My New 445nm Lab Laser

[billg519]

I recently completed building myself a nice 445nm lab laser. This laser uses an o-like module with 405nm glass lens in a custom machined heatsink attached to a body milled from aluminum extrusion. There are four no-skid rubber feet on the unit, these are replaceable with four brass screw leveling feet if needed. The diode used is an XJ-A240 diode. This laser features variable power. The DDL type linear driver uses an LM350 on a heatsink, a one ohm resistor, and a 25 ohm 5W wirewound potentiometer to vary the current to the diode. Red and black binding posts allow connection of a DC power supply of up to 12V.

Here are some pics of this labby :

Here are a couple of beamshots. Please excuse the messy bench ... Laser is running at about 750mW for these beamshots. A wood door served as a beamstop, it now has a burn mark on it ...

This laser seems to have no heating problems and does not warm up even if left on for a while at full power. I had allowed for a small fan under the round heatsink, but this is not needed so far. If I increase the maximum drive current, I might need to mount the fan. Full power on this laser is 1.1 W of beautiful blue light. The variable power feature is handy, I don't need full power unless I want to burn something.

 

[lasersbee]

Nice All-in-one Labby Bill..
I see you removed the Black finish from the O-Like Module...
Would it not have been a good idea to leave the original Black
finish on the fins of the module to help dissipate any heat even
faster... :thinking:

As you stated you don't seen to have any problems with heat
as is..

Just a thought...

Jerry

 

[billg519]

The o-like module is still black. It's black fins can be seen sticking out of my larger diameter aluminum heatsink that mounts to the body of the labby. I made a couple of these heatsinks, the other one can be seen in the beamshot pics, it is on top of a gold colored heatsink sitting on the Scientech LPM in the left side of the pics.

 

[Nanolaser]

Verry verry nice !

 

[Gryphon]

The diode used is an XJ-A240 diode.

Is that right? I only heard of the A130, A140 and the A150

Great build btw Bill, love the one of a kind host choice

 

[billg519]

@Gryphon

Yes, there is an XJ-A240, it is one of the 2500 lumen models.

 

[Gryphon]

Ok, i thought it might have been a typo. I bought the XJ-A140 today, didn't see the XJ-A240 model thou

 

[Seoul_lasers]

nice laser there !

Grab the 445nm sticker from the 445nm danger sticker thread.

Look at your PMs

 

[qumefox]

Buying a a240 to scavenge diodes is a waste of money. It's a 2500 lumen unit just like the a140. The only difference between the two is the resolution of the DMD.. which your never going to use. a140's are 1024x768, and a240's are 1280x800. And actually, if all your looking for is 1 watt, a130 diodes are fine. They do around 1.3W @ 1500ma. a140 (and a240) diodes are good for about 1.5W @ 1500ma.

 

[Eudaimonium]

Buying a a240 to scavenge diodes is a waste of money. It's a 2500 lumen unit just like the a140. The only difference between the two is the resolution of the DMD.. which your never going to use. a140's are 1024x768, and a240's are 1280x800. And actually, if all your looking for is 1 watt, a130 diodes are fine. They do around 1.3W @ 1500ma. a140 (and a240) diodes are good for about 1.5W @ 1500ma.

Thank you for sharing your thoughs that Bill wasted money. Bill does not waste money.

Bill - DAMN. Trimmer knob is totally awsome, I saw some markings on the side, but you know what would be totally awsome? If you measure the power and mark it on the "dial" of the knob, so you always can aproximate the power it's outputting, you know so the dial looks like temp control on my soldering iron:

Other than that, I think I'd make some "legs" on the thing with holes so it can be bolted to the top of optical table or whatever, you cannot risk a slip or accident with those power levels...

Maybe be also worth of using the projector lens in place of those glass to get more power, sacrifising the beam quality, but it's a labby build after all.

All in all, awsome work! Where do you get those massive heatsinks ...

 

[brtaman]

Nice project.

(Also nice SSTC on the side :beer

 

[qumefox]

Thank you for sharing your thoughs that Bill wasted money. Bill does not waste money.

I wasn't criticizing the build. I was only stating that the ONLY difference, hardware wise, of the a240 vs the cheaper a140 is the resolution of the DMD in it. The optical assemblies are identical on both.

I may have never had a casio projector open (only because it's not a brand we service) but after a decade of being in the TV/electronics repair business, I have seen the insides of enough projectors (and almost anything else you can think of electronics wise) to know that manufactures don't make drastic design changes within the same model range.. Heck, usually they share the same guts across multiple model ranges..

So with the a140 and a240 having exact same specs other than resolution, i'll willing to bet my left testicle that the only difference between the two are the DMD itself, and the firmware.

 

[Eudaimonium]

I wasn't criticizing the build. I was only stating that the ONLY difference, hardware wise, of the a240 vs the cheaper a140 is the resolution of the DMD in it. The optical assemblies are identical on both.

I may have never had a casio projector open (only because it's not a brand we service) but after a decade of being in the TV/electronics repair business, I have seen the insides of enough projectors (and almost anything else you can think of electronics wise) to know that manufactures don't make drastic design changes within the same model range.. Heck, usually they share the same guts across multiple model ranges..

So with the a140 and a240 having exact same specs other than resolution, i'll willing to bet my left testicle that the only difference between the two are the DMD itself, and the firmware.

Haha, no I didn't mean it literaly, as it maybe sounded, I mean that Bill himself has a lot of knowledge and I like to think of him as Chuck Norris of laser world. I owe him bigtime myself.

Some people waste money. Bill donates money.

See?

Sorry if I sounded harsh, I didn't mean too. I have issues today...

 

[topnotchlaser]

That's very nice! Great work. I wish I had your skills.

 

[billg519]

The A240 was the only game in town if I wanted a projector at a reasonable price to disassemble for the diodes and other components. It was also available quickly. As far as the diodes go, they will be the same as the A130 diodes. I have both types and they seem so far to have the same threshold and power output.

I am careful about not frying any diodes with the SSTC.

 

[lasersbee]

The o-like module is still black. It's black fins can be seen sticking out of my larger diameter aluminum heatsink that mounts to the body of the labby. I made a couple of these heatsinks, the other one can be seen in the beamshot pics, it is on top of a gold colored heatsink sitting on the Scientech LPM in the left side of the pics.

Opps... I missed that...:yabbem:
That is quite a big labby now that I have reference point (the O-like
module)..

Buying a a240 to scavenge diodes is a waste of money. It's a 2500 lumen unit just like the a140. The only difference between the two is the resolution of the DMD.. which your never going to use. a140's are 1024x768, and a240's are 1280x800. And actually, if all your looking for is 1 watt, a130 diodes are fine. They do around 1.3W @ 1500ma. a140 (and a240) diodes are good for about 1.5W @ 1500ma.

Actually... if the A240 uses the same LDs as the A140 LDs then there
is a difference that I have seen testing the 2 LDS... The A140m seem
to be more efficient as you stated... and worth more money... IMO
Albeit I only tested one of each...

A130
http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/post-your-ma-mw-51432-9.html#post724309

A140
http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/post-your-ma-mw-51432-10.html#post728480


Jerry