I would say send it to ma and I'll make it all better but I don't have a de-canning tool. I would be willing to buy one though. It needs a complete rebuild period.
I read through the thread and I really think that ANYTHING on the window of a diode with this output is going to end up with this issue. Find it stage that I've never heard anyone suggest when you must remove the lens just hold the module or laser upside down. I am always VERY careful about letting anything touch a diode window or lens. I would NEVER use Teflon tape on anything that isn't meant to be tightened down and left alone. I may not be the most technical person but I do know how to build a laser and although I have made some really stupid errors by losing focus for a moment like everyone else not once have I had any diode window issues. I believe DTR is right in what he said. I've built too many lasers to not have a diode window issue but I am also a bit paranoid about making sure nothinges gets on or between the lens and diode.
As far as the other issue unless those batteries are fakes or your charger isn't working right it shouldn't be a battery issue unless they are not making good contact between them or either end to the contact board or switch end. Battery sag will absolutely cause the weird drop off you are seeing. The diode needs to be tested on a power supply.
Crappy switches can be a real pain in the butt as some will either lock on or off or act weird without the proper tension agains them. The little spring or springs inside can burn, break and overheat not to mention sometimes the way the switch contacts the case is really bad.
What life was saying about the driver is true. I may not know how to build one of those fancy drivers but I have certainly seen some odd things happen anywhere from how it's sinked to how it responds to various voltages. Of course the driver or contact board must be making a stable proper electrical connection to the host if it's supposed to and that can be tricky if the iron isn't hot enough or there are dissimilar metals and gaps between them.
Honestly, I could go on and on but it's sounding harsh and like I'm a know it all and it's not supposed to. I'm a bit edgy from all the repairs I've done on sci-fi units that have disgusted me so much. Just sent out 3 repairs this last week. I'll have to copy/past what I had to do to the arcane 2.0 that the guy got back back yesterday as an example but one of the 3 I sent back the guy couldnt even tell me difinitively that he put the batteries in the correct way again. UGH!!!!
Here's the example of a sci build that I sent back this week. This is the message I sent the owner uncut:
"I'm not sure how to answer your question about it burning out. A laser diode and driver are consumables and heat is the enemy. The diodes are pushed hard way over their nominal setting and there's no way of knowing just how long any of them are going to last. The diode and driver used were normal parts used so unless the unit is abused I would expect it to last as long as any other now that it is built properly.
What looks like went wrong is because the rear section wasn't screwed into the steel module that the diode was pressed into it and spun instead of just the lens spinning when it was adjusted so much that the pins on the diode twisted along with the wires from it that are soldered to the driver and what was VERY lucky was somehow the wires broke instead of the diode pins. The diode pins were also seperate by Teflon tape which is absolutely ridiculous. The switch also had an issue in that it could be pressed away from the hole when batteries were installed which made it not always actuate. The threads on the rear battery end were really bad and I had to do what I could to clean them up so they wouldn't stick so much as once you get aluminum threads locked up good luck getting them apart.
What I did was press the diode out of the steel module and press it into an all copper one, fix the pins on the diode and solder high quality wire onto the pins and them heat shrink over them. Next I screwed on a solid copper back half to the module for a lot more heatsinking to spread the diode heat better when it is pressed into the large screw in copper sink. Before pressing it in I coat it with thermal grease so there's no gaps between the module and the main sink.
Press the sink in and then after testing the driver and gluing a copper heatsink onto the driver I soldered the wires from the front of the diode to the driver. Oh yeah, it was a pain to remove the driver and boy did he do a terrible job trying to get the outside of the contact board to make electrical contact with the sink. Anyways, fixed all that.
Found out that when the whole front assembly is screwed into the host the switch doesn't have anything holding it in place and keeping it from sliding forward which really messes up the switch position when you install batteries so I added a large rubber grommet between the heat sink and the switch to keep it in place.
I also managed to make you a much tighter spring so the focus adapter doesn't wiggle around so much. Can't stand when they are wobbly.
Tested it and it works fine. If you use a single 18650 for less output make sure you use one with a button top as a flat top will likely not touch both the spring inside and the back bump on the screw in tail cap. With this unit you need to be careful not to overtighten the tail cap as you sure don't need too. Depending upon what batteries you use they may stick out farther and you don't need much tension for good contact.
All that to say I fixed it. Spent at least 3 hours on it.
I would say total cost is about $20 for the copper module, copper back half, solder, paste, thermal grease, artic alumina epoxy, wire, heat shrink tubing, copper driver heatsink, deoxit and spring plus whatever it costs to ship back. I'll give you the total when it's shipped plus the tracking number. It's possible you could get it Saturday.
Oh yeah, with an actual G2 lens it will output about 3.1W.
As far as a 532nm Laser goes with significant output you really need to buy one. It's very difficult to even find an actual 532nm module that outputs at least 150mW. I can recommend some if you want.
Got to go to bed."
checking my PM :beer:
