Knockoff Saber 1.6W small review.

[paul1598419]

For the money, nothing beats copper for heat sinking. Sure, silver is a bit better, but who wants to pay for a solid silver heat sink. Steel just stinks. It may be great for many things, but conducting heat is not among them. Brass is used a lot in modules. It isn't as good as aluminum, but aluminum is too soft for making modules out of.

 

[T_Warne]

I remember seeing a thread years ago where someone made custom hosts from pure silver. They were absolutely gorgeous.
not to derail, but...
https://laserpointerforums.com/members/stridast/
https://laserpointerforums.com/f65/pix-sterling-silver-445-a-63968.html
https://laserpointerforums.com/f52/stridast-silver-10440-host-52850.html

 

[hoo7h]

I remember seeing a thread years ago where someone made custom hosts from pure silver. They were absolutely gorgeous.
not to derail, but...
https://laserpointerforums.com/members/stridast/
https://laserpointerforums.com/f65/pix-sterling-silver-445-a-63968.html
https://laserpointerforums.com/f52/stridast-silver-10440-host-52850.html

I appreciate the shine and glow of the silver but man it looks all dented to my eyes lol.

 

[paul1598419]

Meh, silver tarnishes just like copper and if you don't seal the polished surface in clear acrylic you will be polishing it every week. I can't imagine what someone would ask for one of these today even if it is tiny. It takes a single 10440 battery. About the only thing I can think of that would be more ostentatious would be a sold gold one. At 14K it would be hard enough to use, but very expensive.

 

[hoo7h]

Meh, silver tarnishes just like copper and if you don't seal the polished surface in clear acrylic you will be polishing it every week. I can't imagine what someone would ask for one of these today even if it is tiny. It takes a single 10440 battery. About the only thing I can think of that would be more ostentatious would be a sold gold one. At 14K it would be hard enough to use, but very expensive.

I take your opinion would be the same for the full copper Sanwu hosts?
I am almost set on buying a full copper Challenger II (when they revert to the N465), but man without the reverse battery protection and the fact that as you said it will tarnish I might opt for a limited duty cycle aluminum one :thinking:

 

[paul1598419]

I don't know if Sanwu offers a copper host, or a copper clad SS host. It makes a big difference when you are concerned about heat. Copper makes the best heat sink for the money and the host would become part of the internal heat sink. SS stinks as a heat sink and is only used because it feels good in your hand. I prefer my hosts to be made of aluminum or copper.

 

[Dutch67]

Looks like you guys already got to the conversation about Stainless and its magnetic properties :crackup: I'm late to the only party I had any good info on.

Either way, I ordered one of these just for the host, so I'll be able to make sure of what it's really made of. If it's the exact same or very close to a spiker it should be a stainless steel head with a copper-like heatsink inside. I think the head has been sandblasted to remove edges and give it that finish.

 

[Richie89]

Looks like you guys already got to the conversation about Stainless and its magnetic properties :crackup: I'm late to the only party I had any good info on.

Either way, I ordered one of these just for the host, so I'll be able to make sure of what it's really made of. If it's the exact same or very close to a spiker it should be a stainless steel head with a copper-like heatsink inside. I think the head has been sandblasted to remove edges and give it that finish.

hey LilDutch, yes definitely let us know. I really think its stainless but only testing will determine if it is. I honestly just feel like its way too heavy to be Aluminum but im not an expert :/

 

[Dutch67]

Alright now. Some differences from the actual Sanwu Spiker Saber.

-The switch seems to be different than what I remember, as it sticks out, instead of being sucked into the tailcap.
-The head of the host is not sandblasted, but polished and smooth.
- The spring coming from the head doesn't have that same "point" that Richies does, but it could still be a little better. Works just fine though.

This host is definitely am austenitic stainless steel, maybe something like 316 because it's a pretty shiny host. It is also very weighty compared to a host similar in size but made of aluminum.
Not sure of the diode, probably something like an A140, although its a little more blue than I remember 445s being(Might just be cause I haven't had one in a while.) The inner diode module is made of a copper metal, it's brass like in color. The lens looks like some sort of single element lens and has little splash.

The host was packaged pretty well and took about as much time as Richies.

Richie has good images if you need to see this host

Edit: Forgot to mention, it isn't magnetic to any of the various magnets in my shop. The fact that it's very well polished, heavy, non-magnetic and wasn't easily scratched makes me pretty sure it's stainless

 

[Benm]

Just to make sure, it is this product:

https://laserpointerstore.com/featured-on-homepage/spiker-saber-laser-pointer
?

For $99 that seems like a good deal for just the host, i wonder how tweakable that actually is in terms of replacing the diode and driver.

As for the material choice: RVS has much lower thermal conductivity compared to aluminium or copper, but also as some advantages when working with threads like in this design. This doesn't have to be a big thermal problem though, there usually are two problematic things in laser pointer thermal design:

- diode to whatever holds it directly (like a module etc)
- host to ambient

The first would be mitigated by having for example a copper module in a RVS host, the latter doesn't depend much on the material the host is made from. A much larger factor in this is how shiny it is polished and if it's anodized or not. But that's only for radiated heat, and these things depend on convection to a large degree, so the shape (i.e. airflow patterns around it) matters more than the material used.

 

[paul1598419]

I personally prefer a recessed switch to one that can be activated by accident. I would prefer an aluminum host over SS. It can sink heat and release it to the air much better. But, if you adhere to the run times on the SS hosts, you should at least not overheat the diode into thermal runaway.

 

[Richie89]

Alright now. Some differences from the actual Sanwu Spiker Saber.

-The switch seems to be different than what I remember, as it sticks out, instead of being sucked into the tailcap.
-The head of the host is not sandblasted, but polished and smooth.
- The spring coming from the head doesn't have that same "point" that Richies does, but it could still be a little better. Works just fine though.

This host is definitely am austenitic stainless steel, maybe something like 316 because it's a pretty shiny host. It is also very weighty compared to a host similar in size but made of aluminum.
Not sure of the diode, probably something like an A140, although its a little more blue than I remember 445s being(Might just be cause I haven't had one in a while.) The inner diode module is made of a copper metal, it's brass like in color. The lens looks like some sort of single element lens and has little splash.

The host was packaged pretty well and took about as much time as Richies.

Richie has good images if you need to see this host

Edit: Forgot to mention, it isn't magnetic to any of the various magnets in my shop. The fact that it's very well polished, heavy, non-magnetic and wasn't easily scratched makes me pretty sure it's stainless

thanks a lot for your input and info LDB
yeah the weight was definitely something I noticed right off the bat. I also noticed that it looks like a single element lens, the beam divergence seems pretty good on mine for a single E lens.

Just to make sure, it is this product:

https://laserpointerstore.com/featured-on-homepage/spiker-saber-laser-pointer
?

For $99 that seems like a good deal for just the host, i wonder how tweakable that actually is in terms of replacing the diode and driver.

As for the material choice: RVS has much lower thermal conductivity compared to aluminium or copper, but also as some advantages when working with threads like in this design. This doesn't have to be a big thermal problem though, there usually are two problematic things in laser pointer thermal design:

- diode to whatever holds it directly (like a module etc)
- host to ambient

The first would be mitigated by having for example a copper module in a RVS host, the latter doesn't depend much on the material the host is made from. A much larger factor in this is how shiny it is polished and if it's anodized or not. But that's only for radiated heat, and these things depend on convection to a large degree, so the shape (i.e. airflow patterns around it) matters more than the material used.

yes that's the one
I actually did seriously think about tweaking it but I may just wait till I have it a while, hopefully it lasts a while.

I personally prefer a recessed switch to one that can be activated by accident. I would prefer an aluminum host over SS. It can sink heat and release it to the air much better. But, if you adhere to the run times on the SS hosts, you should at least not overheat the diode into thermal runaway.

yes even though it says UNLT duty cycle im kind of afraid to keep it on longer than a couple minutes. im so tempted to take the head apart to see what the inerds look like, im not sure I will but if I do ill post the pics

 

[GSS]

Richie, you probably know Sanwu mentions Unlimited duty cycle because it auto cuts down on power output when gets to warm. How true it is I don't know as I haven't seen anyone test its claim?
This isn't a Sanwu product though and who knows what's inside as far as quality driver's etc.. I would like to see you explore though and you have a LPM
Tommy claims unlimited cycle also so I would think he should warrentee a at least 10 or 15 minute test run if something were to go wrong:thinking:
If it's claimed to be up to the task then it should do what is claimed, why not run it..

As long as you don't open it up.

 

[paul1598419]

I would like to see how they sink the diode inside the host on these. It would tell me a lot about how well it manages heat. If you do get around to taking one apart, please do post photos of it.

 

[Dutch67]

If you all are interested, I'll do a run test till it dies. From the start I planned on replacing this diode anyways, so if you'd like, I'll kill it. For science.

Edit: Just gimme a day or so cause I'd like to send it off for a new heat sink right after I kill it.

 

[paul1598419]

Hey, Zach. I just noticed you very recently got 1000 posts. Congratulations. You should be able to ask Avery for veteran's status and keys to the executive washroom.