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Reasons for 700mw laser not working well

I

ImStillCaden

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Jan 1, 2019
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I recently got an Orcalo 700mw 638nm diode, driver, and a Three Element glass lens from DTR. I have safety glasses and am using 2 14500 3.7V batteries. I don't know why, but the beam is completely invisible to naked eye in daylight, and in dark areas. You really can only see the beam at night. It takes about half a second to burn through electrical tape. Should it be more visible than this? It can't even pop a red balloon :/ Example A and Example B. Thanks in advance, you guys are always very helpful :)
 





The mount you are using is not the greatest of all heat sinks.. how long are your duty cycles.?
..... and your rest cycle?
your diode inside is close to the lens-- looks in your pic that it is too far out.. the 'hottest' part needs to be within the heat sink .
You may have worn out those Li-ions.. c'mon?? you can find better/bigger batts.

Find some laptop battery packs being discarded. carefully 'harvest' the batts. (gets easier later)- clean the ends- discharge and recharge three times then test.
A few or more may take a charge. BTW if not owning one- get a 'smart' charger.. MUCH safer. I wont use cheap chargers indoors.

Only green lasers are easily seen in daylight and from the side (worst 'angle' to view) coming at you IMO is best --coming from behind 2 nd fav.
Something needs to be in the air.. hazer, fogger/insense sticks, doobage whatev red balloons are also not the easiest to pop.. darker pops quicker. Did you choose red balloons because of your red laser?? lol put a smallish black balloon INSIDE a larger Clear Balloon (like a condom) the black one needs to be 'tight' so very small to begin with. . If done right the black one inside pops first. so do that and a few more things then move on.. sry.. black bags-fireworks,, balh blah - & do the forum a favor

-be careful.

we gets lots of BAD press and zero good.
If you do get hurt??... we do not really want to hear about that please or ANYTHING negative.. PM only.


seeing stuff burn etc. makes it a hard case to sell ..that we are not being dangerous with our lasers..


There is NO DIFFERENCE between playing with fire and playing with lasers.. lasers are NOT TOYs .

wanna read what can easily happen to anyone w/ a laser???

laserpointersafety.org


looked now at yr other pic.. are you using croc clips? soldered connections are not just good idea

afaik and in your case a Lasorb for that set-up would 'protect your investment'..

The Pangolin Lasorb is the white part on top..needs to be as close to the diode as possible.

like this the black thing is a plug (male) plugs into a female going to the driver . . no clips or twisted wires 20170922_184108 RED 700 resized.jpgYour version has driver inside --yes?
 
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Even though it looks like you put the heatsink over proper place over the diode part of the module you really should double up and put 2 of those sinks over the complete module, and that is minimum still.
Like Hak mentioned the tightest focus part of the beam burns the best and is usually about 4 to 5 inches from the tip before the beam spreads out.
You focus it this way basicly opposite of the way you usually focus the best spot at a far distance.
Your running a 3 element lens so if you set the driver at 1.2A its probably doing around 500mw providing the battery's are healthy and 638nm is only 10% as bright as a 532nm. You shouldn't see any beam in day light but with enough fog something at night.

I have a question, what color is to what looks like a marble table top?
 
Hi, That would go nice in a 501B host with a custom heats and focus adapter. 2X18350 batteries run the host and your diode. A few pics ..Heat sinks can be powder coated in colors also.All hosts come prewired to solder two wires to the driver and drop in the heat sink.
Just a though ... Your Oclaro 638nm diodes will last longer..

Rich:)fullsizeoutput_a3e.jpegfullsizeoutput_69c.jpegfullsizeoutput_695.jpegfullsizeoutput_a06.jpeg
 
Hi, With my 501B hosts they will hold 2X18350 or 1X18650 in your case you will need 2X18350's
May I recommend AW 18350 or Efest 18350 batteries dont by cheap batteries Chinese batteries are not very good. By good one and they will last .. My hosts are reasonably priced and are all modded and custom sink focus adapters are included with all my builds at no extra cost.

Rich:)
 
Your Oclaro is a great diode. The wavelength is marvelous. The divergence is wacky because it’s just the end-use design of these red MM diodes. I have another on hand in need of a driver and host.
Don’t push it further than 1A if you can help it. My first build was with this diode/nano-buckboost drive from DTR. The diode only lasted a month and with modest use.... I think the 1.1A of I is much for this diode.
However, the Mitsubishi 500mW diodes I hear can be driven to hell and back.
Have fun, stay safe and enjoy.
SGD🍻
 
That is true. I burned up two Oclaro diodes when these first came out. The ML501P73 Mitsubishi diode, however, can be driven harder than 1 amp and will output more than 1 watt. I have one that has been running for a few years now and doesn't seem to be worse for wear.
 
Hi, 100% on the Mitsu 500 diode cant kill them best of the 635's but the divergence is poor .

Rich:)
 
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All the multi-mode 635nm diodes have horrible divergence specs. It takes no distance at all to get a line rather than a spot. I have been contemplating using one of my 6X culinder lens pairs on a diode I still have in my stock. I've got an optical bench that would make a great handheld with all the corrective optics.
 
Turns out with a good bit of focusing it can set a white match on fire! Probably should've spent more time focusing it.
 
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