NUBM07 : how long do these last when decanned?

[wolfram]

I was thinking of buying a NUBM07, but I am not sure if I want it decanned . I know it would be better focusable. ????

 

[aaronnoraa]

Not very long... as in, it's common to hear people report their diode being noticeably dimmer within a week.

I would suggest buying a capped NUBM07 from lasertree on ebay. They sell NUBM07's along with many other gball diodes that have been canned with an inert gas fill and I've heard nothing but good things about them.

That way you get an NUBM07 the way it should be, in a can and not dying within hours of use.

Here's a link to one for $40 plus $1.50 shipping

465nm 2.9W TO5 φ9mm Blue Laser Diode NUBM07E Removed Lens Replaced the Cap | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 465nm 2.9W TO5 φ9mm Blue Laser Diode NUBM07E Removed Lens Replaced the Cap at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[wolfram]

I was looking at the recapped diodes, But I had read somewhere in the forum that someone bought one of the re-caps and saw no difference in degradation. On the sale site
"This product is processed from Nichia NUBM07.

The diodes have inert gas inside the package.

720hours (30days) reliability test has done, the degradation is less than 5%."

Is the above a relative percentage of degradation in relation to the ones that retain the original cap?

 

[aaronnoraa]

Is the above a relative percentage of degradation in relation to the ones that retain the original cap?

No, the figure given is the percentage of degradation from the diode's initial output when the test started.

The relation to a diode that retained it's original "ball lens"/cap should be the same between the two.

<5% output degradation as specified by LaserTree after 720 hours of operation is an excellent figure and indicating that their re-capped diodes have the same lifetime degradation as an original diode that had not been decanned. The 5% figure is with the diode running at it's rated current, the loss after 720 hours if run overdriven would be significantly higher as it would with any laser diode (but should be the same loss as an identical model diode that retains it's original ball lens/cap tested at the same overdriven current).

If it were the percentage in relation to a decanned diode you would see something more like <1% or, more likely, ∞, as the decanned diode would almost certainly be completely dead at 720 hours.

These recapped/gas filled NUBM07's are a higher quality version of the N465 diodes that DTR offered for a short while years ago, yet sold at a much lower price premium over an original gball diode for the work done removing, backfilling and recapping. I purchased an N465 and still use it in a lab build I designed and though the output hasn't degraded significantly when run at rated output it's threshold current has risen constantly pretty much since the first time I used the diode, resulting in having to increase the "low power mode" current setting to be able to get it to lase at lower powers. I am planning to soon replace it with one from LaserTree or possibly with one of the new 465nm 4 watt@rated/5.9W@4A NUBM0C diodes.

Running blue diodes decanned is teh sux and an excellent guarantee of future disappointment.