Noob Build NDG700 520nm

[bdgreenb]

As far as keeping copper hosts shiny, the more you touch it the shinier it stays, human oils bring the original luster back to copper

 

[ECBL]

I'm waiting to see some pics! Hope you have fun with that!

Alright, I just checked the mail and the SL host, Blank Battery Contact Board and Extended Focusing adapter has arrived! Everything looked great, but upon closer inspection I discovered a couple minor things with the host.

When removing the rear battery cap I noticed there is a bit of rust forming on the threads, which causes that "Fingernails on a chalkboard" sound when unscrewing the piece Not a big deal though, I can easily sand it off and apply a bit of oil to prevent the rust from spreading.

Next, when twisting the heat sink retaining ring from the front of the host I felt a dimple in the host head. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a very subtle flat spot on the head, along with a smaller flat spot on the opposite side... neither of which appear to negatively affect the structural integrity of the host or threads... so no worries

Now I'm faced with the predicament of whether to wait for my Sinner Cypreus-XL to arrive before firing it up, or to go ahead and hook it up temporarily to the SL host just to appease my desire for 520nm glory!

here's some pix for the time being... let me know what you guys think: To wait or not to wait... That is the question! lol

 

[Pman]

Isn't it already in a module with driver? Just hook it up to see that 520nm but only for a few seconds.
Congrats on such a nice powerful beautiful green. Kind of confused as to the offering on these compared to the 1W version as the 1W are offered at 1.8 or 2.4A but don't see any option on the .7W on DTR's site.
DTR always gets his orders out quickly and lets you know if anything will be delayed if he's away.

 

[ECBL]

Kind of confused as to the offering on these compared to the 1W version as the 1W are offered at 1.8 or 2.4A but don't see any option on the .7W on DTR's site.

From what I've gathered, the NDG700 is rated for 1.4A, but DTR's prewired modules come with a preset 1.8A X-drive... that's what's on mine. I asked him if this would stress the diode and he said it's been stable at that current setting and not to be concerned.

At that current setting, my NDG700 should be kicking out around 1W average. I don't know much about the 1W NDG7475 other than what his testing photos show on his site. I'm assuming it'll safely handle the higher current setting and would be well above 1W.

Maybe DTR could shed some light on your question.

and as to your suggestion... yep, I think I'll hook it up and hopefully take some beam shots tonight. :evil:

 

[Reiign]

im tossing up one of these. I get a nice pay check in a few weeks so it might be sooner than i think!

Also have you considered using a clear coat of paint on your host to protect it?

 

[Nprlaser]

It's well worth it, when I got my ndg700 it was something else for sure...

 

[NRGLite]

As far as keeping copper hosts shiny, the more you touch it the shinier it stays, human oils bring the original luster back to copper

Really? Another reason to greedily hoard and finger my laser treasures

 

[ECBL]

It definitely is the brightest laser of my collection, blowing my ~3W 445nm away. It still is crazy how much brighter it is than a laser almost 3X as powerful. The beam looks SOLID outside at night.

Alrignt, so I went ahead and wired it up in the Stainless Steel SL host with blank battery contact board and extended / tapered sink. Of course, I was nervous as hell to click the button, but IT WORKED

Immediately however, I was surprised at how dim the beam was in the night sky compared to what I had expected. I mean the beam is visible, but it's absolutely nowhere near the brightness of my 1.4W 445nm Arctic...

To be honest, I'm a bit confused... I had been hearing how solid the beam would be; that it would be amazing... Sadly, I hate to admit that I'm not that impressed. :undecided:

I'm quite certain that it wasn't anything to do with the assembly... everything went smoothly. The diode was all prewired with the 1.8A X-Drive and all I had to do was press the BBCB into the brass ring, solder it to the drilled aluminum pill and solder the positive and negative wires from the module to the BBCB. The battery is new and freshly charged.

I took a shot of the dot against the wall with no fog, and also did some beam shots in the spare bedroom with heavy fog. Of course the beam is glorious in the heavy fog, but to be honest, outside at night it's rather weak :cryyy:

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Any trouble shooting / advice? I find it hard to believe that this could just be an unlucky weak one from the batch. I'll try to get some comparison shots in the night sky with my DSLR and Arctic.

-Peace and Happy Thanksgiving!




Heavy Fog

Laser Art!

 

[Shakenawake]

something is wrong. I've got a 1000mW 520nm, the beam is brighter than even 4800mW of 445nm, though not by a ton. it's so bright that even with the house lights on, turning the laser on still adds to the brightness of the room. to take a dot pic on a white wall as you have, with 1W of green, would result in a bright green glare unless it was a very short exposure. there's no doubt from your pics, that 520 is not doing 1W. unless those are split second exposures, your entire room should be lit up

did you try powering the module directly by connecting a battery to the leads? this can't be done for more than a few seconds due to heat, but serves to test it out. if it works at full brightness, then the problem is probably a bad connection

 

[ChaosLord]

Did you use that 1 18650 battery in the picture above? If so, that's the problem, you need 2 charged li-ions to run it full power.

 

[ECBL]

Did you use that 1 18650 battery in the picture above? If so, that's the problem, you need 2 charged li-ions to run it full power.

Really? You think it's the batteries? I did buy the batteries on Ebay... 4 batteries, 2 chargers for $10.99 (too good to be true). Here's the link. These look identical to the 18650's sold on Survival Lasers, so I figured they'd be alright... and they're "Li-Ion".

So you're saying I need two charged Li-Ions... so CA123's? I thought 18650's were typically what's used. Could you suggest a specific battery type and brand... possibly a link? Thanks Chaos!:thanks:

 

[ChaosLord]

Really? You think it's the batteries? I did buy the batteries on Ebay... 4 batteries, 2 chargers for $10.99 (too good to be true). Here's the link. These look identical to the 18650's sold on Survival Lasers, so I figured they'd be alright... and they're "Li-Ion".

So you're saying I need two charged Li-Ions... so CA123's? I thought 18650's were typically what's used. Could you suggest a specific battery type and brand... possibly a link? Thanks Chaos!:thanks:

Yes, if you only used one 18650 thats why it was dim. The x-drive requires two batteries, though as you have seen, one will work. It just can't fully power up the laser with one.

You can get the battery extension tube from survival lasers and use two 18650s, or get some 16340s. The C6 host (all of suvival lasers host) hold one 18650 or two 16340s.

As a general rule, avoid batteries with fire in the name (ultrafire, trustfire, ect.).
I personally use AW IMR batteries. Lighthound.com is where i get them.

When these are back in stock, check them out:AW-IMR16340

These would work also: http://www.illumn.com/16340-efest

 

[ECBL]

Yes, if you only used one 18650 thats why it was dim. The x-drive requires two batteries, though as you have seen, one will work. It just can't fully power up the laser with one.

You can get the battery extension tube from survival lasers and use two 18650s, or get some 16340s. The C6 host (all of suvival lasers host) hold one 18650 or two 16340s.

As a general rule, avoid batteries with fire in the name (ultrafire, trustfire, ect.).
I personally use AW IMR batteries. Lighthound.com is where i get them.

When these are back in stock, check them out:AW-IMR16340

These would work also: http://www.illumn.com/16340-efest

Dang! I guess you're right. I never realized there would be any difference in the amount of power a given battery would put out... I'll be making a trip to Fry's ASAP and I'll look for some of these you've recommended online as well.

Hmm, so the Cypreus-XL should be here around Monday or so... it's a 2 x 18650, so maybe I'll look for some decent Panasonic's. I found this video that shows the performance differences.

I look forward to hopefully seeing an improvement in this baby and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes! Thanks again ChaosLord!

 

[Pman]

Absolutely correct on the battery issue. I know that DTR lists the battery requirements on his site for his setups. Definately get a long duty cycle with one cell. When you put in the second it will be incredibly bright. If you cant readily get the 16340/18350 then how about trying a couple of CR123 for 6.4V. They aren't rechargeable and can cost a bit if not bought in bulk online but they are available everywhere from grocery stores to pharmacies. It would be probably 3/4 of full power with those since 2 18650/16340/18350 would give 8.4V right off the charger. Don't know what Radio Shack sells but you could look it up.
If you can, pick up either the AW IMR or Panasonic b or pd cells. Can't go wrong with either of them and the PD cells are rated for 10A draw for a future serious build/purchase. The B cells have a little more capacity. Haven't purchased any cells in awhile so don't know if they have even better ones now.
I use cheaper cells in the units that don't draw much or aren't anything special and IMR/Pan in all my showpieces.
Highly recommend the Nitecore chargers listed in my sig (especially the new D4).

 

[ECBL]

Absolutely correct on the battery issue. I know that DTR lists the battery requirements on his site for his setups. Definately get a long duty cycle with one cell. When you put in the second it will be incredibly bright. If you cant readily get the 16340/18350 then how about trying a couple of CR123 for 6.4V.

Alright, so I managed to pick up a pair of Energizer Lithium 123's at Walmart the other day for just under $10... unfortunately they're disposable, but I was just dying to see if this would make a difference!

I took them home, popped them inside my Stainless Steel 520 build and walked out to the driveway. With fingers crossed, I clicked the button... Instantly I noticed a huge difference in beam visibility :wave: I mean, now this is what I had envisioned all along... a nice solid beam of beautiful green photons

I've been super busy the past several days, so I haven't had a chance to set up my DSLR with tripod for high quality shots, but here's some mobile pix I took showing the solid beam and a comparison of the new build against my 1.4W Arctic... At this point, just with the 2 x 123's the 520 is at least as bright, if not brighter than the arctic.

Tonight I ordered some Panasonic 3400 mah 18650's from LarryDFW, so I'm really excited to throw those into the Cypreus-XL as soon as it comes and see how much brighter I can get this baby to light up! :eg:

And damn! This host gets hot quick now! I'd say it's warm after about 10 seconds of runtime. Can't wait for the XL!!

 

[sinner]

your XL has landed , should be delivered by tomorrow.