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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

First build and a couple of problems w' pics!

kraked

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Nov 8, 2010
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Did my first build tonight with the Jayrob 445 SS kit set at 1 amp. Great kit and host--everything fit together nicely.

However, I noticed that it doesn't seem to be as powerful at burning things as some of the videos of 445 nm lasers I've seen on youtube. Tried to get a piece of paper to burn and it would not do so farther than 1.5 ft away and focusing it to a needle point. What's a typical burn distance for a piece of white napkin?

This leads to my main question: How perfectly centered does the diode need to be in the Aixiz housing? I did not want to spend 30 dollars on a diode press for a single build and used various items around the house to get the diode as pressed in as I could (Small socket 1/4" driver, bicycle brake line screws, etc). Still it seems that it's slightly off by maybe 1/2 mm to one side. Will something like this greatly affect the output power? Hoping I wont need to unpress/repress the diode. One thing I learned is that C clamps do not work that well with this method, due to the fact that the pedastal is on a ball joint and will swivel and move around. Next time I would definitely use a vice, where both ends will come together flat and straight.

Another problem I'm having is the laser is pulsing slowly after about 15 seconds of runtime. The host is getting fairly warm as well. It could be my batteries but It seems Flaminpyro is able to draw 2 amps out of the same Trustfires that I got, while my driver is set to 1 amp. I'm wondering if there could be a bad connection somewhere such as the clicky switch, etc that's causing high resistance

Any input and advice is appreciated.
 
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kraked

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Re: First build and does the laser diode have to be perfectly centered?

Here's some pictures

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Note the diode isn't horribly horribly off centered

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Couldn't tell with my eyes but can see where the beam converges thru the camera

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eBay od4 goggles - cant see the beam at all
 

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Last edited:
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Turn the pot all the way up. Both the Flex and Micro drives max out at ~1.2A. So turn the pot to the point the diode gets dim, then turn it back a bit till you see it glow bright again. You might squeeze enough extra power to light it.

And use black magazine paper.

Edit: With a small host like that your duty cycle will be short. Your driver might be heating up, and pulsing, or it could be the battery.
 
Last edited:
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Aug 15, 2009
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A napkin won't be ideal for burning. Paper is somewhat transparent, it's made with a random structure that scatters light. Place a drop of water on a napkin and the index step and scattering is much smaller, and it will look more transparent.
Paper is quite dense, you if you shoot a laser on it, the light gets absorbed at the surface. A napkin has a more open structure, and the laser will penetrate much deeper and heat a larger volume, which makes the power density lower so it burns less easy.
 




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