AAA pointers

[kcorbhv]

what color laser pointers in AAA batt type does cni make? i could see red green and yellow.

 

[qumefox]

I think their website would be a better place to check. Though it looks like you've answered your own question.

 

[anselm]

AAA pointers r teh suck!!

 

[RA_pierce]

AAA pointers r teh suck!!

How so?
My personal favorite laser is my DIY 655nm pen running on AAAs. >300mW and effectively 100% duty cycle. I've also got a green pen I assembled with extra parts doing 200mW peak.
I prefer them to bulky flashlight hosts. Power in a compact, portable form is much better, IMO.

CNI makes 532nm, 593.5nm, 635nm, 640nm, 650nm, 808nm, 980nm, and 1064nm AAA pens.

They can make other wavelengths by request, like 671nm DPSS and others.

The other pens they have are larger and run on CR2 batteries. The wavelengths in these pointers are 405nm, 447nm, 473nm, 532nm, and 589nm.

 

[anselm]

Well where to begin? AAAs are sucked dry in an instant.
Alkalines can get expensive if you use alot, NiCads or NiMh don't cut it voltage-wise.
There's no material on the pen to sink away the heat...
The 2xAAA pens are very long, making them slightly less portable than they should be.
Of course, I never had a high quality AAA pen, only cheap ones.

All I ever wanna to with those 2xAAA pens is either sell them or rip them
apart for the module.

I guess I just like them 18650s too much. Wider but shorter than 2xAAA.
Makes for a more compact shape IMHO.
"Free" energy (you just recharge 'em from the grid).
Much much more mah.

I guess we can be happy that there are so many shapes and sizes of batteries
as to satisfy everyones needs and taste.

 

[AUTO XX]

I am a big fan of 18650s as well but lithium AAAs last a long frikken time.
I have one pen that I use all the time and it hasn't gone down yet.
only pushing ~50mW but I have used it for over 30 hours (conservative estimate)
Normal alkaline suck though, I'll give you that ^_^

 

[RA_pierce]

Well where to begin? AAAs are sucked dry in an instant.
Alkalines can get expensive if you use alot, NiCads or NiMh don't cut it voltage-wise.
There's no material on the pen to sink away the heat...
The 2xAAA pens are very long, making them slightly less portable than they should be.
Of course, I never had a high quality AAA pen, only cheap ones.

All I ever wanna to with those 2xAAA pens is either sell them or rip them
apart for the module.

I guess I just like them 18650s too much. Wider but shorter than 2xAAA.
Makes for a more compact shape IMHO.
"Free" energy (you just recharge 'em from the grid).
Much much more mah.

I guess we can be happy that there are so many shapes and sizes of batteries
as to satisfy everyones needs and taste.

Yeah, 18650's are great, but I have no problems with my Sanyo 1000mAh NiMH AAAs.
I agree that the cheap pens are garbage, but if built well, they can be great "every-day-carry" items. I cram as much metal mass in my modules as I can and go for a tight press fit to get the most out of what little heat-sinking the pens offer.
"Waste not, want not."

The only experiment I've tried that the AAA pen couldn't hold up with was a 2W 808nm... Yes, I did try to stuff a 2W C-mount into a pen. It would have worked (albeit with short run times) but the batteries just won't handle it.

 

[BKarim]

i love pens.
they are very esthetic's , have accessible momentary on/off button, use common AAA's

i just bought a 30mW red keychain from focalprice. hope it will not die quickly cause it is beautiful and very fun to play with. i'll post the review soon.


what do you think about silver chrome pen from o-like ?

 

[LazyBeam]

My homemade 405nm 2XAAA has lasted months on it's first duracell AAA alkaline batteries. Casual usage a few times a week, 40mW or 180mW. It's thinner than most AAA hosts @ <12mm diameter and never gets warm even on high power. The link to that build is in my signature.

I think high quality AAA hosts can be very nice.

FYI - a typical AAA lithium primary battery has ~1500mAh and can hold 1.5-2.0A discharge nicely. Other than big IR pump diodes and Casio 445nm diode I can't think of many diodes needing more than 1000mA... especially one you'd want in a small AAA host. Also, you can fit THREE AAA batteries in the space of an 18650 with an 18650 AAA battery holder.

 

[Cyparagon]

a typical AAA lithium primary battery has ~1500mAh

Source?

Maybe you mean AAA ALKALINE primary battery? Which only has 38% the nominal voltage that a lithium does, by the way.

you can fit THREE AAA batteries in the space of an 18650 with an 18650 AAA battery holder.

Source?

That doesn't add up. The diameter of an 18650 is 18mm, and the diameter of a AA is 10.5mm.

 

[qumefox]

Yep. 10.5 is AA.. He said AAA... it is possible to cram 3 AAA's in the space of an 18650, but i'm not sure why anyone would want to. even 3 lithium AAA's in parallel won't have the capacity of a good 18650.

 

[chipdouglas]

Source?

Maybe you mean AAA ALKALINE primary battery? Which only has 38% the nominal voltage that a lithium does, by the way.



Source?

That doesn't add up. The diameter of an 18650 is 18mm, and the diameter of a AA is 10.5mm.

i think (well i hope) he meant that you can fit an 18650 into a 3AAA cartrige spot. just a little modding will achieve this. it's what i do in my Dorcy LED builds.

and as to this "Free" energy (you just recharge 'em from the grid"... what grid do you have that is free?

michael.

 

[anselm]

and as to this "Free" energy (you just recharge 'em from the grid"... what grid do you have that is free?

Well of course it's not free, that 's why i put quotes around it....
But if you compare the cost of the grid to the cost of regularly buying
fresh primaries, it comes pretty close to being free in the medium/long run.

 

[Blord]

If you use a solarcharger the electricity is free but there is an initial cost.

 

[LazyBeam]

Source?

Maybe you mean AAA ALKALINE primary battery? Which only has 38% the nominal voltage that a lithium does, by the way.

My bad, I misread a data sheet... it was 1500mWh, not mAh. The Energizer lithiums appear to have only 1200mAh... not 1500mAh. The slick thing is that discharge current does not impact total capacity a whole lot like the akalines. I'm happy with a 2C discharge from AAA lithiums though.

Anyway you dice it, a pair of AAA's supplying 1.2A for an hour is nothing to scoff at. There's not many practical diodes you'd put in a pen build that'll suck more than that anyways.

 

[AUTO XX]

I discovered "free electricity" years ago
It's included in my rent