DX100mW Red Module - Mini-Review

[knimrod]

DX has changed the pictures of the 70mW red module kit (SKU# 9865) at $17.24 to pictures that appear identical to the 100mW red module (SKU# 10095) at $29.09. That's quite a bargain.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

My 70 has been running at 100 mW for almost 3 hours. Little heating and most important -- No smoke !!

Mike

 

[thekanester]

I received two 70mW DX units yesterday and did a few runs using 4 x 1.5V AA batteries. I can confirm that it works fine using this as a power source. It even ran of 4 x 1.5v button cells from the DX piggy lights, but was visibly dimmer.

The focus is very adjustable and the potentiometer did appear to make a bit of a difference.

The beam is quite wide on output (5mm), but can be focussed very nicely.

However....I've not yet managed the holy grail of being able to smoke or burn even the thinnest of black bin bags.

Has anyone else managed this?

The batteries that I was using were cheapo £-shop zinc jobs that I was using in my son's electronics learning kit and not best, and to top it all, the leads broke on my £5 multimeter so I couldn't confirm any current draw.

I'm going to retest this evening with some proper power source, but can I ask if anyone managed to do any significant burning with this unit?

 

[mullerhawk]

Make sure you have enogh current. I first tried with a 5v 300mah psu and got the same result as you. Could not burn anything even when focused. When i changed to a 7.2v 800mah psu things SMOKED really good. I fried my mouse mat quit good ;D And plastic bags goes right though in a jiffy!

 

[thekanester]

Thanks, mullerhawk.

That'll be the focus of my work this evening. I also received my Ultrafire 501b 90mW laser from DX yesterday, so I split the evening testing both of these products.

Very disappointed with the 501b but happy with the red ones, for the price I paid.

I'll report back when I get a proper power source up and running.

 

[Lorgar]

Ive found the best focal point for burning is around 8" away it can be brought down to a very fine point and cuts through thick trash bags almost instantly as well as electrical tape

 

[kake]

Can i buy the "5V 70mW Red Laser Circuit Board with Red Laser Module Kit
$17.24" From DX and put a SenKat diode in there?

 

[spyrorocks]

I ordered one of those ("5V 70mW Red Laser Circuit Board with Red Laser Module Kit
$17.24"). Should be here any day now.

I don't really see why you couldn't... just turn the pot and up the amps.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Kake --

Someday, I'll smoke a diode and Iplan to replace it with a GB diode.
May have to play with the PS a bit but I can turn mine up to about 350 mA using 6 volt input.
Mike

 

[kake]

So it is possible? If the price is no problem, would it be better to buy one of those, and put my Senkat diode in there, or building my own driver? Im going to use it stationary, but i do not require a long duty-cycle.

Btw, i also bought my senkat premounted in a aixiz. Would it be a problem to take it out again of the aixiz? (This may be a stupid question)

 

[Gazoo]

Good luck... ;D I think you would be better off buying another diode and using the other one in a portable application.

 

[kake]

Since i really don't need the extra cooling/long duty cycle, cant i just use it in the aixiz module and remove the "cooling cube"? And my soldering iron is broken, so can i just mount the diode in a socket, and then use "sugarcubes" to connect the socket to the circuitboard?

 

[charleytown55il]

i have the 100 mw verson, and i found that when using 4 ni-mh batteries, it wasn't at full power. i added another battery, and it got brighter. i then tried using 6 batteries (btw, im checking current with a dmm) and the current went up by a few ma. the problem was that the 2 large diode got very hot along with a power transister.

i now have it in a box running fine off of a 9 volt battery. the reason it works ok is because of the large amount of voltage drop across the battery.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

My Aixiz modules fit inside the cooling cube.
Mike

 

[kake]

Good news!
I still wonder if i have to solder to the diode, or if i can use a socket.

 

[roSSco]

Good news!
I still wonder if i have to solder to the diode, or if i can use a socket.

Take it from those of us that have used sockets...they kill diodes!!!