Re: GGW-H20L 6x Sled GB!!! THE EPIC GB THREAD LAWL
FireMyLaser said:
Anyone know the rated current for CW?
I'm assuming you're talking about the GGW 6x?
Diodes don't have a rated CW current. They have a rated CW power.
The operating current is then whatever is required to reach that power, depending on the circumstances (temperature, individual diode efficiency)..
For example, if the 6x should be the Sharp diode, it's rated CW power is 105mW. The operating current is then 120-150mA - with the
condition of the power being 105mW.
What this means is, that you can drive it between 120-150mA as long as it is required to reach 105mW. If the diode is hot and has a lower efficiency, you can drive it with 150mW if it's required for 105mW. If it's cold, you should not drive it with more than 120mW, if it puts out 105mW there....
But it is possible, that the 4x is the 105mW Sharp diode, in which case the ratings of the 6x's are completelly unknown. Could be 120mW.
If you want it to live "forever", set it no higher than 130-140mW.
For what we want from them, they don't have to live for 8000 hours, several hundred is still good, and for that, you can probably set it to 150-170mW.
If you're willing to risk, you can set it up to 200mW, but it will die eventually. Mine has survived months of heavy use at 190mW, but it degraded and is soon going to die. I stopped using it for now so that i don't kill it before i can plot it. I want to compare it to others from this GB, and hopefully get to see what degradation looks like on a graph.... There will be some variances in how long they last at 200mW. Some will last longer, others will crap out faster. But from my experience, a 6x at 200mW is actually still more reliable than a PHR at 150mW.
If you barelly use your lasers (= artificially limit your own use with a "duty cycle"), then you can probably set a 6x to 300mW and convince yourself it is surviving. It won't last, probably something like a PHR at 160mW (several hours at best, but spread out over many days, the more you limit your use, the longer it will
seem to live).
Keep in mind, that with all the powers mentioned above, there is around 25-29% more power coming out of the diode before the lens. That's why no diode can survive the high powers we want for very long. When a 6x is pushing 200mW through a plastic lens, the actual output is somewhere around 250-260mW!
