Laser Not Working!

[Gun]

Hello Everyone,

So I just received the laser that was shipped to me by Blord, in two seperate packages. It's a 120mW 638nm Opnext laser in a C6 host. I've assembled the laser, inserted batteries, turned it on and...nothing. At the current time I'm assuming that this is my own fault and not Blord's, but I can't seem to see what I've done wrong. I've contacted Blord but until he replies I'd like some help from you guys.

The laser was assembled like any C6 laser is, the same as in this video. I'm using a Sanyo 18650 2600mAh battery, which Blord said will work.

I do not have a multimeter or any devices similar to it, so please don't suggest troubleshooting using those devices.

Hopefully the diode's not dead and hopefully I've just made a minor error.

Here are some photos, which probably mean nothing.





Thanks,
Gun

 

[Livinloud]

+ to driver? all lasers are diferent for some reason and i have a hand full that are tailcap - and others that are tailcap +, i forget every now and then so had to label them :thinking:

 

[Gun]

Are you asking which way the battery should be inserted? I'm actually not sure to be honest. I assume it is negative to the tailcap, since the spring is on the tailcap? I'm actually not sure.

 

[Livinloud]

I have a laser that has a spring in the tailcap and its tailcap + so might want to try yhe battery in the other way, never know, first atempt could have been wrong

Or wait for blords answer to lessen reverse polarity damage but if it was alreqdy inserted backwarss without knowing then fingers crosswd

 

[Gun]

I didn't know, so I just put it in both ways, neither worked

 

[Livinloud]

Well im stumped or overly tired, either works. Off to bed, interested to see what blord says to you. Hoping its something stupid we boty are over looking. Oh could it be your usingn protected cells? Does it work on 2x 16340? Only two ideas that juat popped in my head

 

[Gun]

Yes I am using a protected cell, would that matter? I only have 1x 16340 cell, so I can't really test.

 

[grainde]

I wouldnt have recommended putting the bat in the opposite way...you dont know if the driver can handle it. Normally it will be neg at the tail cap and Im sure he would have told you if it were the different. Best wait for Blords response. Im guessing your bat is fully charged as well? Sorry but you never know.

It could have sustained a knock in shipping maybe some customs guys knew what it was and dropped it... Have you checked all the wires and had a look to see if the the wires to the pins and the pins themselves are properly attached?

Id also check that you have a proper ground ie is the negative from the host making proper contact with the board and pill connection? That is one of the most common things.

Last thought, do you know what driver he used? If its a buck or a linear you'll need two bats and not one! Done that my self a few times :tinfoil:

:beer:

Edit: One last thought it could be the tail cap! This is fairly common with the C6's. Try using a piece of wire instead of the switch. ie just touch a wire on the exposed battery neg sticking out of the tube and touch the other end to the threads to complete the circuit. If it works, the tail cap needs tightening. Do this with a pair of needle nose pliers inside the tail cap.

 

[Blord]

First I am sorry that the kit didn't worked. I have tested everything before the shipment and the laser was working normal before the disassembling.

Try as Grainde suggested to make contact with the battery negative and the back of the host. The C6 switch could be faulty.

As for the driver I can't remember which driver I have used for the build. It could be a AMC7135 driver of a buck driver. I know that it need only 18650 to operate.

If you take a picture of the driver I can see which one was used.

 

[Gun]

I rested the metal part of a screwdriver on the negative side of the battery and the host, still no lasing.

I will take a picture as soon as possible

 

[Gun]

Wow. Well it turns out the laser is absolutely fine, the battery just wasn't charged properly. I should have probably tried charging it first, but it didn't come to mind because the battery powered my flashlight just fine.

Thanks very much Blord for this great laser, I'll be posting a review very soon

 

[grainde]

Haha called it Glad to hear its working again. BTW if it is a buck you should actually use two bats to run the laser (bucks, like linears use 2 bats), but Id still check with Blord though. You can often use one battery at the cost of reduced power and run time though, which is why Im mentioning this. If your battery was able to run a flashlight, but not your laser it sounds like the voltage wasnt enough for the driver to run the laser. This means youll have seriously reduced run time on one battery. Just a thought. :beer:

 

[Blord]

I am glad the problem has been solved. The red laser uses one 18650 cell because of the buck driver or the AMC7135 driver. I don't use linear drivers in my builds because of the inefficiency.

 

[grainde]

Hey Blord, bucks are generally 2 battery drivers unless the Vf of the diode is low enough for one bat as in this case (also the same for linears if the Vf of the diode is low enough ie a mits 300 or 500 can run off a single bat with a Moh linear).

That should mean he can use two bats if hes not getting proper run times from a partially discharged bat. AFAIK too, AMC drivers are Linear , but they only work up to 4 ish volts with a max input of 4.5 V. I still think you used a buck here, as the AMC's will stay in regulation down to 2.8 V and if his battery had been that low it wouldnt have worked in a torch either... :beer:


Edit: Just saw the review thread and it is a buck. :beer:

 

[scumbagatheist]

Gun, I am so glad you got it figured out. Isn't it amazing how something as simple as batteries can stump us sometimes?

 

[IsaacT]

Yeah, the really cool thing about these opnext diodes is that one battery or two, they both put out the same. Makes it very versatile. But the way I see it, using two batteries(8.4V) when you could be using one(4.2V) will only create more heat to be dissipated by the driver.