It's been 9 years + saik 305 help

[TomD]

Hey everyone!

I joined back in 2012, got acquainted with laser safety, and gained a wealth of knowledge thanks to a ton of LPF members.

Well, a lot has happened since then. Life happened.

Anyway I wanted to check back and ask the community, how much has changed in the portable laser scene in the last nine (9) years?

To put some perspective, back in 2012, after dabbling in some pens, I settled on a 2.2W 447 in a SA-305 host, G1 lens. The driver was the "Ben Boost," a collab between benmwv and rhd (who's also the builder), the aluminum HS was by Mohrenberg. The dual boost drivers each push ~850mA into a Casio H-1600 diode, and it puts out a beautiful 2,363mW 447.66nm beam. It takes a 26650 battery and can run for 3 minutes on/off. Recently though I took it out and the beam significantly weakens (and flickers) after only a few seconds--could this be just because of an old battery, or should I take a look inside and check if any of the connections have developed issues? I turn it off immediately when I notice it weakening, so I haven't run it down continuously--just afraid that it might to do damage.

So yeah, hello once again to everyone, new and old! I just wanted to know how much has changed since then, and as you've read above, I need a little help with my laser.

Cheers!

Tom

Have some old photos

 

[Deleted member 57455]

Hey everyone!

I joined back in 2012, got acquainted with laser safety, and gained a wealth of knowledge thanks to a ton of LPF members.

Well, a lot has happened since then. Life happened.

Anyway I wanted to check back and ask the community, how much has changed in the portable laser scene in the last nine (9) years?

To put some perspective, back in 2012, after dabbling in some pens, I settled on a 2.2W 447 in a SA-305 host, G1 lens. The driver was the "Ben Boost," a collab between benmwv and rhd (who's also the builder), the aluminum HS was by Mohrenberg. The dual boost drivers each push ~850mA into a Casio H-1600 diode, and it puts out a beautiful 2,363mW 447.66nm beam. It takes a 26650 battery and can run for 3 minutes on/off. Recently though I took it out and the beam significantly weakens (and flickers) after only a few seconds--could this be just because of an old battery, or should I take a look inside and check if any of the connections have developed issues? I turn it off immediately when I notice it weakening, so I haven't run it down continuously--just afraid that it might to do damage.

So yeah, hello once again to everyone, new and old! I just wanted to know how much has changed since then, and as you've read above, I need a little help with my laser.

Cheers!

Tom

Have some old photos

View attachment 73520
View attachment 73521
View attachment 73522

Should be a battery issue.

 

[TomD]

Should be a battery issue.

Thanks. Ordered a Vapcell 26650, should be with me in a week.

Also I'd like to mention that one of the reasons why I checked back in LPF is because I ordered an Emisar D4v2, with the rosy emitters.

 

[paul1598419]

Not so fast. It could also be a switch connection or other loose connection in the laser. You can remove the tail cap and use a clip lead to substitute for the switch to rule that out.

 

[TomD]

Not so fast. It could also be a switch connection or other loose connection in the laser. You can remove the tail cap and use a clip lead to substitute for the switch to rule that out.

Aha, this advice is what I needed. Thank you.

I'm also worried that connections between the heatsink or driver could be compromised. I mean, it's been nine years. But as far as I know they're all soldered in and the diode is pressed into the heatsink. The laser has been kept in a dry box.