Just received my x125

[ardyp]

Hello everybody,


I'm new to lasers world and after reading a good part of treads on this forum I bought a Nova X125 and look what i received today!!


Max output of 170mw and average of 140mw!!!



I'm only sorry that I had to pay 70€ for duty taxes and nova forgot to insert battery inside the box... :'(



Anyway, a good deal!


p.s. I'm italian

 

[lazerguy]

Welcome to the forum and to the very fascinating world of lasers. That is a very good laser you've got there, with a peak power of 170mw! Have fun with your new burning machine!

 

[thejunkmonger]

Hello everybody,



Anyway, a good deal!


p.s. I'm italian

I'm not Italian but I live here what part of Italy do you live in? nice Laser

 

[ardyp]

I'm from naples.

 

[Random_Sime]

I didn't think Nova included batteries :

 

[ardyp]

I didn't think Nova included batteries :

yes you're right, i emailed them and that's what they said.

Anyway, in the box there's place for batteries... ;D

 

[electron]

Hi ardyp,
Nice Laser you have there, while the box may states those numbers how does the Laser actually measure out?
If you don't have a meter, shine it on your palm or leg, does it instantly sting and start to burn? How about popping balloons and lightning matches, all of these things while can't tell you the exact power it will give you a good idea of how it is performing. At the rates they stated on your box, it should have no problems what-so-ever in doing these things, unless it is under-powered.

Again Congrats! I hope you got a good one there.

 

[ardyp]

Hi ardyp,
Nice Laser you have there, while the box may states those numbers how does the Laser actually measure out?
If you don't have a meter, shine it on your palm or leg, does it instantly sting and start to burn? How about popping balloons and lightning matches, all of these things while can't tell you the exact power it will give you a good idea of how it is performing. At the rates they stated on your box, it should have no problems what-so-ever in doing these things, unless it is under-powered.

Again Congrats! I hope you got a good one there.

Actually I don't have a meter to check real power on my own, but I can answer some of the question you are asking me:

tried to burn my hand on the back(not the palm) and it take 0,5s to burn, I actually have 3 little burns on it from a 5cm distance.

Tomorrow I'll buy balloons and matches to check out and i will be happy to report here my tests.

 

[electron]

Thanks ardyp, if it burns your hand that fast then I'd say it sounds like you got a good one; that is a relief.

Keep us posted on how it goes for you, I'm sure your going to have fun with it.

 

[IgorT]

170 peak and 140 average means it jumps up to 170 and drops close to 110 during the first 30 seconds. How low it actualy drops depends on how soon it reaches the peak of course, the above is just the simplest guess.

The average power is still good, but there are lots of high peaking and low dropping CNI lasers lately. It is actually better to have a laser that peaks a bit lower, but has an average not much far away from the peak.

I have an "X-"150 (directly from CNI), that peaks between 176-179, and averages at 168-172 by Nova standards
(one 30 second measurement), but has a sudden drop to 135mW at 35-40 seconds, so the one minute average is much lower.


What the hell is CNI doing lately? I want to buy a 400mW laser with TEC from them, but they can't guarantee it will stay above 400mW for more than 3 minutes at a time (unless mounted to an external heatsink, so the TEC has somewhere to pump the heat)...

These high efficiency crystals can be very unstable with changing temperature and even have strange ideas sometimes (like getting tired). If the manufacturer would throw every imperfect set of crystals away, they would make less money or have higher prices, but didn't they used to be better?
Or could it be, that they started cutting corners, to make more money?



This laser was probably supposed to be a 150mW, but wasn't stable enough to classify as that by Nova standards. Could have classified by CNI standards, as they only promise 17 seconds of above rated power. In some cases these lasers can actually work better with a slightly lower current. The peak is lower, but the average becomes higher, and the sudden power drop can even dissapear completely. Too bad they are near impossible to take appart without damage.

The drivers in these are really amazing tho. I have an X-75 in pieces, and just tested the driver, and it only needs 0.39V on top of what the load needs, to keep a perfectly constant current. Almost as low dropout voltage as the AMC7135, but adjustable with a pot!