532nm watertight pen build

[BlackOps]

this is my build i made 2 months ago. its the coolest build i have made so far. all exterior components and some interior components are machined by me. including the host, tail button, and Host is made from stainless steel.
this laser is watertight, shockproof, fogproof [like purged nightvision goggles or rifle scopes] and idiot proof.
it runs from a small 10180 battery, for about 35 minutes straight.
output approx 80/100mW
IR filtered and reverse polarity protected.


this is the driver. its 11mm wide, it took me a while to find, and extracted this from more then a decade old green laser from Ebay.


reverse polarity circuit. this side was supposed to be empty but i decided to make it idiot proof and it was hard, because the space is tight and i had to bend the metal in all kind of shapes. it looks cool.


isolation, so the BMS circuit could rest on it


isolation on other side of the board, with a anode spring contact. if the + pin of the diode breakt, this spring will be a backup between driver and diode/module. this happened to me once for some strange reason.


this is the driver completely assembled. i also added 2 metal rings from a camera lens to assist the backup connection, and to prevent the module to be puched any further into the host. it is perfectly level with the host and the inner edge prevents it from going further.


driver assembly completed with the 2 plastic support brackets next to it, to keep the board steady inside and not bending or breaking diode pins. i had to make this from a standard generic green laser support bracket. now lets see the optics.


what you are looking at is the KTP crystal. this crystal in not original with this diode. i ripped the old one off which had a chip on it. this is the best KTP crystal i had sitting on the shelf. i cleaned it and aligned it with the diode to get maximum power. it took me 30 minutes to find the right spot without noise and with most power. you got to align and polarize it. i will make a separate thread for this. also, i added a rubber o-ring and dust free foam around the crystal to prevent it from knocking loose.


2 metal retaining plates, and above that a black piece of metal with a cut out square to reduce inner reflections and output noise.


a lens extracted from a camera, this enabled me to switch between flashlight, and infinity beam without large attachments. no attachments is flashlight. exactly what i wanted to get. on top of this is a powerfull spring, and another centering plate which keeps the spring in the middle, so it cant move in the beam path. no photos of that because i had to mount the next component on it quick to prevent any dust. you can also see the chamfered edge on the anuminum bus there the next component, and its o-ring seals at.

other pictures will be in the comment section.
i will also post beamshots and the attachment i made for infinity beam. also the lens cap

 

[BlackOps]

this is the other component screwed on the aluminum. all it is, is a aixiz diode holder. inside it, you could see an IR filter, inside a bracket. around the bracket is a rubber seal, to help centering the standard spring that comes with these aixiz housings, and to reduce noise.


a better view of the IR filter.

from here, a spring goes in, and another metal ring from an iphone 6 camera lens, goes in. the camera ring of the iphone 6 happens to fit perfectly around the spring, and it centers perfect with the 3 element lens.

the 3 element lens, is modified, to be watertight. i supercleaned the optics inside, and i replaced the firs lens [facing the diode] with a camera lens, to achieve the attachment for infinity beam., yes, 2 lenses from a camera inside this lazer. unfortunately, no picture, because this has to be assembled quick before the dust.


the shiny thing is the aixiz diode holder everybody knows. i machined a groove in it, so that my o-ring can fit around it, and seal against the wall of the host. trust me, i never saw something fit this perfect. it is 100% watertight. the green o-ring goes in the groove. also, the 3 element glass lens is sealed shut with PTFE tape.


final unit, this gets pressed firmly into the host, notice the green o-ring

 

[BlackOps]

pictures of the device, laser is made out of stainless steel and its very heavy and solid for its size





looking inside the lens is very statisfying. a lot of optics that went in there and it looks awesome.


underwater beam. more photos comming soon

 

[paul1598419]

Wow, that is tiny. Nice job putting it together. What are you using to heat sink the diode? Is the host made of aluminum or copper? To get 100 mW out you must be putting in at least 500 mW of IR.

 

[BlackOps]

Wow, that is tiny. Nice job putting it together. What are you using to heat sink the diode? Is the host made of aluminum or copper? To get 100 mW out you must be putting in at least 500 mW of IR.

Hi, thanks! i'm not sure if its 100mW. Might be less. It can easily burn stuff and ignite fireworks within 2 second. Its very very bright. Brighter then everything i have here. The host is made out of stainless steel. The diode is firmly screwed and sealed onto a aluminum bus, which is firmly pressed (not in a way its never removable) against the inner walls of the host. Galvanic corrosion is no problem either because the aluminum is behind the o-ring.

I figured it gets pretty hot when using it for half a minute to a minute. But when its cold outside, and you use it there, it never gets really hot. The diode got at least 150 straight running hours on it now!

 

[Benm]

Being submerged in water helps a great deal with cooling

They also make flashlights and lasers to be used when diving or snorkeling, and pretty compact ones for the power too since water flow is an excellent way to get rid of heat.

With waterproof flashlights there is often some kind of thermal limiting system that doesn't allow you to run them on dry land to the point where they'd otherwise fry.

 

[paul1598419]

Wow, a hundred fifty hours on it already?! I have lasers in my collection that are over ten years old that don't have that much time on them. You must use it a lot. As long as you adhere to your duty cycle when it is not cold, you should get a lot more use out of it. Great EDC build.

 

[BlackOps]

Being submerged in water helps a great deal with cooling

They also make flashlights and lasers to be used when diving or snorkeling, and pretty compact ones for the power too since water flow is an excellent way to get rid of heat.

With waterproof flashlights there is often some kind of thermal limiting system that doesn't allow you to run them on dry land to the point where they'd otherwise fry.

Holyshit i didn’t know that! Must be some military kind of laser or flashlight for under water, thats pretty cool.

Water is indeed excellent for cooling, especially in the sea!

Wow, a hundred fifty hours on it already?! I have lasers in my collection that are over ten years old that don't have that much time on them. You must use it a lot. As long as you adhere to your duty cycle when it is not cold, you should get a lot more use out of it. Get EDC build.

Yes! Thats a lot, but i ran this diode for 1 week straight on a power supply back in 2014. It doesn’t even have 1 hour run time after it got build into this host.

Thats how i test if Ebay lasers have good diodes or bad diodes. The band ones don’t last long at all but the good ones won’t die. Of course with active cooling otherwise it will fry