Blue 1w laser suddenly broken

[numquamretro]

Hi!

I have a 1w blue laser pen for 3 years now and it worked all the time without problems. But the last time i turned it on, i had to knock on it to get it going. It worked fine then. Now, since i have an lpm and wanted to measure it, i tried it again for the first time after laying around 3 month. It does not work anymore. Not even knocking on it, with fully charged batteries help. I tried it without the tailcap button, directly connected with a cable. nothing. what could be the reason? in the pic you see wich laser i am talking about.

 

[daguin]

Sounds like a connection or connective surface somewhere in it has corroded/oxidized

Start by checking/replacing the batteries

Then clean up all of the connections you can get to

If both of those fail, you are going to have to look for a cold solder joint somewhere in the unit

Peace,
dave

 

[numquamretro]

thanks for the hints. i checked all connections erlier, i thnik it might be a cold solder joint. I´ll try to resolder allof them.

thx

 

[daguin]

thanks for the hints. i checked all connections erlier, i thnik it might be a cold solder joint. I´ll try to resolder allof them.

thx

If you find a cold solder joint on the diode side of the driver, the power surge from the intermittent connection, may have blown the diode

Peace,
dave

 

[numquamretro]

okay... good to know.

Thank you!

 

[numquamretro]

Just to finish this thread up. It was a cold solder joint. I just resoldered all joints and now it works. Thanks @daugin!
And by the way it was open, i did a little podmod and added some cooling. First it drew 0.8A, now it draws 1,0A and does 900+mw instead of 700+ (measured).

 

[norbyx]

Just to finish this thread up. It was a cold solder joint. I just resoldered all joints and now it works. Thanks @daugin!
And by the way it was open, i did a little podmod and added some cooling. First it drew 0.8A, now it draws 1,0A and does 900+mw instead of 700+ (measured).

Be careful not to overdrive the diode, sometimes those specs are set to a certain point to make the laser last (like yours did) and maybe pushing it 200mw more will make it fail in a short time.

 

[numquamretro]

Be careful not to overdrive the diode, sometimes those specs are set to a certain point to make the laser last (like yours did) and maybe pushing it 200mw more will make it fail in a short time.

I know. But since i know how to use my lasers (not keeping them on for hours) i am sure it is in the range. In addition i improved the heat conduction.
And if it breaks, i dont care that much. It served for over 3 years now, so time has come to get a bigger blue anyways. 1W blue is nothing nowerdays.

 

[norbyx]

I know. But since i know how to use my lasers (not keeping them on for hours) i am sure it is in the range. In addition i improved the heat conduction.
And if it breaks, i dont care that much. It served for over 3 years now, so time has come to get a bigger blue anyways. 1W blue is nothing nowerdays.

Well I still consider a 1W laser to be a nice one. There are still people out there that have never seen one in real person. Anyhow good luck with yours, and thank god it was just a cold soldier joint, and you still got your laser to enjoy. :beer: