My 1.86/2.08W Custom Ehgemus 445!

[jakeGT]

The focusing ring on the G1 is really tight. Wrap some pieces of leather around the threads and focusing ring and use 2 players and twist.

Its not Glued in or anything so its just on really tight.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! That did help, I was being a whimp with my expensive lenses haha.

 

[jakeGT]

Hello everybody. Got a few updates.

This laser, about 2 weeks ago, started to degrade OH NO! I thought, what could be wrong? I fired it up a few times and it was only putting out 500mW, when I had seen maxes(with g-2 lens) of 2.1W.

I thought, this can't be good, what could be wrong? So I ripped it all apart( hard to do with all that thermal adhesive). First thing I found was one of my flexdrives had became unmounted from it's driver heatsink. So I took it all apart, and put both drives back on the test load. Somehow I bumped them up from 1.8A total to 1.85A total. So I tuned them down to ~875mA each= 1.75A

Just a friendly reminder all, when mounting drivers, make positive they will not come off with regular usage. Use lots of thermal adhesive.

Another thing is this, even if at 1.8A you get 2W out of it, does NOT MEAN that the diode can handle it. I feel as if I was pushing my diode a little too far. 1.8A may be safe for many diodes, but for some it may be too much. I feel 1.6 or 1.7A is a more realistic maximum safe level for these.

And as always, if you buy a 445 set to 1.8A YOU are assuming full responsibility for that diodes life.

 

[lazeerer]

Sorry to here that it died.

My 1.8A is Putting Over 2.1W now for many months with no issue and i use it a total of on time of 10 minutes a day if not a little more and power is still the same as before.

I think the 1.85A is what killed it or when it got disconnected from its heatsink it might have shorted on something. Like a component on the driver touched the host. However like you said not every diode can take it.

Also I dont think Ive heard of too many laser failing at 1.8A.:thinking: But there are a few.

 

[jakeGT]

Well that's the thing. The diode didn't DIE, but all seemed well inside the host. While the driver became unmounted, it was still sandwhiched inbetween 8 wires in a little cocoon if you will. I just wanted to reiterate the fact that 1.8A CAN be too much for some of these diodes. They all aren't winners.
But even at 1.75A, this beast is still doing 1.8W peaks with a o-like glass lens. Will have to do g-1 and g-2 tests tonight

 

[rhd]

I just wanted to reiterate the fact that 1.8A CAN be too much for some of these diodes.

Agreed, many times over. That took me a while to appreciate at first. I remember a string of 3 diodes that I injured with 1.8A, before a 4th that ran beautifully.

Something that I very often do, but haven't seen anyone else adopt, is to attach a small SMD ceramic cap right across the diode leads. It doesn't really require subjecting the diode to much more solder heat than affixing leads would. My feeling is that this provides a lot more security (particularly from shaky case-feeds) than incorporating a cap further back towards the driver. I suppose this is more relevant to DIY drivers, but I think there could still be a protective role for a lead-affixed cap with more traditional driver setups. Thoughts?

 

[lazeerer]

Oh so your Laser is still doing what it was doing before.? More then 2W.? Iam confused.?

Dint you say its now doing 500mW.?

Yes its still lazing but it wont last long after that. since at 1.75A its doing 500mW witch its still producing the same amount of heat s before.

 

[jakeGT]

Oh so your Laser is still doing what it was doing before.? More then 2W.? Iam confused.?

Dint you say its now doing 500mW.?

Yes its still lazing but it wont last long after that. since at 1.75A its doing 500mW witch its still producing the same amount of heat s before.

No no no. Sorry if I confused( apparently I did ) But, It was only putting out 500mW when the driver became un-sinked. NOW that I have taken it all apart, and tuned it down a little, it is back to happy!

Currently, as of last night, at 1.75A from the dual flexdrives, on my nospin meter I saw peaks of over 1.8W with a o-like 405/445 glass lens.

Was doing 500mW with driver un-sinked, now doing 1.8W(peak)_at 1.75A

Diode is alive and kicking baby!

 

[lazeerer]

I see. Well thats Great News then.

But what i dont get is if the drivers are set to ~900mA each the this should not be overheating and causing it to drop this much in power.:thinking:

Ive never heard of a flexdrive overheating at 900mA. Hmmm.

Is there more heat caused when you are running a dual setup.?

Regardless Glad to hear that sweet laser is up and running like new.

 

[jakeGT]

That's what still has me puzzled. I blame the huge drop in power on the flexdrive becoming un-sinked, purely because that was the only thing I could see wrong with it.

In my ehgemus host ( I am unsure about others) my pill is fairly small. Two flexdrives, mounted on small driver heatsinks, thermally adhered to the pill, with all the wires packed in there, is a very VERY tight squeeze. The drivers are a centimeter or two away from each other, with wires packed all around them.

Maybe because one became unsinked, and was bearing alot more thermal stress on it then the other, caused the power of both to severely weaken, and even out, since they are built in parrallel. If that would even be a plausible cause, that's the only thing I can think of.

But I am very happy too. I figured I was just gonna have to chuck it up as a loss, and get a new diode. Which still would have been VERY worth it to keep this baby alive


And rhd- I am still VERY bad with the whole electronics part of this hobby. The ceramic cap prevents a spike in current to the diode correct? If so, i would not see any reason why that would not be a very very good idea to have. Especially on a say.... $200 HL63133DG 635nm diode? That would be very well worth it to save that diode, or even a bdr or a 140.

 

[jakeGT]

Had a member of this site (eghemus) make me a custom host( the body of the laser)
Got a few drivers( dual flexdrive v5's) set the currents on them to 1.8A total.
Connect the drivers to a 445 diode, pop in the battery, and presto. Big ass powerful lazor

 

[rhd]

Wow this is more look powerful than the Primus 1W blue laser. Is this a modified laser? If yes, how did you do that?

So, my first reaction was "What the hell is a Primus laser?". At which point I searched, and found out. I've never seen VectraLasers.com, so I decided to reserve judgement and look at their products. This is when I became rather excited, seeing this 800mW red laser for $399:
Nitro Pro 800mW Red Laser

What a %$@&ing scam!
Here's a snippit of their writeup:

Vectra’s red laser pointers just got serious with the Nitro Pro Series. Emitting red laser pointer beams at 800mW, the Nitro 800mW high powered, handheld red laser pointer’s juiced up power starts off the Nitro Series. ​

Sounds good so far... sounds like an 800mW red laser right? Nothing in their description would suggest otherwise. Then you scroll down and read their specs carefully:

Min power: 800mW (ok cool)
Max power: 2,000mW (ok, even cooler)
Wavelength: 808nm (wtf??)

Issue 1: You can argue that infrared is still red, but that would be a ridiculous argument. A ton of buyers are going to expect a really bright red laser here, and this sketchy company has been completely deceptive in leading them to expect exactly that.

Issue 2: They also proudly display THIS graphic:

Now, can someone explain to me how on earth they're IR filtering an 800mW IR laser.... ?

What happens when you turn it on...?

 

[DTR]

That is why it is

Because nothing comes out.

 

[jakeGT]

Haha! Look at the NYX series, they are PINK in color as indicated on the lasers page, showing a nice bright pink beam, and 980nm! 2000mW of 980 PINK for $2000!

Vectra lasers must be in cahoots with elitelasers

 

[rhd]

Oops i think they have no 2000mW NYX pink laser.. Please check it carefully..

NOBODY sells a 2,000 mw pink laser pointer... or a 1,000 mw pink laser pointer for that matter.

Except of course, for tacky Chinese gadget website operators who don't actually understand laser technology.

It takes a special type of moron to think that an IR laser is *pink*, and then sell it as such. Talk about dangerous...

 

[LaZeRz]

ROFL!

Companies these days... ROFL, a 800mw IR laser with an IR filter...

GOODJOB!

 

[jakeGT]

Oops i think they have no 2000mW NYX pink laser.. Please check it carefully..

I'm convinced. You are vectra lasers.

Please check it carefully... That line right there, hit's it on the head for me.