Need guideance on a possible issue

[Slipperywalrus]

Recently a laser I ordered arrived, been working fine. When focused correctly will light matches and burn through lots of things, overall happy with it.

However I fear it will not last as when I open it up after using it and take the battery out I get a very odd smell of burning.

I have a small feeling it may break soon and not function anymore. Having spent a lot of money getting 2 expensive batteries for this (NCR18650PD) I would obviously like to make the most of it.


Does anyone have any experience with this laser/host and have any guide on how to dismantle it so I could replace the diode if it does break.

I also see a lot of youtubers "pot modding" their lasers, this leads me to the idea of turning down the "pot" of the laser, as to not put so much strain on it. It's apparent whoever designed this thing has overpowered it to an extent that it is not capable of.


Here is an album of pictures. The laser reads YL-Laser 303.
imgur: the simple image sharer

 

[trencheel303]

If you fear that it's being pushed too hard, possibly the best thing to do is to use shorter duty cycles, which in reality is probably safer than opening it up.

Can you describe the burning smell in any more detail? One of my lasers stinks of a smell because of the case it came in, it smells a bit like a burnt smell. The smell you have could be anything from stinky packaging to ozone. Does the battery get hot?

 

[crazyspaz]

Its a crappy chinese laaser, nothing to be surprised about. I have a 301-something green piece of crap, and it smells like burning electrics when I use it as well.
Get whatcha pay for, I guess :/

 

[Slipperywalrus]

The burning smell goes away after its been open and ventilated, if you close it and come back to it later and open it again without using it there is no smell, indicating it's not the casing thats smelly.


Did your 301 eventually break? From what I hear it's next to identical.

 

[Eudaimonium]

It's apparent whoever designed this thing has overpowered it to an extent that it is not capable of.

That's surprisingly observant.

You're right, unfortunately pretty much all "budget" lasers are like that. Wether they live a week or a month (or forever) is a gamble, always.

It might be possible to turn down the power of the laser but it's, again, a lot of gamble - you might break it trying to open it, while it might've been fine for years to come if you haven't touched it.

My advice is - open it after it breaks, see what you can learn from the construction and such.

If you really want a laser to last a good while, there's not much other choice than to either buy a more expensive one from reputable companies, or build your own using a module - again bought from reputable sources.

 

[Slipperywalrus]

If I was to build my own could I use the case from this laser?

 

[Eudaimonium]

If I was to build my own could I use the case from this laser?

Yeah sure. With some investment in a heatsink or aditional metal work, you can make it even better and more reliable / modular.

They are a bit clumbsily put together, with the heatsink being pressed directly into the shell, and as such bit harder to take apart, but it can be turned into a rather very well made quality laser.

 

[Slipperywalrus]

Thanks for the information thus far, any recommendations on diodes/modules? And will I need a special one because it's focusable?

 

[Eudaimonium]

If you want a green diode, get ready to spend several hundreds of dollars.

Otherwise, there's only ever one type of green module you can ever get, problem is where you get it and of what quality it is. Almost ALL are 12mm in diameter with a driver board attached, ready to go.

Come to think of it, I do not really know where to get some reliable modules off the top of my head, but they shouldn't be too hard to find.

People have been recommending Laserbtb lately, might be a good place to start looking.

 

[Abraham1986]

Did you ever keep it working for long time? I think the laser can burn itself with high temperature.

 

[crazyspaz]

The burning smell goes away after its been open and ventilated, if you close it and come back to it later and open it again without using it there is no smell, indicating it's not the casing thats smelly.


Did your 301 eventually break? From what I hear it's next to identical.

You kidding? I TRIED to kill it, but no. Just to see. It certainly hasn't burnt itself out. I literally threw it into a brick wall multiple times, stomped on it, smashed it against the floor, twisted it, stabbed it, hammered it, just to see what would happen. It is still in perfect working condition :crackup: