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Acebeam W30 flashlight/Sanwu Striker 7w blue laser: warning!

Nique

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I just took delivery of an Acebeam W30 which was sent to me in Australia by Skylumen - thanks Vinh! The flashlight performed beautifully until I decided to perform a stupid experiment. I wanted to see to what extent I could excite the phosphor with my Sanwu Striker 7 watt blue laser. The short answer is not very much! And the reason is that the Striker burnt the absolute crap out of the phosphor layer, which now looks as though someone has scribbled on it with a black Sharpie.

So please don't ruin your W30, or I suspect just about any other device with an LEP coating, by trying what I tried. It has been a costly mistake.
 





Nique

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Indeed it may be possible? Not sure. Anyway I've ordered a complete replacement from Vinh, and I might check out specific replacement parts later. I suspect the disassembly and replacement of the phosphor coated part might exceed my capabilities, especially ensuring the components are all properly aligned with the massive lens. It would probably never be quite as good as the original!
 
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Are you selling the damaged one? If so, maybe offer here first?
 

Nique

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Hadn't even thought of that, excellent idea! I have no idea what it's worth in its current state. Once the replacement arrives I'll do it!
 
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I suspect judging by the width of the flashlight beam the laser used is first expanded then collimated to avoid this very outcome you experienced.
 
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I have some rubberized/silicon phosphor strips from a COB LED panel made to go under cars and this stuff glows bright as hell when excited via. 450nm laser and so far has been indestructible, even focused down tight I cant burn it..........maybe it's a very thin layer in the flashlight used to make a better beam rather than a diffuse glow ?
 

Nique

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I'm sure you're correct. I think the laser in the W30 is around 250 mw and of course the optics are designed to spread that energy evenly over the entire phosphor surface which is quite large. I was directing around 30 times that energy onto tiny portions of the phosphor, which is obviously not very robust! And yes, it would make sense that the layer is also very thin to make a better and more uniform beam. A thin phosphor might also reduce possible reabsorption of emitted light by phosphor material deeper and further from the laser in the layer. I'd be curious to know the composition of the phosphor? Possibly strontium aluminate? - but maybe not. There's next to no persistence once the laser is off.

In fact I believe it is yttrium aluminium garnet, possibly doped with cerium. Putting it on the shopping list today!
 
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Encap

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Was a really silly thing to do destroying the ACEbeam phosphor coated element with a 7W laser.
Acebeam uses 405nm by the way.
Is similar technology to Wicked Lasers Phosforce first marketed in 2013 https://www.wickedlasers.com/phosforce

Interestingly, Acebeam claimed until recently "This flashlight W30 uses high efficienty LEP modules with a power 12W. W30 4000K is certified by FDA, CE and RoHS; W30 6500K and CRI are classified as Class 3B lasers." See post #32at bottom of page here: https://laserpointerforums.com/threads/acebeam-white-laser-light-vs-other-laser-light.104742/page-2

Acebeam now claims: "This flashlight W30 uses high efficienty LEP modules with a power 0.25W. W30 4000K is certified by FDA, CE and RoHS; W30 6500K and CRI are classified as Class 2M lasers." See: http://www.acebeam.com/w30
 
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Ok so the phosphor is tuned to absorb 405nm, that's likely one reason why the 7w 450nm burned it quickly, also how many emitters are they using, the rectangle shape suggests more than one, possibly two or three 405nm emitters each outputting 500mw or so, and if so then the stock unit should be able to stand being overdriven by 25-50% and how about bundling 4 emitters and using a wider zoom lens......hopefully we will see more of this tech used in arena spotlights..........you know I wonder if this units phosphor was intentionally tuned to 405nm to prevent people from easily adapting it to a common 450nm LD and overdriving it, I suspect it's limited to 500 lumens for safety.
 
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I got my eye on these W30 units.....Interesting.....Not completely practical.....But....I never seem to get enough throw....but...THIS is different !!!Hmmmm.....Not inexpensive....not expensive !!!....but...more than I have ever dished out for a torch !! Can I hold off till there is some ompetition !!!!! I dunno….let's see what shakes out by Christmas time !!! CDB

Note: It is ALWAYS the most expensive to be in the initial wave of buyers....but then....sometimes very hard to resist !! Acebeam DOES make GOOD quality products !!! I have a few. There will be copy cats !!! ANYONE know of any ???? Gotta research " Wellgood " product !!

Would ALSO like Zoom feature....but....Maybe " No Can DO" because of Laser component !! ?????
 
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Philipnzw

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How did ya shine the laser at the phosphor layer? To me it seems like the phosphor chip is supposed to be shown at from the back, while the white light emits from the front. Perhaps it was not designed to have the phosphor chip be excited from the front? I have also seen phosphor chips that are designed to be "front excited".
 

Nique

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The phosphor is quite visible when you look directly into the flashlight. It seems to be a cup shaped surface which was initially a uniform cream color but in my case looks like someone has tested a black Sharpie, with squiggles all over it. I shone the laser directly onto that surface through the front lens. Can't have been for longer than a second or 2 but there ya go.

However I've had a chance to play around with it and I now see its not a total loss. I can still light up objects that are around 800 metres away. But if I throw the beam up against a white surface, it is rather odd! There is no white light in the beam at all, but there is an interesting pattern that looks a little like a photograph of earth from space. There is a large purplish patch in the middle, surrounded by little patches of various rainbow hues. Also, the colors seem to vary a little as the W30 heats up. Quiet fascinating! I don’t think it’s chromatic aberration but maybe the burns that I made with my laser have altered the behavior of the phosphor somehow? Whatever, it’s fascinating!

I bought a replacement W30 from Vinh which is now on its way. As an aside I also bought from Vinh an Imalent MS18 100,000 lumen flashlight which is absolutely incredible (although crushingly expensive!). It seems to have at least as good a throw as my BLF GT but also creates a HUGE flood! Amazing!! If you're a flashaholic like me you definitely need one!
 
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Hole - E - Shit !!!... $ 400 kinda steep....but 72K lumen !!! Whoop La !!!...I still want the Acebeam W30.....Gotta luv the divergence !!!

Thanx Chris !!
 




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