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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Duty Cycle of Sanwu “Laser Ranger”

Joined
May 28, 2021
Messages
51
Points
18
Hey!

tl;dr- what’s the duty cycle of Sanwu’s “Laser Ranger”, specifically/especially the 1.2w 520 and/or 1.6w 525?

My name’s Ryan, and I’m from Texas. I’m totally new to lasers excluding my being the agency behind the scurrying, small, bright-red critter that my two cats vehemently pursue.

I recently bought a few 532 “303’s” for my coworkers and me to use at work, and while I initially had only pragmatic intentions with lasers, even the cheap Chinese ones have already turned out to be so fun/cool that I absolutely have to purchase a nice personal one now.

I’ve kicked around a lot of different ideas for which laser I should get first, and learned a lot in that short time. I think I’ve narrowed it down to either the Sanwu Guardian or, most recently, the Sanwu “Laser Ranger”.

I read the review that @dreaming wrote up on Sanwu’s website, and then found it again (this time in its full glory) on LPF. He did a great job on that thing.

I’m almost totally sold on the Laser Ranger (they look fly af, and the continuous power adjustment is doooooope), I’m just trying to figure out which part of the spectrum and what wattage I should get for my first.

I’m fairly certain I’m going to go with one of the super f***ing bright greens, like the 1.2w 520 or the 1.6w 525. See, my price range started much lower, but as I’ve been hyperfocusing harder and harder on lasers, that range has gone up substantially, and I don’t even care. I’m in it to win it. I’m probably going to get all the accessories I can too (including safety eyewear! PPE is important in my occupation too, so I get it) so I can fully enjoy this thing. I really like the 488’s and even kicked around the idea of getting a 589, but for my first laser I really want to be able to put a green dot on the moon. It’s important to me. I’m not gonna get cocky and buy a blue that’s going to burn my house down and melt my eyeballs. I have more meager, modest intentions than that. I just want to be able to make a beam of light that rivals the DS-2 Orbital Battle Station.

288E2B1D-FAC9-4C4E-8825-E975A8763FAC.gif

I really don’t want to be limited much by duty cycles, so I want to make sure that the Ranger is good in that regard. The Cu Guardian certainly is, especially for its size. The problem is that I can’t find any info on the duty cycle for that Ranger! I’ve used the search function, and I’ve poured through threads using Ctrl+F and the iOS equivalent, all to no avail. Dreamer mentions that they have a “long duty cycle”, but that’s about all I’ve found.

Can someone help this n00b finally make a decision and pull the trigger on a dope-a** lightamplification-by-stimulated-emission-of-radiation-pointer?

A hearty “thank you” in advance. 🙏🙏🙏
-Ryan
 
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WizardG

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OK, first things first. If you're set on starting with 1 watt+ then before you ever order the laser ORDER SAFETY GOGGLES! 1.2 or 1.6 watts is plenty to burn your house down accidentally. That's enough power to screw up your eyes.....for life.......in an instant of inattention.
 

Unown (WILD)

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I can't tell what you're joking about to what you're serious about in your post.
 
Joined
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OK, first things first. If you're set on starting with 1 watt+ then before you ever order the laser ORDER SAFETY GOGGLES! 1.2 or 1.6 watts is plenty to burn your house down accidentally. That's enough power to screw up your eyes.....for life.......in an instant of inattention.
I appreciate the concern. The way I worded that part about “accessories” is a little confusing. I’ll rephrase it:

I am definitely getting a pair of Eagle Pair goggles/glasses. I am also probably going to get all the other accessories I can, including the beam expander and maybe a few tritium vials, G2 and/or G7 lenses, and possibly the line and cross effects lenses.

With that said, I am not going to order a pair of goggles before I know which laser— and therefore which part of the spectrum I need protection from— I’m getting. This is why I haven’t ordered a pair yet.


I am also aware of the fire risk and eye damage risk associated especially with higher powered lasers (and that it’s not limited to violets/blues/etc). The bit about ‘not getting cocky and getting a blue laser that will burn my house down and melt my eyes, I just want a planet destroying laser’ was tongue-in-cheek.

Still, I really did mean it when I said that I appreciate the concern. I am still learning what I can specifically expect from different wavelengths and wattages, so every little bit of info is welcome, especially when it comes to safety.


I have every intention of treating these things as though they were guns (I didn’t say “loaded guns” because it would be superfluous, every gun is a “loaded gun” as far as anyone with a brain is concerned), and I was taught proper gun safety at a very young age. I also have a very dangerous job where safety is an inherent focus, and a big part of that focus is on PPE and situational awareness. My drive for self-preservation has always been pretty damn high, and that has recently been catalyzed into overdrive now that I have a little baby boy (our first). I can tell you that my very deficient knowledge about lasers will be well covered by my proficiency for taking appropriate measures to ensure my own safety, and that of the other living creatures and property around me. And all the while my deficient knowledge base about lasers is becoming less deficient, thanks to this forum.

Worry not, internet friend.
But while we’re on the subject, do you have a particular pair of eyewear that you would recommend if I get one of those Death Star (I.e., bad**s green) lasers?

Oh, one more thing I forgot to say about ‘burning down the house’, one reason I was excited about a high powered “Ranger” was the continuous adjustment, which hopefully will make it more indoor friendly if I want to play with it inside sometimes. @Dreaming’s description of the visual effects created by powering it up and down while pointed skyward sounded pretty dang sexy too.

Grace and peace,
Ryan
 
Joined
May 28, 2021
Messages
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Well you certainly have a way of words. I'm not sure eaglepair goggles are good. Check out this recent post.

But you do know that a loaded gun refers to a gun loaded with bullets right? If a gun has no bullets it isn't loaded...
And you certainly have a way with compliments! 😊

Well crap. That’s seriously unnerving. 😬
I’m really glad I hadn’t pulled the trigger on a pair of EP’s yet. I would eternally be questioning their efficacy. Not something I want to roll the dice on. 🎲 😵
Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you for bringing that to my attention.

Sooo... anyone have any other eyewear recommendations?🤷‍♂️😎


Well I didn’t think a loaded gun meant it was stuffed full of chives, bacon, cheese, and sour cream! 😉 🥔
I can look through the cylinder of a revolver three times over, look through every hole and see that there’s not a cartridge in any of them, and I’m still NEVER going to point it at a friend (or a dog for that matter... maybe a cat though? 🤔 No, not even a cat). I’m still going to keep my finger off the trigger. Etc, etc. I was always taught that for all intents and purposes, any gun was a loaded gun, in that you treat it exactly the same way. I’m pretty certain that’s common practice. It was instilled in me early on and it’s kept me and others around me out of trouble. And I’ve been dealing with the “303’s” I just got the exact same way. Even though they have that little lock-and-key safety on the back, I treat that thing like it could go off any moment (which, knowing the quality with which they were crafted, that probably is not that unrealistic of a scenario).
 

bulukaki

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Aug 20, 2020
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Hello Ryan

I think I came from a similar path with ya. Bought a sanwu pocket and challenger II last year. Initially I just wanted to buy lasers, but now I want to build them too.

Being made from steel, the ranger (at full power of 1 watt+) most likely won't have duty cycle as long as other hosts made from copper or copper-nickel. On the other hand, stainless steel does not tarnish and does not stink. It's also much harder, won't scratch or nick easily.

Just my personal opinion, if you're getting a rather expensive laser, choose for an uncommon diode/wavelength. Not only that thwy worth their $$, they also have a rarity factor. For more common diodes, you can DIY yourself with less budget.

I think the rarest diode in their lineup is the tri-beam Mitsu G84, followed by NDB7675 (this one not that uncommon though...). The 1.6 watt green is pretty new, not sure if it will become widespread or not.

More importantly though, try to find out if that diode is a decanned/open can diode. There are reports from members that these diodes may not last as long.

For most people those are just minor issues not to be thought of, but well, Sanwu is Sanwu, whatever you choose you won't regret it, really top notch build! 😀
 

julianthedragon

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I highly recommend emailing sanwuservice@gmail.com and asking them about the duty cycle of their laser, you'll probably get Francis who has a great reputation for helping customers and being really straight forward. The duty cycle probably depends a bit on the power, wavelength, battery configuration, and host you select as well so maybe specify that in your email.

But I'm sure the Ranger won't shortchange you in the duty cycle department. I've kept my Sanwu Challenger on for a few minutes at a time and noticed barely any heat buildup, so intuition says the Ranger would be even better given the higher price and luxury like the dimmer switch. Good luck man
 
Joined
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Messages
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Ok, I emailed Francis about the duty cycle of the Rangers in general as well as with those specific high-powered green configurations. I didn’t ask him about the diodes themselves, because I’m waaaay too ignorant about this stuff at the present moment to even really know what to ask.

I did find these:
0ECC300B-F0C6-464E-89A0-73ED8042F946.jpeg
CFD60A73-5CE3-4170-8243-00A8A1948596.jpeg
From reading other threads, that 1.6w 525 is likely one or both of these (I don’t know if anyone ever figured out if the NUGM04T array uses NDG7D75T diodes, or if they’re different diodes altogether).

I don’t know if these graphics help answer the question of whether they are decanned/open-can or not. I guess I need to look into what that means today.

I was also looking into tritium, and that’s some pretty freakin’ cool stuff! Not an easy material to acquire. After reading about the process involved, it makes a little more sense that they’re $15 a pop. Too bad there’s no way in hell I could afford to totally trick out one of those Rangers. Still, I might add a few. “Yes please, give me some of them radioactive glowy things to really make this dope-a** laser look extra fly”

You guys are awesome and I really appreciate all the help/support/advice.

P.S.: I’m still taking recommendations for good (I.e., reliably safe) eyewear.
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 28, 2021
Messages
51
Points
18
I highly recommend emailing sanwuservice@gmail.com and asking them about the duty cycle of their laser, you'll probably get Francis who has a great reputation for helping customers and being really straight forward. The duty cycle probably depends a bit on the power, wavelength, battery configuration, and host you select as well so maybe specify that in your email.
Ok, Francis responded (that was quick!) and had this to say:

**** “...Duty cycle [is] not really affected by the housing of the ranger you choose. We recommend a 1 minute on & 30 seconds off duty cycle for the 1.2W & 1.6W green lasers in full power.” ****

(asterisks and bold typing added for accentuation, as this is the answer to the original question of this thread)

This is great imho. For a steel host that really isn’t especially large (I was pleasantly surprised to find out those beautiful looking hosts are quite a bit smaller than than one would assume, given their aesthetic). A 60-on/30-off cycle seems pretty damn reasonable for that kind of wattage, just based on what I’ve seen comparing other models. I am totally happy with that.

I also was trying to figure out how many slots for tritium vials their were at the last segment (on the bright end 😁) of styles 1, 4, and 7 (I think the answer is 12x), but I don’t think I explained myself well enough in my email to Francis, as he thought I was asking about total # of slots per style. It’s not super clear from the pictures which segments of which styles hold how many vials. It just tells you the total # of slots in the description, but it’d be nice to know each segment just in case you could only afford to outfit some of the segments. I think I have it figured out though:

Every style (#1-9) has 5x slots at the butt and 1x at the dimmer segment (for a total of 6x). In addition to that, styles #8 and #9 have a segment right above the dimmer that have an additional 5x slots for vials (for a total of 11x), whereas styles #1 and #4 have a segment at the top (bright & shiny end) that has 12x slots for vials (for a total of 18x). Style #7 includes all of the aforementioned segments/slots (for a total of 23x).

I think this is correct, just piecing it together from the photos. Don’t hold me to it though. Obviously this is essential information and I’ve saved the day by figuring it out /s 😉

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Edit: had to finish typing this up. I’m a premature reply-poster.
 
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Joined
May 28, 2021
Messages
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FINALLY found someone with that NUGM04 diode!
—Here’s the link to the thread—
I was beginning to wonder if anyone had tried that diode at all. It doesn’t look very impressive in the video, but I’m sure it’s hard to capture it in all its glory on camera.

I swear I have better luck summoning applicable content from this forum by searching on Google
than on this forum search, but the sticky said it uses the Google engine, so...

*shrugs shoulders, turns both palms up, makes that weird pursed-lipped face you make when when you make eye contact with strangers in passing (you know, like the kid below)👇*
8D16DA16-09BC-485D-AF32-1C81C5DC9525.jpeg
 




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