First Build- 500 mW 405nm

[highflya15]

Alright so I finally finished my first complete DIY build and I just wanted to share it with you guys to see what y'all think! The host was just a mini LED flashlight that I had laying around. I used a 500 mW 12x SO6J diode and an x-boost t-mini driver running at a conservative 450 mA. It uses a homemade copper heatsink and runs off of 3 AAA batteries. Let me know what y'all think!

Thanks,
Matt

Also, the beam shots I took were interesting because on the camera the middle part of the beam became invisible and then visible again further away. Does anyone know why this is?

 

[Photonz]

Nice job!:beer: the invisible part is the focal point where the beam is the smallest and hardest to see.

 

[highflya15]

that makes sense, thanks a lot!

 

[djQUAN]

Nice job!:beer: the invisible part is the focal point where the beam is the smallest and hardest to see.

Or there is less fog/smoke in that part of the beam

 

[ultimatekaiser]

nice job! :tinfoil:

 

[KRNAZNBOY]

The photo that shows the heatsink interests me

is the module set (screwed) into the heatsink or is it just glued or free?
For the sake of the longevity of the diode, you may want to upgrade your heat dissipation

*In the case that that really is a legit sink and i am just trippin, what is that slit/hole in the sink? (right next to the module pic#2)

It looks very nice i like the look of it! You may want to check out some Li-ion batteries that will fit in that host as AAAs are not the best for capacity...

:beer:
-Matt

 

[highflya15]

The photo that shows the heatsink interests me

is the module set (screwed) into the heatsink or is it just glued or free?
For the sake of the longevity of the diode, you may want to upgrade your heat dissipation

*In the case that that really is a legit sink and i am just trippin, what is that slit/hole in the sink? (right next to the module pic#2)

It looks very nice i like the look of it! You may want to check out some Li-ion batteries that will fit in that host as AAAs are not the best for capacity...

:beer:
-Matt

You actually cannot see the heat sink in the pictures, as there is a gold ring underneath the gold cap piece that is covering it (this is not the heat sink :evil. The ring is not perfectly cut so there is a little slit between that and the module. The heatsink itself its actually under this ring and fits snug in the host. The module fits nicely into the heat sink and is fastened completely with a screw.

As for the batteries, I do realize that AAA's aren't the best, however this little flashlight came with a perfect battery holder for three AAA's so I just went with that for now!

:beer:
-Matt

 

[KRNAZNBOY]

:beer:
-Matt

*GASP

Another one!

Teehee
-Matt

 

[ChaosLord]

Nice build! Much better than my first. +1

For my AAA build I use two AAA dummies and a 10440 li-ion. I got the dummies here: Fasttech, and lighthound sells 10440 (AAA size) li-ions.

 

[ImA4Wheelr]

Nice build. It's good to see those 9 led lights put to better use. And, off-the-shelf parts gets bonus points in my book.

Another battery option is 18500 Li-ions. That would almost double the capacity over 3AAA's. They drop in length-wise just fine. A little cardboard as a spacer and you have no rattle. We were harvesting them from a particular laptop battery for $1.50/cell at BLF, but the seller got wise to it and jacked the price up to about $28 per battery pack (6 cells).

EDIT: Fixed typos.