How to increase power of this Bluray laser?

[Wishiwerefinnish]

Hi, I just built a 405nm bluray laser, and the current is about 110ma, and it is about 100 mw. It should be able to burn, but after focusing the beam as much as possible with this aixiz lens it still will not light a match or burn black plastic. Help please, and here are pics. you can see that the beam is very strong and the divergance is not bad.

 

[daguin]

You are probably not getting full power from your 9V battery. Those batteries are notoriously bad for providing enough current.

Also, you may not be actually getting the laser focused as small as it can go. The 405nm beam focuses to a pinpoint. Without goggles, the "blaze" of the dot may prevent you from seeing the actual dot.

Finally, you have to hold lower power lasers very still. I can light a match with 27mW of violet, but NOT if I am simply holding the laser in my hand. It "wiggles" too much.

Peace,
dave

 

[Wishiwerefinnish]

Ok, thanks. What batteries do you recommend?

 

[kylemiller1994]

What driver are you using...different drivers need different batteries (most of them) ?

And I can confirm what Daguin says about the dot and glasses, I got some and burning is much easier with glasses!

Add some heatshrink to your wires to prevent shorts and the wires breaking or just use electrical tape!

 

[Wishiwerefinnish]

Alright, I'll secure everything with electrical tape, and the driver description says that I should use a voltage range of 8-15V. Should I try a 12V battery and see if that makes it stronger?

 

[kylemiller1994]

Anything between 8V and 15V and that is not a 9V battery is fine...I guess a 12V would be ok, I never used them...Li-Ion batteries would be the best choice...3.6V or 3.7V each so only tree or four would give you enough volts and they hold a good amount of current to and they are rechargeable!

 

[extremeodd]

If you smoke cigs its easy to find the focus point, focus it down a bit and blow smoke through the beam look for where its the smallest. I do this with my electronic cig all the time. Takes the guesswork out, on a side note you should have no issues lighting matches my 5mw ebay 405 (closer to 50mw) can light them almost instantly when focused down.