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- Jun 26, 2015
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So, I finally got brave and decided to try my hand at assembling my own laser. I ordered a C6 host from Survival Laser (excellent all around btw, I have nothing but good to say about their stuff!), which arrived ahead of schedule, always a plus. My original plan was to use a red diode/driver/module I picked up a while back. Was only $15 or so, came with a battery pack using 3x AA batteries. I figure, cut the battery pack off, solder the leads to the battery contact & pill board, drop in an 18650 and make some pretty light! Well, that didn't exactly work out. Soldered my connections, put it together, no beam. Fiddled with it, broke a wire loose. Fix that, try again, still nothing. Fiddle some more, see the driver solder connection is loose. Fix that, try again. Again, zilch. Fiddle a little more, break a tab off the driver.....
So yeah, I'm not too mad, only out a few bucks. So I try to use a different diode and driver. These came from Anomalytech (I know some of you have dealt with him, he is a good guy btw.) This time I'm trying a 405nm, a SLD3234VF to be exact, and a driver set at (I felt at least) a modest 100mA. Solder it all up, fire it up and !!!!..... Nothing..... So now I'm a little disappointed for sure. That makes two attempts, both strikeouts.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not writing this asking "what did I do wrong?", although if anyone wants to chime in I'm always game to hear suggestions. My intent is to share my growing pains, as I am new to this hobby. So I began to speculate what I may have done wrong. My first thought was I overheated something while soldering. Maybe I cooked the driver? The diode in each case should be fine, as far as soldering heat goes, I don't think I got it too hot, but who knows? Another thing I noticed, on the 405nm diode, when I removed the lens from the module, the diode did not have the small, well it looks like a little glass window. It did not have that, and I thought it should. Idk if it was like that when it arrived, or it fell out, no clue. I assume it is supposed to have that to function.
Now I will regroup and try again! We all have to learn somewhere, I'm just glad I didn't fry anything expensive my first try you know? I have a 650nm ML101U29 diode in a module gonna pick up a driver from Survival Laser and try that next.
I did take some pics, more for reference than anything else, idk if they would help but if anyone is curious I can upload them later. Hopefully this next try will go better. Fingers crossed!
So yeah, I'm not too mad, only out a few bucks. So I try to use a different diode and driver. These came from Anomalytech (I know some of you have dealt with him, he is a good guy btw.) This time I'm trying a 405nm, a SLD3234VF to be exact, and a driver set at (I felt at least) a modest 100mA. Solder it all up, fire it up and !!!!..... Nothing..... So now I'm a little disappointed for sure. That makes two attempts, both strikeouts.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not writing this asking "what did I do wrong?", although if anyone wants to chime in I'm always game to hear suggestions. My intent is to share my growing pains, as I am new to this hobby. So I began to speculate what I may have done wrong. My first thought was I overheated something while soldering. Maybe I cooked the driver? The diode in each case should be fine, as far as soldering heat goes, I don't think I got it too hot, but who knows? Another thing I noticed, on the 405nm diode, when I removed the lens from the module, the diode did not have the small, well it looks like a little glass window. It did not have that, and I thought it should. Idk if it was like that when it arrived, or it fell out, no clue. I assume it is supposed to have that to function.
Now I will regroup and try again! We all have to learn somewhere, I'm just glad I didn't fry anything expensive my first try you know? I have a 650nm ML101U29 diode in a module gonna pick up a driver from Survival Laser and try that next.
I did take some pics, more for reference than anything else, idk if they would help but if anyone is curious I can upload them later. Hopefully this next try will go better. Fingers crossed!