Hehe, yeah, the problem we experienced with Maxi3D really gave me a scare! First of all, i had no clue he didn't know about the batteries the laser needs. I usually make triple sure during the Order Summary, that the buyer orders the batteries and charger or at least requests a free battery pack from me....
Luckily my good friend Glenn (Scopeguy20), who helped me out of many a predicament already, lived in the same state and was able to send him a battery pack the same day! Thank you Glenn, you saved the day again!
What ultimatelly gave us a scare was, that Maxi3D found the right size lithium batteries, but while the size was right and they had lithium in them, the chemistry turned out to be very wrong.
Luckily another buyer already once showed me this battery chemistry, and i remembered from there, that they were made for a very high capacity at a very low current.
But i wouldn't expect this to make my laser misbehave... I expected either one of two things to happen:
1. The batteries would get extremelly hot in having to supply the current my driver requires to operate - something, that could even be dangerous with some Lithium based chemistries, OR
2. The batteries would not supply the required current and the laser would not light up at all.
I have never seen my driver work half way or even less than that. In all my tests it either works at full power down to almost 2V, keeping the current completelly steady and never changing more than 0.3mA (which is half of the reason Electron's graphs are such a straight line - the other half being the special heatsinking, which has been perfected with the v3 Heatsink/Modules, where the diode is stuck directly into the heatsink, no AixiZ module is used).
And below 2V the driver simply stops working, and the laser doesn't turn on anymore.
Since the driver can keep the current so completelly steady from 5V down to 2V, Li-Ion batteries are in perfect range for it. They have 4.2V when full and 2.7V when empty, which means that the power of the laser on an empty battery (or anywhere in between) will always be EXACTLY THE SAME as on a full battery. The laser always starts at the same power and the only thing that can change it is temperature (heat affects the diode efficiency), and that is well taken care of, especially with the latest v3 All-In-One Heatsink/Modules....
So when i heard that Maxi3D's laser is putting out a faint dot, i got scared. I thought that the first high efficiency GGW diode just died - i use diode efficiency as a sign of health, that is why i pre-test all diodes and weed out the weak ones. A high efficiency GGW dying would be bad news, not only because they are rare and hard to replace, but because it would mean that even freak GGWs can have birth-defects. But what made me suspect there was another problem was the fact that he never even saw the laser at full power! He didn't see the diode die, he never even saw it live. And that never happened before. So i knew something else must be the problem...
Luckily Maxi3D immediatelly replied with the battery and spot photos i asked for and since the spot didn't look dead i googled the battery chemistry. Evidently it is not enough for batteries to have the word "Lithium" printed on them.
LiSOCl2 batteries simply can not deliver the required currents.
I do not yet fully understand how they can make my laser misbehave, but i expect their voltage drops when the driver draws a high current pulse, and then recovers just enough for my driver to keep trying to draw another pulse, but never quite reaching the required current.. I asked Maxi3D to send me the battery, so i can analyze what happens...
So
my lasers require Li-Ion batteries, and i only recommend PROTECTED Li-Ions to ever be used! They automatically shut down if the voltage goes above 4.2V during charging or below 2.7V during discharging, and they shut down if they are shorted, which prevents any dangers from the batteries heating up dangerously.
The battery and charger info is in the second post of this thread, as are the links to everything from DX. Both are very cheap, and if you ask i include a free battery pack with the laser. Just make sure you ask during the Order Summary...
I do make CR123 models and those can take either Li-Ions or regular 3V CR123's from camera stores... But PROTECTED Li-Ions are better and more environmentally friendly, as you can recharge them as many as 1000 times, so you're not throwing empty batteries away for no good reason. On top of that, a pair of two Li-Ions costs only $5 from DX, and the charger only $9 or $13 depending on the model.
The laser needs only one battery at a time, so a pair allows you to use one while charging the other. On top of that a single charge works as long as two weeks to a month, depending on your use. But sometimes a battery stops working (the protection circuit shuts it down permanently), so it's best to have two pairs, to have spares, and you won't run out for years!
So when ordering a laser, make sure you order the correct batteries and charger, or ask for a free pair to be included with your laser (= emergency battery pack)...
Maxi3D: Your Hatori Hanzo comparison honors me. Especially, since it's a katana. I love swords and have many katanas... Some even hand-crafted!
I just wish i could also engrave the lasers too.. :evil:
Because you are right. From the outside they look like many other lasers, especially since some builders started using the same host models as me. In fact i have even heard stories of people going around asking all the machinists on the forum for copies of my heatsinks! But at least no one can copy my drivers, and since the v3 Heatsink/Modules, the heatsink copies are extremelly unlikelly as well...
But it's the inside where a laser is built, and in mine both the heatsinks and drivers are my design, and optimized for maximum stability of power. And the heatsinks are designed to completelly enclose all the laser guts inside, for maximum structural integrity, and so that nothing can ever break... The only thing that can ever go wrong is the diode burning out, and that depends only on the power setting - that's why i try to keep the powers reasonable... And that's also why the build is covered by a full warranty. On top of that, i don't use random diodes, but pre-test all of them, so you always know exactly what you're getting up front.
Making the tiny drivers and pre-testing all diodes takes a lot of time, which is why my building takes longer than that of other builders. But usualy that is exactly why people want my lasers - they are not just quickly thrown together assemblies of ready made parts, but painstakingly "hand-crafted" to perfection... (= Hatori Hanzo reference
) I have an OCD-like compulsion for that.. :yabbem:
Once the diodes are pre-tested and the drivers finished i can actually complete an entire batch in a single day! Just like i could if i was using random diodes and ready made driqvers. And believe me, i have been tempted many times, especially when pressed for time......
But there are very good reasons i spend so much time doing all those things. Diode pre-testing allows me to select the perfect diode for your requirements and even fulfil special requests about efficiency and wavelength, and my drivers are still the most stable but also future-proof.
The same drivers will still be fully capable of powering ANY future 405nm didoes, because unmodified they can boost up to 16V (up to 25V with different capacitors!) and supply as much as 1A, so there has not yet been a diode designed nor planned, that would be too much for them. The only thing i have to change are the current settings if i need to power higher power diodes....
That is also why the laser can easily be upgraded to a better diode at any time, as soon as a better diode becomes available. With the v3 Heatsink/Modules even heat won't be a problem for a long time to come, regardless of the laser's small size...
I always wanted to make tiny lasers - that is why i started the boost driver developement - i wanted a laser that would work off a single battery at a time when all lasers used two or three.
And with the model names by some as my "Classic", i have designed my dream laser. That is also the reason why i haven't gotten sick of them after building over 130 of them! That, and the fact, that i kept working on improoving the design, until it was as good as can be.
My main personal lasers are still of this same model and i still love them. But i have recently upgraded them to v3.. That is also why i was happy, when my first 6x diode died.. :angel:
. one of the members of batch 3 before the incident 
She just shrugged her shoulders. :banghead:
