Got my Sanwu 1Watt 520 back-POOF!

[Pelagius]

I was excited after weeks to get my Sanwu 1 Watt module back-multimode was stuck on 1 mW. Looking good- 5 half presses-bright beam- then POP! Smoke out the back. Now it's dead altogether.
This is frustrating with a new laser. I think they should send a replacement module.
Does that seem reasonable?

 

[BobMc]

I’d be climbing the walls. Yes it sounds very reasonable. I’m sure they will, but you’ve have some really unfortunate things happen with their/your laser(s). I email them ASAP and ask for replacement. Maybe even ask for a whole new Laser. I might even ask them to expedite shipping, this is getting to be a bit much.

 

[Pelagius]

Francis is answering-I showed him the batteries- 2X 18350 "Tangsfire IMR 800 mWHour (I think they measure closer to 400 btw). They were at 4.17 V according to my NiteCore I4 Charger-just before I put them in. Laser lights up at 1mW. I do have presses- gets BRIGHT. Very impressive- then POP! Acrid smoke-out the button area.
I checked the batteries-thinking it was a failure there-but they read no errors- at 4.1 V.

I’d be climbing the walls. Yes it sounds very reasonable. I’m sure they will, but you’ve have some really unfortunate things happen with their/your laser(s). I email them ASAP and ask for replacement. Maybe even ask for a whole new Laser. I might even ask them to expedite shipping, this is getting to be a bit much.

 

[paul1598419]

Wow,you have had some really bad luck. Not to denigrate your batteries, but anything xxxfire batteries are not good batteries. I buy mine from www.liionwholesale.com. They only carry brand new batteries and the capacity is at least what is claimed for the cells you buy. I don't think they caused this failure, but you should get some good batteries and their prices are the best I've seen. Hope you can get a whole new laser.

 

[Pelagius]

Thanks
I have some Nitecore 18350's on the way. AND some 18650 , So I have Nitecore 18650 Protected on the way.

Wow,you have had some really bad luck. Not to denigrate your batteries, but anything xxxfire batteries are not good batteries. I buy mine from www.liionwholesale.com. They only carry brand new batteries and the capacity is at least what is claimed for the cells you buy. I don't think they caused this failure, but you should get some good batteries and their prices are the best I've seen. Hope you can get a whole new laser.

 

[Pelagius]

Thanks Paul
I've never been able to find them in stock on that site!

Wow,you have had some really bad luck. Not to denigrate your batteries, but anything xxxfire batteries are not good batteries. I buy mine from www.liionwholesale.com. They only carry brand new batteries and the capacity is at least what is claimed for the cells you buy. I don't think they caused this failure, but you should get some good batteries and their prices are the best I've seen. Hope you can get a whole new laser.

Thanks
I have some Nitecore 18350's on the way. AND some 18650 Protected, Sanwu only specifies 18650 not protected-but that's got to be right. So I have Nitecore Protected on the way.

 

[paul1598419]

Yeah, they sell out very quickly there. You have to check often to get a good deal on the types of batteries you want to buy. I have purchased enough from them now that I get emails when they get new stock in. That is a great time saver for me as I don't remember to check all the time.

Edit: There are no such batteries as 5000 mAh 18650s. I have some slightly larger LGs that are 3500 mAh. That is about the highest real capacity I've seen.

 

[Gazen]

You definitely want better batteries, its worth investing in them if you're already spending $$$ on a nice handheld. I'm sure sanwu will repair it or send you a replacement.

 

[Podo]

Hi Pelagius,

We are sorry to hear that.

Your laser is single li-ion battery(1x18650) based so it came with a boost driver, if you put two 18350 batteries and use the laser, that would defintely damage the laser driver itself.

We have contacted you via emails, please check.

 

[BobMc]

Hi Pelagius,

We are sorry to hear that.

Your laser is single li-ion battery(1x18650) based so it came with a boost driver, if you put two 18350 batteries and use the laser, that would defintely damage the laser driver itself.

We have contacted you via emails, please check.

Ooooch and ooops Pelagius, hope something can be worked out. :cryyy:

 

[paul1598419]

I hope you were aware of the single 18650 battery that most boost drivers take. You never want to add two batteries to a boost driver as most aren't designed to take that high a voltage. Also, the Vf of your diode is below 8.4 volts which means the boost driver couldn't drive your diode with two batteries. Good luck to you. When in doubt, never guess. You will lose more often than you will gain.

 

[Nordhavn]

I'm thinking of getting one of these lasers (Guardian 1W 520)...


How's the divergence on these? Is it staggering like typical 445nm multimodes or better?

 

[BobMc]

I'm thinking of getting one of these lasers (Guardian 1W 520)...


How's the divergence on these? Is it staggering like typical 445nm multimodes or better?

I’ve got a Guardian 520 1watt with a g7 installed. The beam divergence is quite good. It does seem to be one of the tightest dots I own. I like the Guardian series because of the portability, such great power in such a small unit. It’s one of those that I carry as my EDC. In my opinion you won’t be sorry if you go that route. Will amaze your friends that have never seen the likes.

Ps, Haaa, I’m living on the left coast but please don’t hold it against me. :crackup:

 

[Nordhavn]

Awesome, thanks.
How's the duty cycle restrictions?
I have a 7W silver and am careful not to go too long but when burning something it's easy to do.
It doesn't need an alarm or over temp indicator though! My hands tell me quickly when it's time to shut it down. It's easily my hottest running portable laser.

 

[BobMc]

Awesome, thanks.
How's the duty cycle restrictions?
I have a 7W silver and am careful not to go too long but when burning something it's easy to do.
It doesn't need an alarm or over temp indicator though! My hands tell me quickly when it's time to shut it down. It's easily my hottest running portable laser.

I twice now have accidentally put my hand in my pocket and have turned on Sanwu’s 2watt 445 Guardians to the point where they have burned through my pants and hit my leg. When I grab them they were so hot they burned my hand. Both times I let them cool off and they both came to life like nothing happened. Built like tanks, think it their heat sinks, they work quite well at pulling heat away. Now this happened to the 445’s so I can only extrapolate about the 1watt 520 but it would have to be good.

As a general rule 30-45 seconds is what I keep mine to unless I’m having a senior moment. :crackup:


Correction; one time I burnt the dust lens. So I ordered some extras, they change out real easy.

 

[Benm]

I was excited after weeks to get my Sanwu 1 Watt module back-multimode was stuck on 1 mW. Looking good- 5 half presses-bright beam- then POP! Smoke out the back. Now it's dead altogether.

Sorry to hear it failed.

But 'smoke out of xxx' is often quite useful to find faults, it's certainly a lot better than just dying without any signs.

If the batteries are okay i'd say that the smoke came from the negative contact spring, board or switch burning out. They should send you a replacement - you did nothing outside of normal operations for the laser but it still burned out.

This stuff does happen - bad spring, bad solder joint, bad switch, but it's always the manufacturer that is to blame if it does as long as you're not doing anything you're not supposed to. Turning it up to full power definitely seems normal operations to me.

If i were Sanwu i'd also pay for the expenses of getting the defective part returned to see what actually burned out so this part of the design can be improved in the future.