Its here! Beam pics added. PLE-Pro 532

[olympus mons]

Hey guys,
I woke up to a knock on my door to my surprise my PLE-Pro 532 900mW has arrived! I tried to buy this baby from Gizmo months ago but as he was trying to meter it for me it rolled off the table and dislodged the crystal. I was crushed at the bad news but Gizmo was kind enough to sell me his PGL-532 800mW instead. Out of curiosity I emailed Gray at Jet Lasers just to find out how expensive it would be to repair it and after I got the good news that Gray would re-align the crystals for $40 plus shipping I contacted Gizmo and we agreed upon a price.

He sent the broken module portion to Gray and the rest of the parts to me a couple weeks back. Gray got this fixed for me within days of him receiving it ans sent it out the day I payed him. That was only a week ago! Best customer service I have encountered in this hobby so far and once again Gizmo went above and beyond to make this buying transaction easy and efficient. I'd like to say thank you to both these gentlemen.

Its a full moon tonight but I will take some pics anyway because with this much quality 532nm power I don't think it will really matter too much. I know there are more exotic and exciting lasers out there but this one is pretty special to me. I have been staring at it set as my wall paper on my pc since I got into the hobby and I'm over joyed I can finally hold one in my hands.
Here's a day shot beam pics to come!!!!

 

[jander6442]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

Sweet

 

[SteveT]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

What a great laser and a nice looking expander too. Gray's customer service is first class and that price for realignment is excellent. I've got the Equality series 532 which meters over 600mw so close to 1W of 532 is awesome. The engineering on those PLEs is great and the focus action I hear is very solid. I will definitely add one to my collection very soon, just need to settle on a special wavelength Hope you enjoy it! :beer:

 

[BowtieGuy]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

That's a sweet looking PL-E Pro/B.E. you've got there nw! :beer:
Glad to see that J/L & Gray are still providing the best customer service around.

Looking forward to the night beamshots.

 

[gozert]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

Wow, what a great looking unit. I've seen it in several other reviews, but this really shows it's beauty very well. I was about to order a 50mW 473nm from them this week without the beam expander, but seeing this really makes me want the expander too.

Their customer service indeed is one of the best. I had previously ordered a laser from them, but due to some unexpected shipping issues they hadn't shipped out my unit even two weeks later. I asked for a refund so I could get another laser and come back at them another time. They somehow messed up refunding me and I received 25$ less than what I paid because of Paypal taxes. A day later they had taken the 25$ out of their own pocket and sent it to me.

Looking forward to the beam shots!

 

[Alaskan]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

Cool beans, ya know, it looks like something Darth Vader would have holstered to his side

 

[olympus mons]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

Cool beans, ya know, it looks like something Darth Vader would have holstered to his side

I think its bigger than his, lol! This thing is massive!

 

[Teej]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

I think its bigger than his, lol! This thing is massive!

How big IS it?

As in, is that a full sized novel, or a pack of cigs next to it?

 

[olympus mons]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

Teej- LOLS!!! Actually its a wooden chest. This laser is about the size of a telephone pole. Shipping cost me a fortune.

 

[Teej]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

Teej- LOLS!!! Actually its a wooden chest. This laser is about the size of a telephone pole. Shipping cost me a fortune.

LOL

Wow, that's either a lot of heat sinking, or an awful lot of batteries in there!

Hmmm, at the size of a telephone pole....it could be a hydroelectric generator in there.....

 

[olympus mons]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

LOL

Wow, that's either a lot of heat sinking, or an awful lot of batteries in there!

Hmmm, at the size of a telephone pole....it could be a hydroelectric generator in there.....

Just one 18650. It weighs a ton. I was shocked how heavy the front half is.

 

[Alaskan]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

If you do some testing with the PLE-Pro using an external DC power supply and hold the voltage at 4.2 VDC, it puts out 15% more power (when the crystal is happy with its temperature). The reason my laser won't put out a full 1000mw is the battery draws abouta 2.4 amps causing the voltage to dip down to 4.0 volts right away. I have a plan to make mine put out that extra amount of power by using a battery extension tube Shakenawake kindly presented to me and make a special battery in a tube with some silicon diodes in series to drop most of the second batteries 4.2 VDC down to only .2 VDC, that extra .2 VDC in series with the other battery in the tube will kick my input voltage to a full 4.2 VDC under load while lasing. I could push it so that only .4 DC remains in the partial dummy battery and drive this laser at 4.6 VDC without a problem, as per tests I made with an external power supply. Can I guarantee no problem if running the laser that way every day? Nope, but my laser will put out 1000-1100mw that way.

 

[olympus mons]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

If you do some testing with the PLE-Pro using an external DC power supply and hold the voltage at 4.2 VDC, it puts out 15% more power (when the crystal is happy with its temperature). The reason my laser won't put out a full 1000mw is the battery draws abouta 2.4 amps causing the voltage to dip down to 4.0 volts right away. I have a plan to make mine put out that extra amount of power by using a battery extension tube Shakenawake kindly presented to me and make a special battery in a tube with some silicon diodes in series to drop most of the second batteries 4.2 VDC down to only .2 VDC, that extra .2 VDC in series with the other battery in the tube will kick my input voltage to a full 4.2 VDC under load while lasing. I could push it so that only .4 DC remains in the partial dummy battery and drive this laser at 4.6 VDC without a problem, as per tests I made with an external power supply. Can I guarantee no problem if running the laser that way every day? Nope, but my laser will put out 1000-1100mw that way.

So I have an extension tube and was wondering if it's safe to use 2 x 18650's. If yes you're saying that the laser will have greater power output? Actually I have 2 extensions so in theory I guess it could hold 3 batteries. I wasn't sure why it had so many extensions.

 

[Alaskan]

Re: Its here! Best morning ever!

Well, I asked Gray if this laser could take more than 4.2 VDC and he said no, that two batteries will burn it out, at least, he says my my model is that way. I'd only use an extension tube if using it with a specially modified 2nd battery to put out .2 or two tenths of a volt more, perhaps .4 more if willing to risk a problem. Regardless of the advice I was given not to try it, I'd love to put two batteries in there and see if it would hold without damaging the driver, but not at the price tag this thing cost me.

If using a modified second battery so it only puts out .2 volts, the total voltage is only raised to 4.4 VDC with a fresh battery which drops to the 4.2 VDC when operating the laser anyway and can continue to drain down to 3.7 VDC as you run the laser (don't let it drain too far, you know what happens to some of these batteries if you do), so, in my opinion, it is safe. Here's what I mean by the second modified battery adding a little bit of extra voltage to the laser:

i.e. 4.2 VDC + .2 VDC battery in series = 4.4 VDC which drops to 4.2 under load/when operating.

or more risky:

4.2 + .4 = 4.6 VDC which drops to 4.4 under load/when operating.

I wouldn't risk the moD until you have owned the laser a long time first - While I believe an extra .2 VDC is safe, and .4 won't likely cause a problem, it would be sad to have a problem with your new toy. All I can say is my PLE-Pro seemed to like 4.5 VDC but it was only 5 minutes of run time at that voltage, all together between 2 tests. I was applying the power to the internal battery spring near the head, not the external connector which has more voltage drop than if going directly to the internal spring. Why? I believe the external DC connector on the body of the laser has a blocking diode in series with it to prevent reverse voltage from damaging the laser. If that diode is in there as I suspect, it drops the voltage to the laser a few tenths of a volt on its own.
.
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[olympus mons]

Re: Its here! Beam pics added. PLE-Pro 1W

Thank you for the info Alaskan.

Okay guys I added some beam pics. I had some challenges. The big tripod I have been borrowing I had to return to its owner so I was using as makeshift system. It was kinda sketchy with this much power in a little clip type mic table top mic stand. I need to get better gear. I also think my camera lens wasn't clean or possibly had some condensation because they pics I got in the past with it were clearer. I'll run to Goodwill tmrw and grab some standard size tripods and do a lens cleaning.
It was an awesome night though!!! I do see how important fully charged batteries are. This laser burns through them very quickly. My Panasonics had 3/4 charge and within 5 min the laser was dimming. So I'm looking fwd to having another go again soon.

I must say I am blown away how powerful this laser is even with a full moon you can see the beam quite well! Man I hope we get a foggy night sometime soon.

 

[gozert]

Re: Its here! Beam pics added. PLE-Pro 1W

That are some good looking beamshots you have there. Awesome! A question about the LEDs on there. Do they all light up as soon as you power the laser on, or do they each indicate a different action. Like arming the laser lights up one LED, then powering it on lights up another etc?