finished phr laser..not impressed!

[creanzworld17]

i have a blue ray LD (modwerx) at 100ma on the DDL driver...i turned it on...blue dot.yay! the thing that made my wow mood disappear was-there was no beam not even slightly..it didnt burn when focused..and ingeneral--it did not seem bright at all, even on WHITE paper! its by no means dead (ld). but my first impressions are down the drain! i at least expected a slight beam...and be able to burn something?!

Any thoughts??

 

[daguin]

There are MANY variables possible here. 100mA with a PHR and a stock acrylic lens will give you less than 90mW. At 90mW the beam will be very hard to see for most people. Here is a Wiki to help you understand this

Observations about Blu-Ray lasers - Laser Wiki

Also, what battery/driver combination are you using?

I would have to see what you are doing, but I can light a match with 35mW of focused violet light.

Peace,
dave

 

[blu-ray laser]

^^^^^ I comply, for I have many a plastic cutting PHR^^^^^

 

[Solonar]

I actually got burned(felt like a bee sting) by a phr at 90ma with aixiz glass lense, when my hand was at the focal point(about 6" from lense) while adjusting lense. The beam should be visible from behind the laser in a dark room. Even a ~200 mW GGW is barely visible in a room with lights on.

I would suggest your double check the current.

 

[Flaminpyro]

Find something dark like the sole of your shoe and try to smoke it and see what happens then.

 

[Gryphon]

Focus it to infinity and shine it at a blank peice of white printer paper, even a 80mW
violet will fluoresce violently and produce an incredibly bright BLUE dot. If yours doesn't
its more and likely simply under powered and not actually past its laseing threshold.

 

[lasersbee]

Hope you are using Laser Safety Goggles...
It makes the Blu-Ray beam a lot easier to focus...
besides being Laser Safe...
BTW...I can burn unpainted pine wood with a 50mW PHR803T...

Jerry

 

[styropyro]

Make sure you are focusing to a point and not to infinity...a lot of people try to focus to infinity for burning before they realize that you need a tiny point to burn.

Here's a video I made to illustrate this concept because it's hard to explain in words:

 

[creanzworld17]

Wow all your comments are unbelievable with what you can do! I am even more unimpressed! haha. As i said, im using the LM317 driver, powered by the massive palm sized 6v batterys...set to 100ma. Testing it out again.and going over your thoughts.... It isnt bright..id rate it to a 5-10mw red laser.....and no, it doesnt burn...even when focused down to pin head..Im confused. Oh, and im using a DMM...clarification...

 

[mfo]

Wow all your comments are unbelievable with what you can do! I am even more unimpressed! haha. As i said, im using the LM317 driver, powered by the massive palm sized 6v batterys...set to 100ma. Testing it out again.and going over your thoughts.... It isnt bright..id rate it to a 5-10mw red laser.....and no, it doesnt burn...even when focused down to pin head..Im confused. Oh, and im using a DMM...clarification...

Need more volts. Try using a 9 volt to see what happens, but don't make that a permanent power source since their voltages sag rather quickly.

My PHR is putting out 85mW and I can easily see the beam in a dark room.

 

[daguin]

MOAR VOLTAGEZ

Peace,
dave

 

[creanzworld17]

Nope. I got a 9volt first to use. then switched over to 6v. It has nothing to do with that. Is there some kind of forward voltage drop? I measured my driver DMM.....driver set at NO resistance (pot turned all the way down) giving (what should be 380ma) about -.120 Vdc according to DMM..... ????????? Thats impossible! Its even running on max output...im pissed.

 

[mfo]

Nope. I got a 9volt first to use. then switched over to 9v. It has nothing to do with that. Is there some kind of forward voltage drop? I measured my driver DMM.....driver set at NO resistance (pot turned all the way down) giving (what should be 380ma) about -.120 Vdc according to DMM..... ????????? Thats impossible! Its even running on max output...im pissed.

Your diode kicked the bucket.

 

[bryce007]

I guess everyone's eyes are different. My weakest PHR is 50mW, and I can easily see the beam at night.

Edit: nvm, it seems yours isn't working properly.

 

[daguin]

Nope. I got a 9volt first to use. then switched over to 6v. It has nothing to do with that. Is there some kind of forward voltage drop? I measured my driver DMM.....driver set at NO resistance (pot turned all the way down) giving (what should be 380ma) about -.120 Vdc according to DMM..... ????????? Thats impossible! Its even running on max output...im pissed.

Disassemble it. Take it one step at a time. Double check and test everything at each step.

If this pisses you off, maybe you shouldn't be building lasers. I have broken lots of stuff

Peace,
dave

 

[creanzworld17]

I guess everyone's eyes are different. My weakest PHR is 50mW, and I can easily see the beam at night.

Nope i have 20/10...i think modwerx gave me crap:scowl:. I even took my time (25-30min) taking it out, since the fact it is BR.Then hooked it up to lm317, shorted cap, set it to a low 60ma, then saw the little little blue dot. (which apparently according to you all, it shouldve been bright, but since its my first time with BR, i thought it was normal) Then i turned it up to 100ma.....pretty much same. I also put it on another driver (at a SET value output of 125ma), just to make sure it wasnt a problem in my previous one....same thing. Its like a 10-20mw BR dot.
It isnt the lm317 is it? Should i use the LM1117? Or no? I still think i got crap for my first build. :gun: