My Furst Custom laser 7W+ NUBM0E

[farbe2]

Just a tip: Cylindrical lenses are very easy to set up and make the beam much better.

You just need a 12mm bore to use the lenses from Live Lasersystems.
Example picture of the bores needed.
They offer ready made modules, but also just the lenses they use in them.
Lenses with holder

It should be easily doable to make a host with a longer 12mm bore, take a DTR or Live lasersytems 12mm diode holder with lens and slip it in.

It just needs one additional cutout to insert the c-lenses for beam correction.

If you compare the beam of the NUBM44 uncorrected to corrected, the divergence is almost 4 times better. So 1,6mrad instead of 6mrad.
Datasheet of NUBM44 module from LLS




Something like that should be sufficient.
That can even be made with basic tools like just a drill and a saw/file.
The back half would hold the diode, the front half the c-lenses.

 

[Borislav@87]

I use a 3 element lens and I am fine with the beam width. I don't want to make things more complicated by making the laser. Also, laser components can always be repaired and replaced. I currently have two of my NUBM0E diode lasers and they shine great, also the blue color is very nice and bright. Additionally I am building 1 laser each with NUBM0E to sell and these diodes are performing very well so far. I was specifically interested in my opinion if the soft start somehow protected the laser diode over time or not

 

[Borislav@87]

Тогава вашият измервателен уред отчита около 50% повече, отколкото трябва да бъде, с 3E това показание трябва да бъде около 5 - 5,25 W в най-добрия случай........ 7,2 W е това, което трябва да получите с G2 обектив и 8,5 W би бил без обектив изобщо и от студен старт при тестване на чисто нова диодна череша избрах и дори тогава имам своите съмнения, но с 3E обектив @ 5.2A не, това е 5.2W, което ще получите с 3E @ 4.5 -5.25A и натискането им по-силно от 4.75A просто генерира повече отпадна топлина.

Ако имахте лабораторен измервател на качеството и тествахте 2 идентични диода с една и съща леща, ще видите, че диодът, задвижван @ 5,2 A, ще покаже намаляваща възвръщаемост по-бързо в сравнение със същите @ 4,5 A и @ 3,5 A в добър радиатор, който бихте направили Ако нямате избледняване на топлината, отчитането на мощността ще бъде стабилно.

Прекаляваме nubm0e дори @ 4.5A, защото гърлото на топлинната бутилка е в диода, но с добър обектив и радиатор можете да изстискате максимална мощност за минута или две, но през цялото време мощността бавно намалява, така че натискайте от 4.5A до 5.2A просто не си заслужава, освен ако не използвате активно охлаждане или поддържате работния си цикъл наистина кратък, но 8.5W с 3E е чиста фантазия от деконсервиран nubm0e @ 5+ ампера, дори и от странен диод .......може и с G2 обектив от фрик диод и студен старт, но 3E ( 3 element ) обектив.......това е фантазия.

What is your opinion on my issue with the diode not having a soft start? I have the same driver with the three operating modes and soft start. However, at the moment I only have one unit and it turned out that it only works at maximum power with 5.2A and it sucks at the soft start. I'm going to wire it up tomorrow with the NUBM44 and I'm hesitant to use the diode because of the lack of a soft start. In tests it works great with NUBM0E, but I'm worried about it breaking NUBM44 over time

 

[RedCowboy]

Square wave starts are not the problem AFAIK, laser diodes can be pulsed 1000's of times a second, the issue with some of the cheaper LED drivers are the spikes, however these 440-465nm multimode phosphor pumper laser diodes are pretty tough, hell you can way overdrive these blue laser diodes for a half a second and they will dim down, if you turn the power back down quickly they seem to recover, but push too far for too long and you will weaken them near the foldback ( Upper limit ).

The question is will long term over voltage spikes at start up have a cumulative effect......well the harder you stress anything near it's limit.....and in our case at over it's factory spec limit, the more likely you are to damage it, someone would need to do testing to prove it out, that said I have used the flashlight led drivers with ( high, med, low, strobe, sos ) with good results, but that's not conclusive testing.

 

[Borislav@87]

Square wave starts are not the problem AFAIK, laser diodes can be pulsed 1000's of times a second, the issue with some of the cheaper LED drivers are the spikes, however these 440-465nm multimode phosphor pumper laser diodes are pretty tough, hell you can way overdrive these blue laser diodes for a half a second and they will dim down, if you turn the power back down quickly they seem to recover, but push too far for too long and you will weaken them near the foldback ( Upper limit ).

The question is will long term over voltage spikes at start up have a cumulative effect......well the harder you stress anything near it's limit.....and in our case at over it's factory spec limit, the more likely you are to damage it, someone would need to do testing to prove it out, that said I have used the flashlight led drivers with ( high, med, low, strobe, sos ) with good results, but that's not conclusive testing.

Ok, thanks for the clarification. Well, tomorrow I'm waiting to get 10 copper bodies for diodes and I'll install them. The driver works very well at the moment and does not exceed 5.2A as it should be. But you're right. In fact, the flashing mode was relatively powerful and there is a lack of soft start. I personally like single mode better. I don't need weak and flashing mode. The current readings are no different with the other diodes, so you should be fine. Nubm44 will run at 5.2A all the time. The large copper heatsink will do a great job of cooling. You can go back a page to see it, I have uploaded pictures

 

[RedCowboy]

With nubm44, nubm08, nubm0E, nubm0A there is no need to go beyond 4.5 Amps or you're just making waste heat and getting diminishing returns over even a couple of minutes as heat buildup causes output to fade, that's the laser diode being pushed too far, 4.5A is over-driven, but reasonably stable with a good heat sink for a few minutes or however long it takes to saturate your heat sink which is really just a heat reservoir, for continuous use you need a finned heat sink and fan forced air sufficient to dissipate the waste heat into the surrounding air.

More than 4.5A will just cause your output to fade faster unless you are using active cooling such as a TEC+heat sink and fan forced air.

Factory spec is usually 3.5A and the commercial projectors use finned heat sinks and fan forced air for continuous use 100% duty cycle, but for a few min on and few off with a good heat sink/reservoir 4.5A

 

[Borislav@87]

Yes that is right. I will use 5.2A for very short duty cycles. More than 1 min I have never used a laser. The average time I use the lasers is about 10-30 seconds and I switch off. I always check the radiator to see how hot it is. Most of the time they are locked in a box and not used. I just enjoy making them. Kind of like a little hobby .

 

[Borislav@87]

With nubm44, nubm08, nubm0E, nubm0A there is no need to go beyond 4.5 Amps or you're just making waste heat and getting diminishing returns over even a couple of minutes as heat buildup causes output to fade, that's the laser diode being pushed too far, 4.5A is over-driven, but reasonably stable with a good heat sink for a few minutes or however long it takes to saturate your heat sink which is really just a heat reservoir, for continuous use you need a finned heat sink and fan forced air sufficient to dissipate the waste heat into the surrounding air.

More than 4.5A will just cause your output to fade faster unless you are using active cooling such as a TEC+heat sink and fan forced air.

Factory spec is usually 3.5A and the commercial projectors use finned heat sinks and fan forced air for continuous use 100% duty cycle, but for a few min on and few off with a good heat sink/reservoir 4.5A

What my device showed. It turned out that unprotected NUBM0E laser diodes are more powerful than NUBM44. The difference under the same conditions and they are the same drivers with 5.2A operation, lena 3 Element, fully charged batteries. Let's say that my device has deviations, but it is clear that NUBM0E is more powerful. I expected the opposite because I paid twice as much to get the NUBM44 and get more power, but it turned out to be the opposite.

To add that at 6A with NUBM0E I got my device to show 9W power! This was the number I had and the high amperage was gradually damaging it and the diode went weak.

 

[RedCowboy]

You are so close to your meter that you are likely reading waste heat, 3 element lenses get hot as they waste some 30% of the output. Also you were closer with the 0E than the 44 so try setting each back at least 25 CM ( 10 inches )

 

[Borislav@87]

You are so close to your meter that you are likely reading waste heat, 3 element lenses get hot as they waste some 30% of the output. Also you were closer with the 0E than the 44 so try setting each back at least 25 CM ( 10 inches )

No such thing. You don't want to believe what you see. There is no waste heat and such nonsense. I did a lot of comparisons. Even without lenses the NUBM0E shows 9W+ while the NUBM44 shows 8W. It's just the reality right now. It is possible that I have come across a lower number and I cannot tell. I expected the opposite. Also NUBM0E ignites items faster than NUBM44. NUBM0E's blue is much nicer than NUBM44's. I can't do more comparisons because I just sold the laser with the NUBM44. It has a new owner. The truth is that under the same conditions, NUBM0E is stronger by almost 1W and shines brighter and is 50% cheaper than a diode.

 

[RedCowboy]

Without the window can and backfill gas the MTTF is MUCH shorter.

You also said you get a higher reading with 3 element lenses than a single element G2 lens, that's simply not possible with these diodes unless you have one with a FAC installed, with a FAC lens installed close to the emitter you can get all of the beam through a 3 element, otherwise the divergence results in clipping of some 30% of the output.

Your meter is not accurate and you are testing too close which will skew your reading.........do you understand, you are reading waste heat, your meter needs to be 25cm from your lasers lens.

If you're going to use the NUBM0E you should get it with the GBall can removed and replaced with a window can and backfill gas so that it will last.

My NUBM0E did not test as high as a NUBM44, but I just ordered another one and will test it when it arrives.

 

[Borislav@87]

Without the window can and backfill gas the MTTF is MUCH shorter.

You also said you get a higher reading with 3 element lenses than a single element G2 lens, that's simply not possible with these diodes unless you have one with a FAC installed, with a FAC lens installed close to the emitter you can get all of the beam through a 3 element, otherwise the divergence results in clipping of some 30% of the output.

Your meter is not accurate and you are testing too close which will skew your reading.........do you understand, you are reading waste heat, your meter needs to be 25cm from your lasers lens.

If you're going to use the NUBM0E you should get it with the GBall can removed and replaced with a window can and backfill gas so that it will last.

My NUBM0E did not test as high as a NUBM44, but I just ordered another one and will test it when it arrives.

We didn't understand something. My tests with the G2 lens have always been higher. I just don't like the G2 and am only interested in 3 Element lenses. All tests so far that I have done between NUBM0E and NUBM44 are with the same lenses and conditions. Both lasers were cold in all tests. In all tests, NUBM0E showed high scores. There is no manipulation of anything. I even felt a little dumb that I expected more and got less. Once you have ordered a new NUBM0E you will be convinced when it arrives and you test it. Mine have the lens removed and are unprotected. No problems so far. If you bought a protected diode it will probably be weaker because I had one and it showed lower power than the unprotected ones. Just to add that I've been using the NUBM0E at 5.2A for some time now and its power hasn't dropped. It is the same as at the beginning.

 

[RedCowboy]

Yep, your de-canned multi watt blue laser diode can keep working just fine for several minutes a day and for a month or maybe two, then all of a sudden while lasing you will notice a weaker beam and testing will show a substantial loss of output or you may notice an almost complete loss of output or total failure.....but usually you will see weakening 1st, these events are caused by particulates in the air too tiny for your naked eye to see burning onto the facet blocking output.........and from fractures of the facet after it's protective coating fails due to normal humidity/particulates in the air damaging the protective coating.

Some people will use Teflon tape around their lens barrels threads when running an open/de-canned MM blue laser diode in an attempt to preserve the diodes facet, but everyone who has worked with these over the years knows very well they can not last even 1/20 as long as the same laser diode with it's can and protective backfill in place and you can read what laser show builders have said who put regular use on laser diodes......... they do not last even 5% of the normal lifespan when de-canned.......that said it's the run time that accumulates damage, if you rarely use it then damage is not happening, but laser show people know very well they simply don't last de-canned.

Normally the lifespan of these diodes is 20,000 hours, granted as we overdrive them this will be shorter, but that said I have NUBM44's that have lasted years and are still used often in their devices, but all of my de-canned blues have died except some recent units that don't get much use.....however some are showing lower output, you will understand this in time.

 

[Borislav@87]

Yep, your de-canned multi watt blue laser diode can keep working just fine for several minutes a day and for a month or maybe two, then all of a sudden while lasing you will notice a weaker beam and testing will show a substantial loss of output or you may notice an almost complete loss of output or total failure.....but usually you will see weakening 1st, these events are caused by particulates in the air too tiny for your naked eye to see burning onto the facet blocking output.........and from fractures of the facet after it's protective coating fails due to normal humidity/particulates in the air damaging the protective coating.

Some people will use Teflon tape around their lens barrels threads when running an open/de-canned MM blue laser diode in an attempt to preserve the diodes facet, but everyone who has worked with these over the years knows very well they can not last even 1/20 as long as the same laser diode with it's can and protective backfill in place and you can read what laser show builders have said who put regular use on laser diodes......... they do not last even 5% of the normal lifespan when de-canned.......that said it's the run time that accumulates damage, if you rarely use it then damage is not happening, but laser show people know very well they simply don't last de-canned.

Normally the lifespan of these diodes is 20,000 hours, granted as we overdrive them this will be shorter, but that said I have NUBM44's that have lasted years and are still used often in their devices, but all of my de-canned blues have died except some recent units that don't get much use.....however some are showing lower output, you will understand this in time.

Yes, it probably is. The one I compared with the NUBM44 is the one I use the most and it has been around for 3 months and it still shows the same power as at the beginning. The only mistake was that I used 6A and they just damaged two diodes quickly. At 5.2A and large radiators, things are ok.
I think that the thing that shortens the life of the diode the most is too small a heatsink and too long exposure and the diode overheats. It literally ruins it. Especially if it works with high amperage and is within critical limits of the maximum
On the subject of pressurization. I put in two rubber rings and it's super tight and tight. It is impossible for anything to get inside. Water and other things cannot penetrate


I specially recorded a new video to prove to you that NUBM0E shows more power at 5.2A than NUBM44. Now your claim about waste heat completely falls apart. It doesn't matter if the meter reads accurately, what matters is that the NUBM0E reads more than the NUBM44

 

[RedCowboy]

You will get more out of a NUBM44 @ 4.5A than @ 5.2A........that's right, you are over driving it beyond it's foldback making more waste heat than it can shed no matter how big your heatsink, there is a heat bottleneck at the backing plate, it takes a TEC and fan forced air to overdrive a NUBM44 to any real benefit beyond 4.5A.........yes from a cold start you can see a temporarily higher reading from a NUBM44 @ 5A than 4.5A but after a few seconds the output will fall below the 4.5A diodes output. As in test two side by side and watch the 5.2A unit fall below the 4.5A unit as runaway heat build up shunts it's output.

As for your NUBM0E I don't know, my NUBM0E is not as strong as my NUBM44's but I have another NUBM0E on the way to try out.

P.S. You need an accurate meter to do any definitive testing, there's more to it than simply being out of calibration......test your nubm44 from a cold start 1st and your 0E 2nd, then let it all cool and try it again but testing the 0E 1st and compare readings.......at 5.2A if you test one cold and one that had been running even a minute before, then your readings won't be the same as cold readings, also your meter doesn't account for it's starting temp vs. rate of change, but you can rule out some variables by testing everything from a room temp start.

 

[Borislav@87]

You will get more out of a NUBM44 @ 4.5A than @ 5.2A........that's right, you are over driving it beyond it's foldback making more waste heat than it can shed no matter how big your heatsink, there is a heat bottleneck at the backing plate, it takes a TEC and fan forced air to overdrive a NUBM44 to any real benefit beyond 4.5A.........yes from a cold start you can see a temporarily higher reading from a NUBM44 @ 5A than 4.5A but after a few seconds the output will fall below the 4.5A diodes output. As in test two side by side and watch the 5.2A unit fall below the 4.5A unit as runaway heat build up shunts it's output.

As for your NUBM0E I don't know, my NUBM0E is not as strong as my NUBM44's but I have another NUBM0E on the way to try out.

P.S. You need an accurate meter to do any definitive testing, there's more to it than simply being out of calibration......test your nubm44 from a cold start 1st and your 0E 2nd, then let it all cool and try it again but testing the 0E 1st and compare readings.......at 5.2A if you test one cold and one that had been running even a minute before, then your readings won't be the same as cold readings, also your meter doesn't account for it's starting temp vs. rate of change, but you can rule out some variables by testing everything from a room temp start.

I can't do tests anymore, because as I said, the laser already has a new owner. I did a lot of tests and in none did the NUBM44 show more power. I even put both lasers in the cold chamber and again the results were in favor of NUBM0E's eye 1w. So in this case there is nothing to order. And in real conditions, NUBM0E ignites objects faster than NUBM44 . But that is not the most important thing. I didn't like the color blue on NUBM44. With NUBM0E it is more beautiful for me personally. Anyway, for me the NUBM0E is the better diode in every way and is close to 50% cheaper. I am currently waiting for 3 NUBM0E diodes, which will be for sale. I always tell buyers not to light continuously for more than 1 minute followed by a rest interval. If they want to light longer, I tell them to use the weak mode, which works at 2.9A. After 5 minutes of operation, the radiator is slightly warm. When they want combustion, turn on max