NUBM08 @ 4A ElectricPlasma build

[Seoul_lasers]

Just thought I'd show your the current work on a gift I intended for my brother for xmas. This is a top heavy (carbon fiber wrapped potato masher) host that looks amazing! I really think the handle is unique.

I bought a host from ElectricPlasma before Xmas and it arrived ~23rd of December. Under a week shipping, which is a miracle by Canada Post!

Today the diode and driver came in the mail from DTR (Jordan) which is nearly 8 days shipping. Very good considering new years and it being Intl. post etc etc.. !!


Today I polished and cleaned the top of the host so that it had a mirror finish.
I accomplished this with very fine steel wool and some Cerium Oxide polish.
Getting the shine took about a good 45minutes - 1hr by hand.

I am still awaiting one more part to complete the build.
Construction pics and beam shots will come shortly. Stay tuned !

 

[ElectricPlasma]

Awesome! Glad to hear it's coming along.

I'm really liking this host design and have already sold three of them. I might have to start offering a mirror finish as an option, I usually put on a satin finish to avoid fingerprints. Can't wait to see the end result! +rep

 

[BobMc]

An 08 in that host, that should be super! Looking forward to the build pics. and some beam shot. Fingers on the drool button. EP does some great work got a few host by him, their top notch.

 

[Seoul_lasers]

An 08 in that host, that should be super! Looking forward to the build pics. and some beam shot. Fingers on the drool button. EP does some great work got a few host by him, their top notch.

My plan is to do some beam shots with a full frame DSLR (Canon 5DMK3) with different backgrounds.
Probably end up shooting them with an ND filter to lessen the glare caused by the potential beam splash/lens splash. we'll see..
Also thinking about a pyrotechnic shot as well. Laser looking like it is vapourizing something (Sci Fi like)


:thinking: :can:

 

[BobMc]

My plan is to do some beam shots with a full frame DSLR (Canon 5DMK3) with different backgrounds.
Probably end up shooting them with an ND filter to lessen the glare caused by the potential beam splash/lens splash. we'll see..
Also thinking about a pyrotechnic shot as well. Laser looking like it is vapourizing something (Sci Fi like)


:thinking: :can:

Sounds like we should be seeing some really great beam shot. The more the merrier !

 

[Seoul_lasers]

A little more work completed on the build today.

I have inserted the NUBM08 full length module with driver. I have coated the inside of top heat sink a small inside coat of Arctic silver MX4, and then gave the regulator chip and the backside of the module a thin coat of Arctic alumina with about 3% Artic silver MX mixed in and applied it and allowed it to cure at room temperature for about 2.5 hours. I used a bore light to check if the regulator chip had made good thermal contact with the inside of the 12mm dia hole. Aok! Looking good.
While working on this I wore gloves the entire time to prevent getting my finger oils on the heatsink or getting ceramic epoxy on my fingers.
I want this to be a clean build!!


After allowing everything to cure, I got my Ophir 20C-1-Y-A sensor out (ARG meter) and gave the new laser a test fire with fully charged Samsung 3000mAh 18650 cells.
The meter pegged at 4500mW pretty much instantly. Considering I had missed the center of the sensor .. WOW....
I assume that the output is somewhere around the 5.5-6W mark or so... Not bad.

You'll also notice in the last picture that the ARGmeter v1.1 has 3.02mW on the top reading, this is due the fact that the sensor was still cooling off.
The maximum obtainable reading is 4499.59mW or O.L. ... ( also my 9V battery was running a little low so it skewed the reading slightly)
The ARGmeter has a 5V reference for the ADC on the board. ( believe the minimum voltage to run it properly is ~8.2v ( 9V must be shared between the Arduino UNO and the ADC on the LCD panel) and I think might have been running it under slightly. Earlier I obtained a 4500.00mW reading which is absolute maximum for this meter.

note to self ... I am going to have to run the Ophir 20C on something better using 2x 9V batteries and a DMM instead.


Materials I used to mount the NUBM08 module are:

Arctic MX4 (Ag based)
Arctic Alumina (thermal epoxy - Al2O3)

 

[BobMc]

Nice! Love it when plan comes together ! :gj:

 

[Seoul_lasers]

A bit of an update.

Yesterday I got the last pieces from ElectricPlasma. Seems like Canada post was struggling with a major delay in clearing a backlog from Xmas plus new years.
Anyways. I've made a pretty disheartening discovery while giving the laser a test with fresh cells. It seems that the thermal contact on the SXdrive was not in sufficent contact with the Aluminum (laserhead) and this somehow managed to overheated the driver. I thought the ic had built in thermal protection? The laser was on and then began to throttle, then suddenly off.
The ic seems to have gotten hot enough to Come off thermal compound that I put on the IC to mate it to the host, after the drive quit I got a waft of overheated thermal epoxy. I can confirm that it is now a paperweight.

Very disappointed.

 

[BobMc]

Oooch, that is sad. well it's time to rebuild

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Oooch, that is sad. well it's time to rebuild

I'm going have to remove the module and have a closer look at the SXD 4A and get a photo. I am going to get in contact with Jordan and ask what can be done. I don't want to buy another module as it costed nearly $200CDN with the exchange rate.

Thinking I might just pop in a 2.4A 3W 445nm diode for the time being temporarily.

Going to working on removing the copper module tomorrow. Hopefully it isn't stuck in the host.
:yabbem:

 

[ElectricPlasma]

That's quite the loss, hopefully DTR can help you out with the driver. I too thought it had thermal protection. Perhaps it wasn't your fault, for all we know you could've received a defective driver, that might also explain the overheating. I actually had no idea they overheated so easily like that if it's not defective.

On the other hand, if you need any help with host construction let me know I'm here to assist.

 

[BobMc]

I'm going have to remove the module and have a closer look at the SXD 4A and get a photo. I am going to get in contact with Jordan and ask what can be done. I don't want to buy another module as it costed nearly $200CDN with the exchange rate.

Thinking I might just pop in a 2.4A 3W 445nm diode for the time being temporarily.

Going to working on removing the copper module tomorrow. Hopefully it isn't stuck in the host.
:yabbem:

Hopefully it's just the driver. That shouldn't be to expensive. Best wishes !

 

[Seoul_lasers]

That's quite the loss, hopefully DTR can help you out with the driver. I too thought it had thermal protection. Perhaps it wasn't your fault, for all we know you could've received a defective driver, that might also explain the overheating. I actually had no idea they overheated so easily like that if it's not defective.

On the other hand, if you need any help with host construction let me know I'm here to assist.

Yes, I believe these drivers actually have thermal protection as well as a slow start. I am beginning to wonder if we have may stray capacitance from the thermal compound occurring besides what you just mentioned. I know that I kept the coating of the thermal compound to a minimum so that the heat transfer was as efficient as possible.
I know that applying a thicker layer of (TIM epoxy) would tend to result in an insulating behaviour and would have lead to overheating situation quite quickly.


I sent a PM to Jordan and I'll stand by to see what my options are. :cryyy:

Money isn't something I have right now. (short supply)

 

[DTR]

For some reason when I tried to repy to your message I get

"Seoul_lasers has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her.
If you are trying to send this message to multiple recipients, remove Seoul_lasers from the recipient list and send the message again."

Anyway yes the SXD does have thermal protection and when it goes of the unit goes on and off in 1 second intervals preventing damage to the driver. It should not throttle the current or dim the diode as you mentioned. Is it possible one of the connections was shorted something came in contact with a component on the driver. The worst fear I have is that the drivers regulation was bypassed and you got a full shot from the batteries which could make the diode go from fully lit to dimming out as it overheats from over current. Anyway if you can get some more pictures of the unit when you get it out that might leave a clue or if you can shoot it over to me and let me test it out. Did something in the setup change from the first tests to the run where it did this?

 

[Euphonious Nonsense]

So I just wanted to let you know I am having the same issues with both of hosts made out of this material. (Not saying anything bad any EP, his work quality is top notch) It seems whenever I use the host case as the connection (neg or pos) I have the same problems you are having here. Low power/inconsistent power output... Ive bought and replaced drivers twice on both hosts, which I am sure DTR can attest to, diodes as well (and rebuilt them numerous times) and still having the same issue.

 

[Rivem]

So I just wanted to let you know I am having the same issues with both of hosts made out of this material. (Not saying anything bad any EP, his work quality is top notch) It seems whenever I use the host case as the connection (neg or pos) I have the same problems you are having here. Low power/inconsistent power output... Ive bought and replaced drivers twice on both hosts, which I am sure DTR can attest to, diodes as well (and rebuilt them numerous times) and still having the same issue.

How's the resistance between the tail cap and head if either of you guys can meter it?