About Gball diode

[RedCowboy]

Great idea Red :beer:,
and to open the options up even more, we could step away from the 12mm module into a 20mm module, and start using M12 lens holders with <10mm optics.
I know I few members here might be excited at that......Alaskan

The thing is a lot of people have invested in many M9 x 0.5 threaded barrel lenses, I know I have quite a few........I suppose it could be built oversized at 20mm with an area to accept threaded barreled 10mm lenses in a 12 or 14mm threaded barrel, but we would need a screw in adaptor so we can use all our standard lenses......really might as well just make it a 12mm module to accept M9 x 0.5 lens barrels and if we get wider diodes later then adapt a new module.

It's best to use a G2 and cylindrical pair than a wider lens anyway, plus all the wider lenses would need to be made and bought, I have a tray full of containers holding all kinds of lenses and would need a new set......it's not practical or worth it until we have physically bigger diodes to accommodate.

If the person/persons having the modules machined went with 20mm modules they would also need to make M12 to M9 inner and outer threaded sleeves so we can use all out standard lenses, then someone would need to make 10mm glass and 12mm threaded lens barrels, but the 20mm module would also have to be longer to accommodate the longer focal length of the wider lens, 10mm glass vs. 6.35mm and compact hosts would have to be bigger.

I'm not against bigger modules, but it's not the important part, the backfill is what's needed.......maybe we should wait and see what comes next, I could see 24mm diodes right after a big 20mm module tooling up on our end, this is really more of a concept to tackle the 15w GBall of tomorrow that we really want to use, that and the 4W 520nm or what ever it may be.

 

[CDBEAM777]

Hmmmm...I have given the re-gas operation of a de-canned G-Ball some thought.

I like the box item....but...If we used Argon ( Atomic weight @18 ) vs. Nitrogen ( Atomic weight @ 7 )...larger molecule of Argon = less fill loss.

So....A cheap way to get a small amount of Argon = Buy a few of those - Yuppie...Wine bottle Argon canister.... ??

I think they cost about $ 15 / three (3) small containers.

Now...Because Argon is heaver than air.....one might be able to work in an open top container.

So...Fill / pour the Argon into the container. Lower the Module into the container...and seal your colli lens.

It might work ??? Just a thought !! Cheap to try !!! Opps....time for another " Tin Foil " bed time hat !!!!!

CDBEAM

 

[RedCowboy]

Those tiny wine makers argon vessels don't hold much, and they are only 99% pure.

Dry nitrogen is very pure but welding supply argon could be used, a 100 dollar gas bottle would hold 25 - 40 cubic feet and that's 100.00 for the container, the argon fill should be 10 - 20 dollars for a 25 - 40 cubic foot cylinder fill plus a couple dollars in fees each time you refill it.

I think a sealed glove box with inlet and outlet valves flooded with argon would be the right way, as argon is heavier than air you would flood from the bottom valve and let air out the top valve after all the diodes and parts are inside, the removal of the GBall is easy with a small screwdriver when it's in a 12mm copper module, I suppose you would do as large a batch at once as possible, but at 12 dollars for 25 cubic feet a 4 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot glove box would hold 16 cubic feet plus waste so a 25 foot bottle is really only good for one batch, but the gas is 12 dollars plus time to go refill it. A 40 foot tank would be good for 2 batches and an 80 foot tank ( 5 foot tall ) would be good for 5 or so batches. ( Estimated on all counts. )

These are just too small and only 99% pure.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Coravin-10...038347&hash=item23837e5023:g:A0gAAOSwjqVZBN7M


Here's an example of a tank but I would buy one from AirGas or what ever welders supply house you will be refilling at.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/High-quali...506515&hash=item2ef4763c6d:g:t~MAAOSwPCVX20mF

 

[CDBEAM777]

Hmmm...while I could live with 99 % pure Argon....They are awful small....so...If we use a " Glove Box " Container....we need some volume for sure !!

And...a problem I see is opening up the small canisters !!! I assume some type of seal/impale method is used to open and release the gas ?

Well....just trying to do the refill as cheap as possible....so we abandon the small canisters....yes...agreed ! But I fear we have one more problem !

SO....we screw in the M9 x .05 G2 lens....back into a 12mm CU LD module....within an Argon atmosphere !! Ok....good.

But....the thread fit is always sloppy !!! So...we use a short length of Teflon tape to achieve a reasonable friction fit. Will the Teflon tape keep the captured Argon gas in place ???

And....what will happen when we adjust the G2 focus ??? More potential seal breech ?

The more I think on this...the more problems I see !!! Well....anybody else have any ideas ????? Speak now !!!

CDBEAM

 

[deadshadow]

a good step about this method would be to find a source of the diode cans,just curious what is the cheapest 9.0mm diode tha we could get?maybe we could extract some from other very cheap diodes

 

[RedCowboy]

Hmmm...while I could live with 99 % pure Argon....They are awful small....so...If we use a " Glove Box " Container....we need some volume for sure !!

And...a problem I see is opening up the small canisters !!! I assume some type of seal/impale method is used to open and release the gas ?

Well....just trying to do the refill as cheap as possible....so we abandon the small canisters....yes...agreed ! But I fear we have one more problem !

SO....we screw in the M9 x .05 G2 lens....back into a 12mm CU LD module....within an Argon atmosphere !! Ok....good.

But....the thread fit is always sloppy !!! So...we use a short length of Teflon tape to achieve a reasonable friction fit. Will the Teflon tape keep the captured Argon gas in place ???

And....what will happen when we adjust the G2 focus ??? More potential seal breech ?

The more I think on this...the more problems I see !!! Well....anybody else have any ideas ????? Speak now !!!

CDBEAM

Sorry about that, you have to be logged in to see the pic linked from my file, I do that to save space.
You must not have seen the pic, I attached pic this time.

No, we seal the Argon in under a new window can against the diode backing using a high density gap filling gasket, this way there is no sealant out gassing, the M9 x 0.5 lenses could be changed out afterwards as much as you want.

The Argon is trapped under the window can as in the factory, but because we use a threaded lock ring to hold the can down against the shoulders of the 12mm module the diode and 12mm copper module must stay together...you can still take off the back half and re solder new wires if you wanted, but never press out the diode...which we typically don't anyway until it's dead to reuse the module.

 

[kecked]

Ok I read the whole thread....Why not work is a sandwich bag filled with argon. No box. small volume of gas. Easy to purge. Tank would last a lifetime.
There is one downside. Static.....

Has anyone tried to find or make the windows to do this? I have easy access to gas and dryboxes. I can take diodes from a single batch and decan say three and recan three and see what happens.
Someone needs to send me all the parts to do it.

Don't forget at these short wavelengths it is easy to ionize even CO2 at these high densities to deposit the carbon. It would be interesting to put the diodes that are dying in pure O2 and heat them to drive the carbon off. See if they come back to life.

 

[deadshadow]

i don't think that the degraded diodes can be restored because they don't act like something blocking the output,testing my degraded nubm08 i found out that the threshold of the diode to start lazing moved to 1.2A(was 450ma new) and if i push anything higher that 4.1A it leds just like to be below threshold current,between the 1.2-4.1A im getting readings from 20-350mw of power. im just trying to say that the emitter changes characteristics like its another diode compared to a new one.