@Greendream:
Awesome! :yh:
+Rep! :gj:
Excellent macro shots - what kind of camera are you using?
I was hoping the crystals in yours would be identical to my new 100mw module, but yours looks slightly different.
At first I thought the crystals in that looked smaller than mine. But after examining mine again, it appears the crystals may be the same, but the crystal
HOLDER is "taller" on yours.
Different construction/supplier for the crystal module, perhaps?
Edit to add - I measured the crystal to be 2mm long, perhaps a fraction over.
Same here - I estimated mine to be a tad over 2mm in length. Is yours about 1mm square on the end?
Is it me or is that obviously misaligned?
Hard to tell, but something does look a little off-kilter!
Your crystals are also lined-up 90 degrees offset from mine. In mine, the "notch" lines-up with the horizontal axis of the diode die.
On yours, the notch is located vertical, directly
ABOVE the diode die.
It seems that way...
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinkin too.
I beginning to wonder if there is another cause as well (see below).
Yes... I had the laser within about 1 inch of the sensor, so I think that would get almost all of the IR?
Likely, if the sensor was large enough. What kind of meter are you using?
Originally Posted by seoguy
Is hard to tell from angle of photo - if you look dead-on at top of that tiny crystal, is it perfect square shape on end?
Yes, near enough.
Near enough, or a perfect square? The reason I ask is that there are some crystals that are slightly rectangular on the end, that could make a difference.
Not exactly sure what an open can (or closed for that matter) looks like TBH, but hopefully you can tell from the pix?
An open-case diode does not have a case around it, they tend to be high-power diodes, like this -
The other ones are completely enclosed by a metal case, with a little window at the top for the laser beam to exit, like this -
It is apparent from your pics that this is an open-case diode, as you can see the diode die and some wires attaching to it! See -
All 3 of the wires/pins are straight.
So when you look at those two where they go into the diode, the pins are exactly the same width apart as on the board, they don't bend in or out a bit to fit?
If so, it sounds like that is a 5.6mm diode then. My 100mw has a 9mm diode, and those two pins have to bend in slightly in order to match the solder points on that driver board.
The next one came apart much more easily... about 2 minutes vs 10 minutes working it for the other, so that would explain why some are finding it easier than others.
Ah ha!
344/61 (probably didn't give it time to climb)
In a green laser, this can be caused by over-heating the diode. The vandate crystal has a
VERY narrow pumping bandwidth at ~808nm. If the IR laser diode gets too hot, it's wavelength can shift out of the optimum pumping range, causing a reduction in green output.
There is something I am beginning to suspect here...
The True 5's that Bob_Boyce reported being able to mod to upwards of 70mw or more of green at <300ma, they all came set from the factory set at ~170ma or so.
Mine was set at 170ma, and is a
bear to try to take apart. You also noticed that the one that was much harder for you was also the 176ma unit.
I have heard several reports now of units that come from the factory set at >= 200ma, and in every case, their performance was lacking, they could not be modded nearly as high, and you had to pump at
LOT more current into them to get there!
The crystal holder in the one you took a pic of (a 200ma one), also appeared a bit different than my 100mw (although this could also be a difference between the low & high-power modules).
I am beginning to wonder if these 200ma guys are a newer, more sucky design - perhaps using less efficient crystals or laser diode?
Take a
REAL close look at your 62mw mod pen, and compare it to the other two. Compare the crystals - is the crystal holder not quite as tall as the others? Does the crystal assembly look any different? What about the diode - both the back from the outside, and what you can see through the hole - does it appear identical? Is the driver exactly the same?
Can you notice any difference between that higher-power one and the other two?