Dragon Lasers 1W Spartan

[apex007]

Hi apex007,

Over the last two days I have been doing a lot of research into CR123 batteries. I have discovered there are alsorts of different types.

There are:

Primary Lithium Cells rated at 3.0V

Li-Ion Rechargeable cells rated at 3.7V

LiCo Rechargeable cells that are 3.7v volts but have a diode regulator to bring them down to 3.0V but can peak at 3.7v as it takes 12ms for regulation to kick in

LiFePo4 rechargeable cells that are 3.2Volts which is the same as a fully charged primary cell.

All the above have various capacities. The Li-Ions at 3.7 volts have the best capacity but since this laser takes 2 CR123 batteries you can risk over volting this laser to 7.4v and if these cells are fully charged at 4.2V you can over volt to 8.4V.

I spoke to Dragon Lasers who were unsure about the use of Li-Ion 3.7 cells and whether this Lasers driver would handle it, they advise NOT TO use them.

I also spoke to CNI directly who spoke to their engineers and they said NOT TO use 3.7v Li-ION cells in their 447nm diode lasers.

So I will say this again just to be sure DO NOT USE 3.7 LI-ION CR123 CELLS IN THIS LASER, YOU WILL DAMAGE IT. If in doubt stick to primary CR123 cells.

I have some LiFePo4 rechargeable CR123s that look safe voltage wise that I will be testing. I'll be sure to post the results here.

Hi LaserLight,

These are the batteries that I received:

They don't have any ma markings on the batteries, just that they're 3.0v. If and when my 400mw Spartan arrives, I'll try them first being cautious of overheating. I am thinking that the lower current draw of the 400mw Spartan vs. your 1watt may lead to less overheating issues. But, if it happens, I'll order the new version.

Thanks

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

That graph is unusual -- It's almost like a TEC turned on to bring the power back.
I didn't read all of the review because about 25% runs off my screen.
Not everyone has HD monitors.

HMike

 

[jedirock]

That graph is unusual -- It's almost like a TEC turned on to bring the power back.

It's not actually as much as a drop as it might appear. Notice the graph's Y-axis only goes from 800 to 1100mW, so the low is only around 900mW (907, to be exact).

 

[denodan]

Hi Jerry,

These were the best I could do with a better camera as you can see I am certainly no photographer.

Again these were taken at approximately 20 feet.

That is exactly how my Arctic looks

 

[denodan]

Hi Xfly,

I found the LiFePo4 batteries and the charger in the UK on a website setup for electronic cigarettes.

Tenergy LiFePO4 Charger and Batteries - Cloud 9 Vaping

I am unsure if they ship to Europe but if you contact them I'm sure they will answer that question for you.

The batteries are also available on dealextreme, be sure to get the ultrafire charger to go with them and set it to the 3.0V charging option.

DealExtreme: $4.83 17340 / CR123A Rechargeable Lithium LiFePO4 Battery 2-Pack (350mAh)
DealExtreme: $11.54 UltraFire 3.0V/3.6V CR123A Charger

As far as removing the front cap on mine I have been unsuccessful. I have applied a fair amount of force in trying to free it up and it won't budge. I don't think I will try again using even more force for fear of breaking a perfectly good laser. I also dont have much desire at this point to remove it.

I also looked at the LiFePO4 Batteries at DealExtreme also, but notice they only have a cpacity of 350mAh. But found these instead, the recommended batteries, which will also last longer then the ones from Deal Extreme

go for this one

2 RCR123A 3.0V 750mAh Rechargeable LiFePO4 Li-Ion Batteries with AC/DC Smart Charger

Also got 4 spare batteries, but the charger comes with 2.

 

[denodan]

Nice review, mine was posted Thursday, so will be good to compare my Arctic and Spartan. I noticed in the review the Spartan does not come, or apear to come in it's own box?

 

[LaserLight]

It sounds like your Arctic has a much tighter beam than the Spartan here. I guess one advantage to having both is that I'd be able to actually take the Spartan out of the house if i wanted without requiring a fork lift like the Arctic. what is the size of the new spartan host?

From what denodan said the beam comparison between the Spartan and the arctic don't sound all that different. I would expect this as neither laser uses correction optics and probably use the same diode. There are bound to be some slight differences diode to diode that happen due to the manufacturing process. I am looking forward to reading a 400mW Spartan review on here as its beam is circular.

The length of the 1W spartan is 195mm (19.5cm / 7.67 inches) and the width is 28mm (2.8cm / 1.1 inch)

That graph is unusual -- It's almost like a TEC turned on to bring the power back.
I didn't read all of the review because about 25% runs off my screen.
Not everyone has HD monitors.

This power drop in the graph was caused (as I later discovered) by the primary CR123A cells that I was using. By using the new LiFePo4 rechargeable CR123A cells I get a continuous very stable output power over 1W.

Sorry about the size of the review, I thought the forum might rezise it for the various resolutions of monitors.

Nice review, mine was posted Thursday, so will be good to compare my Arctic and Spartan. I noticed in the review the Spartan does not come, or apear to come in it's own box?

Unfortunately it does not, I leave mine in the anti-static bag it came with and keep it in a lockable foam case.

 

[denodan]

Pity they don't come with a nice case like the Arctic. The Spartan looks like a bare bones laser. Still without a nice case and finish like the Arctic your getting a better laser anyway. Still looking forward to my Spartan, as it seems to have more power over the Arctic. Will be good to see how both compare.

I notice the Arctic goes through batteries like water, need to look for 2800-300mAh ones.

 

[jedirock]

Unfortunately it does not, I leave mine in the anti-static bag it came with and keep it in a lockable foam case.

If you ever bust the anti-stat bag, I can help. Nice thing with working with computers a lot (especially hard drives and motherboards) is that you accumulate a lot of anti-stat bags.

 

[Gixxer331]

From what denodan said the beam comparison between the Spartan and the arctic don't sound all that different. I would expect this as neither laser uses correction optics and probably use the same diode. There are bound to be some slight differences diode to diode that happen due to the manufacturing process. I am looking forward to reading a 400mW Spartan review on here as its beam is circular.

I'm also looking forward to a 400mW review! I'm waiting for my Arctic and was thinking about buying a Spartan too, but figure if i do buy a Spartan might as well buy the one with corrected optics that is at least a little different.

 

[apex007]

Well, my 400mw Spartan arrived at "Inbound International Arrival ISC New York (USPS)" on 8/8. 5 days later the tracking still says the same thing. Hopefully it isn't lost.

If it arrives, I look forward to posting results of how the batteries I ordered perform.

 

[Spartan X]

Mine got to NY in the 6th and I got it on the 13th(today)

 

[jedirock]

I have a 400mW on the way too, but it just left Beijing earlier today. Will probably go to either Toronto or Vancouver from there. If Toronto, that means I should get it early next week, I think. If Vancouver, it'll be longer.

 

[X FLY]

I have a 400mW on the way too, but it just left Beijing earlier today. Will probably go to either Toronto or Vancouver from there. If Toronto, that means I should get it early next week, I think. If Vancouver, it'll be longer.

How long did it take for DragonLasers to ship the laser? I ordered my 1W Spartan 2½ days ago and the status is still queued.

 

[jedirock]

How long did it take for DragonLasers to ship the laser? I ordered my 1W Spartan 2½ days ago and the status is still queued.

Just over a week and a half. I ordered on July 31st, and it shipped on the 12th.

 

[Gixxer331]

@Spartan X, since you just got yours today, what do you think of it so far? how is the beam diameter and divergence?

Edit: given the post above your last one i thought you ordered a 400mW version, but then i saw your tag and realized its a 1W. I'm more curious about the 400mW since no one has posted anything about it yet but still, what do you think of your 1W?