away. They all probably use the same exact diodes. And I'm sure Casio will keep making different models.

They could possibly be taking heat for the diodes being mis-used, but I really can't imagine them being held responsible for people ripping the diodes out and hurting themselves with them. I mean that's like somebody taking apart a TV and suing the TV company because they shocked themselves on the PSU. How would this be the TV companies fault? Quite simply, Casio may also be really stingy with the arrays for this very reason. Probably because if somebody takes apart a projector to harvest the diodes, they are free and clear as far as lawsuits go... but if they sell the array to somebody, and that person hurts themselves with the diodes in the array... then they would have trouble.

I really do not see the worlds first blue laser diode becoming extinct, or even close to extinct. It is quite simply too high of a commodity to just be swept under the rug and forgotten. A cheap blue laser was the last piece of the puzzle per-say as far as laser RGB display products are concerned. I guarantee you there is companies out there trying to replicate this diode... reverse engineering it, or just trying to buy it from Casio.

The 445nm diodes are not going away any time soon, and will only continue to become more and more used in everyday display technology.

I am working on it, we buy 100's of 1000's of LED's from Nichia every year
and I have our buyer looking into getting a sample of 100 445nm LD's for us to try out and see what kind of price's we can get

[UPDATE] I just sent off a request via our purchase officer to Nichia for 445 LD's we'll see what happens 9-1-10 5:10pm

leukoplast said:

I am sure pretty soon one of the LPF members with connections will manage to get tons of diodes directly from the manu or indirectly from a third party (like somebody who works at Casio).

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Flaminpyro said:

I am working on it, we buy 100's of 1000's of LED's from Nichia every year
and I have our buyer looking into getting a sample of 100 445nm LD's for us to try out and see what kind of price's we can get

[UPDATE] I just sent off a request via our purchase officer to Nichia for 445 LD's we'll see what happens 9-1-10 5:10pm

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Nice! I will be very interested to see what comes of this. Would be funny if they were priced higher than we can get them from a projector harvest, lol.

Now are these going to be the same diodes Casio uses?

Where did the info the A130's have been discontinued come from? Even casio themselves say 130's are in stock.. but not 140's heh. And all the other suppliers I checked that we deal with regularly seem to have plenty of both 130's and 140's. The 130's still show as a current product by casio as well.

I see little reason for them to kill the 130's and nothing else in that product line.

^ overheating is one (bad internal ingenierization, the fans are OK, but there's not enough space for a decent airflow) ..... some "freezing" problems switching between eco and full mode, reported saltuarily from users, but never declared from Casio, can be another reason .....

Anyway, don't know laws for other countries, but in Italy, if you discontinue a product, you must be able to provide spare parts for this product for at least 5 years ..... so, probably they have a decent escort of lamp blocks, for this ..... pity only that they don't want to sell them

HIMNL9 said:

^ overheating is one (bad internal ingenierization, the fans are OK, but there's not enough space for a decent airflow) ..... some "freezing" problems switching between eco and full mode, reported saltuarily from users, but never declared from Casio, can be another reason .....

Anyway, don't know laws for other countries, but in Italy, if you discontinue a product, you must be able to provide spare parts for this product for at least 5 years ..... so, probably they have a decent escort of lamp blocks, for this ..... pity only that they don't want to sell them

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Even if they have a product recall, they will make more that 'work'. :yh: They just don't stop manufacturing, cold turkey style.

But that is good news about the replacements parts. I am not sure if there is any such law for the US, but there is probably something similar. If not we can just import from Italy

You can always buy from this Chinese source. Casio XJ-A130. Casio XJ-A140 445nm Diode

lol I feel honored that he likes my website so much. seen here: HighTechDealZ - 445nm 1W (1000mW) Blue Brand New Laser Diode

he even copied my email address into his description. heh. Andrew (modwerx) just pointed this out to me.

and regarding buying in 5000 to 10,000. I'm up for getting that many. Might have to fly to Korea to confirm the people I'm buying from, but I think I'd be able to move that many.

-Kendall

You can always buy from this Chinese source. Casio XJ-A130. Casio XJ-A140 445nm Diode

lol I feel honored that he likes my website so much. seen here: HighTechDealZ - 445nm 1W (1000mW) Blue Brand New Laser Diode

he even copied my email address into his description. heh. Andrew (modwerx) just pointed this out to me.

and regarding buying in 5000 to 10,000. I'm up for getting that many. Might have to fly to Korea to confirm the people I'm buying from, but I think I'd be able to move that many.

-Kendall