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200mW 532nm from Techhood? Up to spec? Or overstated?

IsaacT

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Hey, I did as much searching as I could but came up empty. Everyone seems to respect Techhood as a seller, but I couldn't find any reviews of their DPSS units. What is the likelihood that this puts out even close to 200mW? For 50 bucks, even 150mW would be a good deal I think, but I would hate to spend 50 bucks for something that turns out to be 30mW or something more inline with the 6 dollar units from Fasttech.


Thanks guys,
-Isaac
 





GSS

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There is a somewhat recent thread about a few 532 modules RedCowBoy bought from them which I believe some were 150mw units.
He wasn't happy as they came out of the box and couldn't pot them much either.
He also got a few Fasttech's and they under performed as well, not like they were in the past. Couldn't even get 80mw of of them. Could of been just bad luck.
 

GSS

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Ok double post..
I can't link threads for some reason, but if you look at the title "100mw 520 module from Techhood" from April 13 RedCowBoy eventually posts about the Fasttech 532 module.. I would also search his posts as he does mention some 150mw modules somewhere :unsure:
 
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I haven't purchased any of these modules for quite some time now. I don't remember buying any from Techhood, but it seems likely that they would be at least 150 mW. The ones I did buy came from Aptlightingworld, but they seemed to be up to 200 mW, with some coming in as low as 180 mW. Sorry I can't help more than this.
 
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IsaacT

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I haven't purchased any of these modules for quite some time now. I don't remember buying any from Techhood, but it seems likely that they would be at least 150 mW. The ones I did buy came from Aptlightingworld, but they seemed to be up to 200 mW, with some coming in as low as 180 mW. Sorry I can't help more than this.

That helps plenty, Paul! Can you tell me one other thing? Is it possible to unscrew the front covering of the module? Or is it pretty well epoxied on?

Ps-GSS I appreciate the heads up about that thread, I read through it and it was a very interesting read!
 
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I can't say for certain on that one. It looks like the colimating lens is adjustable, so it should come off, but the pump diode is way in the back on this one and the module comes apart there. It may have some epoxy on it, but should come apart if you really need it to. I don't take these apart unless they fail.
 
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Some background info that may help you. - unless things have changed dramatically.

O-Like used to sell the same thing. Once in a while one would be close to 200mw. But usually they were quite a bit less. Most of the ones that have 200mw have a lot more heatsinking and are significantly larger.

At the time, you could request O-Like to hand pick one out the bin. They would test some and pick the one with the most power out of what they had. A FEW people got 200mw out of them.

Now this was maybe 5 years ago. But the tech hasn't changed on these and thermal capacity hasn't either. So, unless there is something that makes them heat up less or chinese quality control has tightened by leaps and bounds, you will be doing good to get a 200mw one this size in a 532. This is based on my experience and the ones I've bought along with several others at the time.

If you look up the mods for the Kryton hosts that Jayrob did. One of the options was to make it work with one of these 532 modules, lots of people at the time were doing that with the Kryton hosts. And most were trying to get 150mw to 200mw.

If you get it, please post on here what the output is! (edited for this note)
 
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It really depends on the size of the pump diode. The 200 mW ones use a 1 watt 808nm pump diode. I have always heat sinked these very well, often putting them into an aluminum box with a fan. That way they could run very long without mode hopping. I never bought any that O-Like sold, though. I bought several from Fasttech, but they were considerably less powerful, using a 500 mW pump.
 

IsaacT

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You wouldn’t happen to have any dead ones in a box somewhere would you? I’m trying to find photos of the internals but I keep coming up empty. I have my 400mW CNI unit and the internals look pretty cool but from what I understand while the CNI has separate crystals, these use bonded pairs? I am looking at making a laser with a window over the actual lasing component and I think DPSS would be a really interesting process to have displayed. If the interior of the 532nm modules we have been talking about look interesting, I may buy a couple and make what is in my brain. If not, I may need to look into an after market driver for the CNI module and a solution for the collimating lens, which is absent.

It really depends on the size of the pump diode. The 200 mW ones use a 1 watt 808nm pump diode. I have always heat sinked these very well, often putting them into an aluminum box with a fan. That way they could run very long without mode hopping. I never bought any that O-Like sold, though. I bought several from Fasttech, but they were considerably less powerful, using a 500 mW pump.
 
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Here a couple of threads that mention the mode hopping and output - still cant find the original - but these are way older than I thought :)

 
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You wouldn’t happen to have any dead ones in a box somewhere would you? I’m trying to find photos of the internals but I keep coming up empty. I have my 400mW CNI unit and the internals look pretty cool but from what I understand while the CNI has separate crystals, these use bonded pairs? I am looking at making a laser with a window over the actual lasing component and I think DPSS would be a really interesting process to have displayed. If the interior of the 532nm modules we have been talking about look interesting, I may buy a couple and make what is in my brain. If not, I may need to look into an after market driver for the CNI module and a solution for the collimating lens, which is absent.

All the modules I have use the crystals bonded together on a single brass heat sink. I believe all the 200 mW ones use this type crystal set. They have become ubiquitous in China for many years now. They aren't going to give you what you are looking for in a display model, but they are not too difficult to align.
 

IsaacT

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All the modules I have use the crystals bonded together on a single brass heat sink. I believe all the 200 mW ones use this type crystal set. They have become ubiquitous in China for many years now. They aren't going to give you what you are looking for in a display model, but they are not too difficult to align.

Damn! Well, atleast that tells me what I needed to know. Back down the rabbit hole for me.
 

GSS

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I assume your putting it in a host?
For $30 or less I bought 2 200mw labby's and one does 175mw and the other does 125mw.. The brass module in the main sink is 18mm or 20mm wide, can't remember of hand.. but they are also focusable.
 

IsaacT

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I assume your putting it in a host?
For $30 or less I bought 2 200mw labby's and one does 175mw and the other does 125mw.. The brass module in the main sink is 18mm or 20mm wide, can't remember of hand.. but they are also focusable.

The goal would be to put it in a host. I had a bunch of goals about 5 years ago when I left the hobby to make a laser with the CNI module I have that would have a window to show the parts during operation. Time flew by and then when I was getting back into lasers a few months ago I saw an OPSL pointer one of the members here made from scratch which was a crazy impressive build and had a window to view the components. It brought back my original desire to build something similar but with DPSS. Just gotta figure out how to make it a reality on a somewhat limited budget, which means I really have to make sure I have a solid plan in place before I start buying components
 
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Combining posts is easy--
highlight the one you want to DELE-then click copy--
click edit again in the first post then add using 'edit' then 'paste'
THEN go back and dele the second posting.
You can practice this by going back and combining your doubles back to singles.

A while back several places offered 400 mW green modules very cheap--they apparently did not check them as they were only 200 mW or less - AptL offered me a rebate in the form of a free item-- all the other vendors changed the listings to 200 mW.
LPF member Alan (KingKube) sent me an extra one- (blab1391 at eekbah) his wife has most of the items so search them for ones with word for his 'laser' items-- btw all mine had a lens to make a line-- easy to remove back to a dot.
I 'think' these were used for car wheel alignment--I have seen the green line lasers at Tire shops.
 
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The goal would be to put it in a host. I had a bunch of goals about 5 years ago when I left the hobby to make a laser with the CNI module I have that would have a window to show the parts during operation. Time flew by and then when I was getting back into lasers a few months ago I saw an OPSL pointer one of the members here made from scratch which was a crazy impressive build and had a window to view the components. It brought back my original desire to build something similar but with DPSS. Just gotta figure out how to make it a reality on a somewhat limited budget, which means I really have to make sure I have a solid plan in place before I start buying components

I saw that too and thought something similar - That was one of the coolest builds I've seen.
 




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