Please Help!!!!

I just built a 1 Watt blue laser and the beam is in a line!!! Please help!! If you want pictures or more info, ask. (btw, if i posted this in the wrong section... sorry, I'm new)

here are the parts i used if it helps: Diode:445nm 1W Blue Laser Diode from DLP projector w/ lens | eBay

housing: 12x30mm Aixiz laser module housing blank for 5.6mm LD | eBay

glass lens: Glass lens for Aixiz 12x30mm laser module 405nm 445nm | eBay

I dont have a link for the driver buts its: 1W 445nm blue laser diode driver / 405nm laser driver

Some pictures would help :beer:
Do you have a heatsink for the diode ?

Jim

i do have a heatsink. i just finished the wiring so its not in the heatsink or the host yet.

That is normal. In case you can focus it better and you just unfocused it for purpose of the picture.
It is supposed to be line, it's because the diode is multimode (search it up here). It has almost no effect on close distance burning. On the other hand it ruins beam quality over large distances.

The longer axis near the diode actually spreads less then the short one .. so at large distance the axes are swapped. And there is distance, at which the beam is almost square .. for my laser it's about 2 meters (6 feet).

Thanks for the response. I can focus it better, even at full focus it cant light a match at a very close distance. Any answers for that?

So, are you saying that it will burn at a distance?

Yep, it wont burn at distance. I mean hundreds of yards.

On the other hand 1W should totally light a match over several yards. Can it be that you have the lens backwards ? The cutting for screwdriver should go away from laser. Pls make pictures of the laser, of the lens assembly, and everything.

Edit: I've just quick tested my 1.5W (see signature for details). Over yard I can get 'dot' in size 2mm x 8mm. It lights match under 1 second at this distance .. ie not instantly, but reliably enough.

working on it

The full laser setup:

The lens assembly:

The lens assembly pulled apart:

Did you take off the heatsink for this picture?

Hatsink for the diode is first thing. You need it.
Battery is another. 9V cannot pull enough power. Try measuring current and voltage on the battery with driver in. I bet the current will be low and the voltage would drop hard. In such case it wont run at intended 1W. The diode needs about 5W to output 1W of light. About 4.5V and slightly above 1A. Driver will eat some of the power too .. so you need about 7W capable battery, or even more. 9V should not be able to do that.

So I would need two 9 volt batteries to bring me up to around 9W. Watts=Amps x Voltage right?

First of all, that laser diode needs to be put into a heatsinked host. It's going to burn up very quickly from heat if you don't. You're probably lucky that you're using a crappy 9V battery that is only minimally capable of even barely powering a diode like that, and so your diode is starved of current.

As for your batteries, those 9V batteries are made of 6x AAAA batteries, which have terrible current sourcing abilities, and to top it off, the Alkaline battery chemistry performs terribly under high-current loads. Get some batteries like 18650s or something better to power your driver, not 9V batteries.

Try a host like this c6 Aurora C6 *mirror polished* Host & Heat Sink [MIRC6] - $39.99 : Cajunlasers Store

Or take a look at jayrob's host kits here: http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/jayrob-build-kits-lenses-other-stuff-listed-here-44227.html

Alternatively, there are plenty of 18650 flashlights out there and plenty of members on here who are capable of making a custom Heatsink for you...

And find a decent 18650 battery for it.

CK99 said:

So I would need two 9 volt batteries to bring me up to around 9W. Watts=Amps x Voltage right?

Click to expand...

W=A*V, that's right. But alkaline 9V won't give 1A at 9V. Common batteries lower their voltage under load, so there is limit to what power you can get from them. 9V is one of the weakest batteries in this respect, as it has really small cells. I doubt 2x9 will cut it wither. On the other hand, it will be better, and it would be simple modification. It will more or less double the power.
Just connect them in parallel. But don't do that without heatsinking the diode !

Best way is to use Lion cells, as they do not lower their voltage under load that much. I'm not sure about the driver you use. Usually drivers are build to do just one thing. Either lower the voltage (buck driver) or higher it (boost driver). There are drivers which can do both as needed.

You either need driver which can boost the voltage from 3.7V of Lion battery to 4.5V working voltage of the diode, or you would need two Lion batteries.

Which reminds me .. what current is the drive set to ? What exactly is it ? Where did you buy it ? Or do better pictures of it, we will know it ..

I assume his driver is this one or one similar 1W 445nm laser diode driver / 200mW 405nm laser diode driver [OL-445-D] - $12.00 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce