No burning power =(

[judaspriest21]

Hi all, so I put together a laser using a 650nm 20x dvd burner diode with a rkcstr driver in a mxdl housing using 2 cr123A batteries and the laser won't light a match colored black =( plz help.

 

[Kookapeli]

What's the driver set at ?

 

[judaspriest21]

in the 300's.

 

[Clickey]

Make sure that the laser is focused to a small point where you want to burn. If the beam is focused to infinity, it will never be able to light a match. So just make the smallest point in the beam where your match is at. If it doesn't burn still, you might need to adjust the focus more.

 

[judaspriest21]

Yeah I've adjusted it to the smallest point I can and it still did nothing.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Post a picture of it. Also, does it hurt your hand if you put it in the beam?

Remember that people generally light black-marker covered matches when they burn stuff. It's not really that impressive.

 

[judaspriest21]

cant really do pics, but it doesn't feel like anything when i put my hand in front of the beam.

 

[Kookapeli]

Double check it's not 30.0 you've got it set at

 

[goninanbl00d]

Post a picture of it. Also, does it hurt your hand if you put it in the beam?

Remember that people generally light black-marker covered matches when they burn stuff. It's not really that impressive.

Unlike green, blue or violet, you won't be able to feel a red beam unless you hit a freckle or mole.

Red is diffused by the skin- shine a red laser into your hand and it lights up. Do the same wiht a green laser, and you'll see nothing come through.

As a result, the energy is more evenly distributed, and over a much larger area, so you won't feel any heat or burning.

 

[judaspriest21]

Okay so I tested the mA's and i was only putting out 200 mA with the driver turned up.:cryyy:

 

[chipdouglas]

Okay so I tested the mA's and i was only putting out 200 mA with the driver turned up.:cryyy:

what do you mean by "200ma with the driver turned up"?

the driver should be able to reach 450ma.

 

[judaspriest21]

for turning i mean the pot turned up. and its only at 200mA should I try different batteries?

 

[Kookapeli]

what batt's are you using ???

 

[judaspriest21]

cr123A's

 

[chipdouglas]

just to be clear, how are you turning up the pot? do you have a multi meter hooked up to it?


michael

 

[LtKernelPanic]

Assuming your driver is set to the right current your focus is probably off.


I had problems burning with my 6x 405 laser until I figured out how to focus it correctly. You need to find the focal point of the beam. Go somewhere where you can easily see the beam that lacks reflective surfaces - a dark hall or basement works well. Turn the focus ring out from the house (to the right as the laser is pointed away from you) until the dot is very big. I usually start with a "dot" that's close to a foot in diameter. if you're in a dark enough room you'll see the beam making a cone shape leading to the dot. Follow the cone from the dot to its tip and you should see a very narrow section of the beam. In that narrow section is the "sweet spot" where the most burning power is. You should see something like this

laser ======>---<( cone

The "sweet spot" is somewhere in the --- between the two cones. You can turn the focus ring either way to move the focal point closer or farther away once you find it. Once you've done it a few times it's pretty easy to point it at a non reflective surface make the dot a certain size and know how far away to hold it from whatever you want to torch. Having the focus off just a tiny bit can change things a lot. My 1W 445 will easily smoke a tooth pick that's close to the sweet spot but as soon as it hits it within a second or two it'll start on fire. I've used this on both my blue lasers and I can see the area on my LPC build but can't test it until my glasses get here.

As always remember to be safe since you can't wear goggles while doing this. I usually hold the laser in front of me off to the side so I can still see the beam but not take an inadvertent shot from it.