Interest guage - 200mw 660nm red pointers...

[jasturbo02]

I just got mine today SenKat. Thanks for the fast shipping. However, this thing is not as bright as the dvd burner reds I have been making, second it won't even pop a black baloon or light a sharpied match at any distance. My DIY red pops black baloons instantly and unsharpied matches very quickly.  I tried 2 different sets of batteries and the focus seems to be fine so I did not try adjusting that.

 

[zerafiel]

Where is the mailman? Maybe you should try adjusting the focus at 180mW it should be pretty powerful even 100mW collimated can pop and light pretty well. I'll see how mine goes if I ge tit today.

 

[rhildinger]

SenKat,

I've PM'ed you my request for the last Sentorch.

Thanks!
-Robert

 

[zerafiel]

Ooh just got my Sentorch and popped in some batteries. This beast sure is heavy and it is really strange how the fins are on the tail end rather than the aperture end. Huge ass ugly warning sticker I so want to remove and irritatingly fragile yellow label beneath it.

Beam diameter at aperture is a huge 6mm but seems to be focused at some far point or not really collimated. Either that or the beam waist is about 3mm quite a few feet out. At about 7 feet away it can etch black plastic slowly probably because it is near the focus. Doesn't seem to get hot after a minute of use cos of large heatsink.

My sentorch has a saturn beam effect ie a line through it. It irks me as there has been some discussion about this problem in the past and might mean the diode has been overdriven or some optical damage has occurred. Not sure though. I do know the emitter is linear and it may just be an image of the emitter focused out there.

Can you guys confirm if your sentorches have this line through the beam too? And what is the definitive explanation and is it harmful to the laser or a sign of damage or what?

Nevertheless I am pretty pleased with my Sentorch. Looks like it is going to be a promising long range burner after first impressions. Gotta get some goggles though. My head hurts. Shall lay off it for now and find some suitable goggles. So tempting to play somemore.

 

[jasturbo02]

Yeah, mine has the line through it as well. The focus seems to stay consistent even at a far distance though. I tried to pop a black baloon at several distances but it would not pop. I pulled out my DIY red and it popped instanly without focusing it down. I'm pretty disappointed with mine as I was expecting some level of performance over my DIY reds. Definitly not SenKat's fault and I really commend him on how he has stuck with this group buy considering all of the issues he has had with this company. Heck, I really hated to say anything because I know what he has dealt with on this group buy.

 

[SenKat]

200mw 660nm red Sentorches SOLD OUT

Jasturbo02 -

You will have to focus it, as they are focused for the long haul, not burning right out of the box. I assure you, it WILL burn and pop after you fiddle with the focus a little bit.


Tha last one is now SOLD - this GB is FINALLY, 100% over ! The remaining three are going to the fedex joint tomorrow - and as soon as they arrive (or is that, "re-arrive" ?) and are tested - they will be sent out to the new owners.

 

[jasturbo02]

Well, I just tried to adjust the focus but the focus rings are glued in place and won't budge. Using my goggles I can can compare the dot with my DIY red and it is the same size dot at the same distance but the DIY red is much brighter. 180mW?

 

[High_Octane]

Well, I just tried to adjust the focus but the focus rings are glued in place and won't budge. Using my goggles I can can compare the dot with my DIY red and it is the same size dot at the same distance but the DIY red is much brighter. 180mW?

This really surprises me!
My Sentorch has the line through the dot, but in no way does it effect the power of this thing.
I have some very used batteries in mine and it smokes the plastic on my flashlight in a second!
It must be focused properly. After you get it as small as possible, then move closer and further away while watching the dot and for smoke to dial it in. Once you find that sweet spot, Nothing will be without burn marks on it.
Let us know how it goes.

 

[zerafiel]

It is strange cos my 100mW green burns even when collimated but the beam diameter is much smaller. I am not sure about the collimation on these yet but the beam diameter might be 2-3mm reducing the power/area by 2-4 times so 200mW might perform worse than expected. especially near the aperture the beam is huge for some reason and can't burn shit.

 

[spd2last]

I got mine today too and it also has that small little line, but it is explained earlier why that line is there. BTW, which way do we turn the little ring to shorten the focal point? clockwise or counter?

 

[me_too_lazy]

i havent received mine yet but
how about somebody point to in a picture
where to turn to focus the sentorch

cuz im guessing jasturbo02 is probably twisting the wrong place

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

MTL --
You and I must be in the same backwater areas of the country ;D SenKat said that I'd get mine today but he forgot where I'm at in small town Iowa
Always a day late or broken getting delivery here.

Mike

 

[me_too_lazy]

naw lol
im all the way up in Canada
i expect mine late next week

 

[jayrob]

Hi Greg, got my Sentorch today! Got my other diode the other day as well...Just want to say thanks for such great service and VERY reasonable prices!
Jay

 

[Canuke]

Well, my replacement unit showed up today, and sure enough, within half an hour I broke it It rolled off the book it was sitting on, hit the edge of the chair and pop! two pieces, just like Senkat's first batch.

Fortunately, that brass ring joint gives way easily, so no permanent damage appears to be done (though for a minute I couldn't get it to light until I got it tight enough -- not the best minute of my Friday evening, I'll say!)

I find it interesting that the line is present in all these units, but I can't see such a line in the beam from my dr_lava GB diode in my Star Wars blaster, which is about 60-70% of the output from the Sentorch.

Anyhoo, it's already outlasted the first one, and hopefully will continue to do so.

BIG thanks again to Senkat for all the effort. I'd like to say "would do business with again" but I can't -- at least not for group buys.

 

[Da_Dude]

Is this still going?
I am a bit lazy to look through 52 pages. :-[