Dragon Lasers 1W Spartan

[SpaceCase]

I recently ordered my own 1w spartan, and I've been looking at the batteries recommended here.

I'm a little confused about the operating voltage of The #1 recommended battery (3.2v). This website says its got a "3.6 peak voltage and 3.2 working voltage"... Wouldn't the 3.6 be far too much for this laser? I read that this laser is not supposed to take more than 6v... and even the 3.2 v batteries would cause it to receive .4v more than it should with these tenergy 3.2 batteries?

Tenergy LiFePO4 RCR123A 3.0V 750mAh Rechargeable Battery

 

[Paddy]

I was also very confused by the batteries (only i don't understand most of what it means)
Does the spartan come with a charger+bats?
Also could somebody link a site that will deliver to the UK with the optimum bat+charger (preferably with 4+ bats included)
Sorry for my noobness ><

 

[X FLY]

I was also very confused by the batteries (only i don't understand most of what it means)
Does the spartan come with a charger+bats?
Also could somebody link a site that will deliver to the UK with the optimum bat+charger (preferably with 4+ bats included)
Sorry for my noobness ><

Look at page 3 (post #53) there you will find 2 places where you can get the batteries. I bought mine from batteryjunction. Take a look at my review if you want to see what the laser includes (I have a lot of unboxing pics) the link is on my signature.

EDIT: YAY 100th post

 

[graviton]

Are there any possibilities to reduce divergence in Spartan 1W? Mine has 2.17mRad and it's big in comparison with any popular green laser.

 

[X FLY]

Are there any possibilities to reduce divergence in Spartan 1W? Mine has 2.17mRad and it's big in comparison with any popular green laser.

2mrad is really good for a 445nm diode If you want even smaller diverage just wait for dragonlasers to release a beam expander that way you could get 0.2mrad to 33mrad focusable

 

[graviton]

And what about the current expander? What will happen if I put it on Spartan? As I understand, the expander has quite simple construction. It works as a monocular but without turning the image. By the way I had experiments with my x10 monocular and I obtained less divergence 10x(exactly equals to magnifying power of the monocular) smaller than original.

 

[DrSid]

The expander wont work on Spartan IMHO. Problem with these 445nm diodes is that they have different size of the beam at aperture for each axis, and thus diffraction affects one axis much more then the other. It is impossible to focus such beam well with spherical lens. You need some beam correction optics. And that steal power, takes a lot of room and needs precise adjustment. It wont pay off for anything other than laser show.

 

[X FLY]

And what about the current expander? What will happen if I put it on Spartan? As I understand, the expander has quite simple construction. It works as a monocular but without turning the image. By the way I had experiments with my x10 monocular and I obtained less divergence 10x(exactly equals to magnifying power of the monocular) smaller than original.

The current beam expander has a very small beam enter aperture so it wont work very well with anything that has a beam over 2mm at the aperture. Spartan X tried using it but it didn't work well and alot of the power was lost and the beam loocked strange.

 

[graviton]

I have a question about this Ultrafire charger:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/rcr123a-uf-wf138a.html
http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/batteries/ultrafire-wf138-charger.html
I can switch between 3.6V and 3.0V but as I've measured output voltage it's 4.8V in both cases. What's the difference between these two modes then? Control of voltage and charging time? Or the charger doesn't function properly?
After charge is finished my LiFePO4 batteries have 3.27V - is it normal?
What is normal charging voltage for LiFePo4 batteries?

 

[DrSid]

It will be voltage when the charging stops imho.

 

[X FLY]

I have a question about this Ultrafire charger:
Ultrafire WF-138A Lithium-Ion CR123A Battery Charger
Ultrafire WF-138 CR123 Charger| Flashaholics.co.uk
I can switch between 3.6V and 3.0V but as I've measured output voltage it's 4.8V in both cases. What's the difference between these two modes then? Control of voltage and charging time? Or the charger doesn't function properly?
After charge is finished my LiFePO4 batteries have 3.27V - is it normal?
What is normal charging voltage for LiFePo4 batteries?

LiFePo4 batteries should be 3.6v when fully charged. You need a special lifepo charger to charge lifepo batteries. The 3.6v mode is too much and the 3.0v not enough.

 

[graviton]

I've tested my batteries after charging with this Ultrafire charger. I've got 17 minutes of continuous working with an ability to burn light-coloured wood. Then the beam becomes weaker and weaker. Is it very bad result? How much time do other LiFePo4 batteries work? Especially using other chargers.

 

[X FLY]

I've tested my batteries after charging with this Ultrafire charger. I've got 17 minutes of continuous working with an ability to burn light-coloured wood. Then the beam becomes weaker and weaker. Is it very bad result? How much time do other LiFePo4 batteries work? Especially using other chargers.

17 minutes is good. The Spartan needs 6v-6.6v to work on full power (>1W) thats 3.0v-3.3v per cell. My LiFePo4 batteries are about 3.6v when fully charged but quickly drop to about 3.2-3.3v. I get about 15-20mins of runtime between charges. The Energizer 3.0v CR123A Photo Lithium cells were exactly 3.23v on every cell I tested (I tested 4 cells).

 

[SpaceCase]

Alright. After talking to (Frank?) for a few times, (and the employees arriving back from the National holiday) I got an email giving me my tracking number.


You have received this notification from Dragon Lasers because you are a registered user or you or some other registered user requested some information for you from our store.

Dear [SpaceCase],

Your order has been completed successfully.

Tracking number: 29-Sep ############# USPS - The United States Postal Service (U.S. Postal Service)

usps gives me this:

Detailed Results:

Bullet Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
Bullet Foreign International Dispatch, October 05, 2010, 11:00 am, BEIJING, CHINA PEOPLES REP
Bullet Foreign Acceptance, September 30, 2010, 8:45 am, PORTEE

Which i know is of no help because of USPS's delayed tracking system.


Anyway, no laser today. I have my charged batteries and safety glasses waiting : p ... tomorrow is day 13

 

[Paddy]

13 days isn't that bad when you see all the people waiting for their wicked lasers

I had my spartan for about a week now, i haven't used it as much as i thought i would tbh.
the main problem im getting is im too scared i'll get it taken off me, so only place i can really use it here is up a lane next to a canal.
been so tempted to try turn off a street lamp though, but the beam is so damn bright it'll be obvious to see haha ><

 

[X FLY]

Alright. After talking to (Frank?) for a few times, (and the employees arriving back from the National holiday) I got an email giving me my tracking number.


You have received this notification from Dragon Lasers because you are a registered user or you or some other registered user requested some information for you from our store.

Dear [SpaceCase],

Your order has been completed successfully.

Tracking number: 29-Sep ############# USPS - The United States Postal Service (U.S. Postal Service)

usps gives me this:

Detailed Results:

Bullet Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
Bullet Foreign International Dispatch, October 05, 2010, 11:00 am, BEIJING, CHINA PEOPLES REP
Bullet Foreign Acceptance, September 30, 2010, 8:45 am, PORTEE

Which i know is of no help because of USPS's delayed tracking system.


Anyway, no laser today. I have my charged batteries and safety glasses waiting : p ... tomorrow is day 13

13 days is not bad. I had to wait 21 days before I got my tracking number but thanks to FedEx the laser arrived in just 3 days and the tracking information was updated on time