FS: >120mW PHR, >170-210mW 6x & NEW 8x Blu-Rays!!
DISCOUNT OPTION!
I have decided, that in the future,
i will also offer cheaper FlexDrive powered BluRay lasers...
People don't realize how much time i spend making my own drivers and why, and that all that work is a big part of the reason my lasers cost more...
If i was using ready-made drivers, i could finish my work A LOT faster!
Since i would save time, i could offer those builds cheaper, and in the future i will.
However for lasers like that i CAN NOT guarantee future upgradeability to any and all higher power diodes!
If a future diode should need more than 6V or 500mA, it could not be powered by the same driver.
If you want a cheaper build, you will have to take that into account....
The resulting lasers will also be slightly less stable in power, altho in the latest version the FlexDrive was improoved quite a bit, so this instability will be reasonably low. That's also the reason i am willing to start using the v4 FlexDrive for BluRays...
The other part of the reason my lasers cost more is that i pre-test ALL my diodes on my Diode Analyzer. I collect the full P/I/V data for diode efficiency and even it's wavelength, on a device i made specifically for this reason....
I weed out the weakest diodes, and only use good normal diodes or high efficiency diodes.
Because of that, 10% of all GGW 6x diodes are quickly declared useless. Some peak as low as 155 or even just 138mW at 200mA during pre-testing!! :cryyy:
If i was using random diodes (simply taking the next one out of a bag) and then setting them to whatever current was required to reach the power you requested, the currents would be ALL OVER THE PLACE!
As a result some diodes would die VERY YOUNG. Of course i could then say that i don't warrant diodes, and you'd have to pay for a new one when it died....
Well even as it is, i can not afford to warrant 6x diodes for a long time, they are simply too expensive! But because of the way i select them, they are VERY UNLIKELLY to die any time soon. In fact, they will most likelly last you a year, if not YEARS of normal use!
For example, i have not yet lost a single high efficiency 6x dode, even tho they produce more power at the same current than others. Even good normal diodes don't die just like that.
That's also why i can give a birth-defect warranty on them, in case one should die WAY TOO FAST...
AGAIN: While i can't afford to give a longer warranty on 6x diodes, due to their cost, they are EXTREMELLY UNLIKELLY to die any time soon, due to the way i select them!
But all this careful pre-testing on my Diode Analyzer, collecting the full P/I/V data for every single diode takes a lot of time!
And that, on top of the fact that i can't use all diodes due to the very low efficiency of some, is the other part of the reason why my lasers cost more...
However, while i can reduce the cost of a build by using ready-made drivers, i don't want to stop pre-testing diodes!
I've been getting too good results this way to stop it now!
But that's a good thing! Because
my base price for a GGW 6x laser guarantees you get AT LEAST a good normal-efficiency diode, which will produce a decent power at a current under 200mA AND in most cases last you a year if not several with normal use!
ASK FOR MORE INFO AND EXPLANATIONS.... (EMAIL PREFERRED)
I have not yet set a single 6x laser to a current above 200mA (except my own experimental ones), but i have made a large number of 6x lasers with powers above 210mW, simply through careful diode pre-selection. And they all still work! These lasers go over 250mW with glass lenses.
An additional benefit of my diode pre-testing is, that if you want, you can request a freak (more power at same current due to higher efficiency) or a high wavelength diode (brighter looking at same power), or if you REALLY want, even a high wavelength freak (higher power AND brighter looking), but they will cost a little more, depending on how rare they are (simple statistics)..
It was always my belief, that higher efficiency diodes have a better, more perfect crystal with less imperfections, and the tests i did comparing low vs. high efficiency 6x's now seem to confirm this. So a higher efficiency diode can most likelly be used to produce more power with a longer life, if the current is not higher.
There is a way to save money through this too, if you were to request a lower efficiency diode... It too can be set to a high power, if a higher current is used, or left at a slightly lower power at the same current.....
But keep in mind, that it is possible, that a low efficiency diode will have a shorter life - the lower efficiency
COULD be a sign of imperfections in the die...
That's why i normally never use the VERY LOW efficiency diodes, like those that peak at only 140-169mW at the 200mA pre-test - imperfections in the die make a diode burn out faster.
Instead i set those to powers even a PHR would survive, like 120-130mW, and cycle them to see how long they make it, to figure out what is wrong with them.
