Recent content by djQUAN

I also made my own rotary table as I was asked to engrave 24 bottles. The ones online are too expensive for what they were and are too small to handle the bottles so I made my own. Bought a stepper motor and other hardware and a day of machining and I made this. Oh and also some details and...

I just want to share some updates on my laser engraver. I recently converted the two heads to fixed focus by setting them to 24mm and locking the focus ring temporarily using a drop of UV resin. They wanted a lot of money for two folded pieces of alu with a thumb screw so I decided to make my...

The OEM projector lens works quite well actually so I guess I'll be keeping that. I was looking at these before as a source of lenses but thought I'd try the ones I had on hand before spending which turned out great. I had finished the battery box using acrylic. An XT30 was used to make the...

V2 pt2 The joys of having a laser cutter/engraver. I made cardboard spacers to fine tune the lens focus distance from the LEP module. A fan was added with a smaller heatsink to improve the operating duty cycle. The red and black 2mm jacks are for the thermistor sensor output built into the...

V2 - Bigger lens = better output I have an old OEM projector headlight with the reflector bowl corroded but the lens is still good. I tested the lens by temporarily gluing it to the LEP module for testing. It does look promising and nearly all the light output from the LEP module is within...

V1 build - proof of concept I used my laser engraver to transfer the cad drawing to aluminum plate for the lens and LEP holders to be able to test its performace. Here is the etched aluminum plate which was sprayed in black paint. LEP light source and a lens from DTR's projector lens...

I wanted a LEP flashlight but it's too pricey and not available in my usual purchasing sites so I couldn't get one. I was suggested to check out an Ali store for an engraver head diode upgrade and stumbled upon this gem. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002119384495.html It looks like an...

As per RedCowboy's suggestion, I went ahead and bought the 5W diode with FAC. I mashed the old diode out since there was only a small hole to push it back where it came from. It still lights up but only LED mode. I pushed full power without heatsinking and the die half attached to the copper...

No mention of backfill but with an advertised 48H burn in at full power with no degradation, I guess it should be fine for a while. Some limited testing and regular monitoring of output power every burn job, it seems to be stable and keeping its output power more stably than the original. This...

Update: The original laser head has dropped to about 3W with 4A diode input. After doing some reading here, it appears the cause is an exposed diode which degrades with exposure to the environment. I looked for other brands and came across NEJE which seems reputable so I bought one of the...

A little update Had a look inside the heatsink and the diode is pressed into a copper module which is threaded into the black aluminum heatsink. Back of the diode is bare with a bunch of silicone gunk. It appears to use a standard 9mm diode case so it is easy to get a replacement. Will be a...

Not new to the high power blue laser game but I just got a low cost blue laser engraver for my projects. (proto pcbs, labeling enclosures, etc) The unit I got has a laser head (black one in attached pics) rated for 5500mW optical power. Right out of the box, used my Ophir LPM, it did about...

pin 6 actually needs a thicker trace than the feedback as it is the switching input (all load power goes through it) and preferably its own tap on the input capacitor. There is a way to artificially pull up the voltage at the feedback to lower the output current but it has a limited range when...

2 things: The input polarity protection mosfet - connecting it that way would risk damaging it at 18V. most mosfets are rated at 20V max gate -source voltage. A resistor and maybe a zener across gate to source to limit voltage and protect it. The dimming circuit. a quick look at the datasheet...

I have thought of that. But the front plate is 1.5mm thick so I will have to make a new one to accommodate the additional filters. This was done 100% free. Either way, the spot degradation does not matter as I often use it at full power. But still I appreciate the suggestions, I could use it in...