Review of the Directly-Injected 505nm Bluish-Green ("Mint Green") Laser Pen

[Pelagius]

It took 2 days to get all the way to CA which was fine. Is the 10 AMP higher than average? It's listed on the Orbitronic label/
1500? I'm not willing to believe that unless someone like you TESTS it. Still not as wild as the 50Watt Gatling Laser-for $600!

Oh, I agree that if you need a weird battery size it is great to be able to get them. I have an Opus BT-C3100 intelligent charger that measures capacity and internal resistance very accurately without having to setup a test bed and discharge them through a load to know the capacity, or have to measure the sage on a different load to figure out the internal resistance. I have doubts about the 1500 mAh claim for the 18350 batteries. I would run them on my Opus to find out for sure.

I bought some 3500 mAh Panasonic 18650s that are protected that are able to supply 10 amps each. They have a very low internal resistance of ~30 mohms. I only paid ~$5.00 for them from Liion as they were being discontinued. Well worth the money I paid for them.

 

[cistercian]

For lithiums I use an efest luc V4. It is a later version that does not overcharge. I use a MAHA MCH-9000
for my NIMH cells. It has an analyzer function but the efest does not.

Unless they changed the listing, I could have sworn I ordered 1500mah cells. Their site says 1200mah.
Or I could be wrong...not the first time.

 

[Pelagius]

I'd not noticed the cell dimensions- very nice indeed!!

They are in Florida. So fast USPS to me here in NC. the cells were 5 or 5.50 I think. They have decent pricing. They wrap some with their name
and will generally tell you who made the parent cell. I have never seen anything negative about them and best of all they typically have exact cell
dimensions listed...which is a godsend with some hosts.

I should add the 3500mah 18650 cells I got from them recently were heavy. The last ones I got from them were protected 3400mah cells which
they claim are wrapped panasonics with their protection PCB. Also heavy. Run time seems right on.

I am a bit skeptical about 1500mah in a 18350 but at least one chinese company (aspire) claims to have done it.
I will let you know how well they perform.

 

[cistercian]

It took 2 days to get all the way to CA which was fine. Is the 10 AMP higher than average? It's listed on the Orbitronic label/
1500? I'm not willing to believe that unless someone like you TESTS it. Still not as wild as the 50Watt Gatling Laser-for $600!

Supposedly there is a 1500 chinese cell. I wish someone would test it.

I am an idiot. It is a 1200mah cell. Still ambitious...supposedly there is now demand by vapers for shorter hosts that use the 18350.
Demand drives innovation and the typical 700 or 800mah rating seems weak when actual 3500mah 18650 cells exist.

 

[paul1598419]

I have doubts about all those claims about an 18350. They are a pretty small battery and I think 1100 mAh is exceptional for one. But, I have seen wilder claims than that from Chinese battery suppliers. Like 5000 mAh 18650s.

 

[cistercian]

I have doubts about all those claims about an 18350. They are a pretty small battery and I think 1100 mAh is exceptional for one. But, I have seen wilder claims than that from Chinese battery suppliers. Like 5000 mAh 18650s.

I got some cheapie reds friday. They came with crapfire 3000mah batteries that weighed about 1/3 what my 3500mah orbtronics do.

I actually trust those guys. They post discharge curves on a lot of their cells. Check my edits above Paul. I am old and have a 4k monitor.
Sometimes I don't use ctl+ enough. Obtronic is claiming 1200mah....so I suspect it is the 1500 claimed cell wrapped. If it sucks I will hit a local vape store and get the well regarded 700mah efest cell.

 

[Pelagius]

I have some ULTRAfire and Trustfire batteries that came with devices. They live up to your name for them in every respect! One lasted less than 3 charge cycles!

I got some cheapie reds friday. They came with crapfire 3000mah batteries that weighed about 1/3 what my 3500mah orbtronics do.

I actually trust those guys. They post discharge curves on a lot of their cells. Check my edits above Paul. I am old and have a 4k monitor.
Sometimes I don't use ctl+ enough. Obtronic is claiming 1200mah....so I suspect it is the 1500 claimed cell wrapped. If it sucks I will hit a local vape store and get the well regarded 700mah efest cell.

 

[cistercian]

I retested the 505nm power now that I got the 1200mah 18350 cells. I was surprised that the CR123A cell
was now producing 50mw! Of course, the barrel is really too big for it so I suspect a poor connection
caused the previous reading. The new cells produced the same 50mw while filling the barrel much
more nicely. So the fitment was the issue. Problem solved!

 

[Pelagius]

Very good! Just say NO to Crapfire. For some reason I thought it was running on a single 18650. I have a few Nitecore 18350 in case my 505 needs them.
I just got my 2W 465 nm. Very bright! I opted for 3 power settings- 1mW, 1000 mW, 2000 mW, SOS, Strobe (don't need the last two functions).
At 2000 it gets pretty warm. 30 mm Copper heat sink and 24 X 140 mm Copper-Nickel Alloy body (acts as 2ndary heat sink)- 260g w/out battery.
There is no duty cycle listed for this one. Website says 60 seconds on-off for 4Watt 470 nm and 1.6W 405 nm.
I think I need confirmation!


QUOTE="cistercian, post: 1546937, member: 16411"]I retested the 505nm power now that I got the 1200mah 18350 cells. I was surprised that the C123A cell
was now producing 50mw! Of course, the barrel is really too big for it so I suspect a poor connection
caused the previous reading. The new cells produced the same 50mw while filling the barrel much
more nicely. So the fitment was the issue. Problem solved![/QUOTE]

 

[paul1598419]

I got some cheapie reds friday. They came with crapfire 3000mah batteries that weighed about 1/3 what my 3500mah orbtronics do.

I actually trust those guys. They post discharge curves on a lot of their cells. Check my edits above Paul. I am old and have a 4k monitor.
Sometimes I don't use ctl+ enough. Obtronic is claiming 1200mah....so I suspect it is the 1500 claimed cell wrapped. If it sucks I will hit a local vape store and get the well regarded 700mah efest cell.

Now a 700 mAh 18350 is totally believable. More than twice that capacity, not so much. I'm not a youngster either. My 60th BD was a few years ago. I no longer buy any batteries on eBay. That lasted a very short time when I was unaware of the ridiculous claims made about their capacities. Most of my batteries come from Liion Wholesale. They seem to have the best prices for new OEM batteries than anyone else I have seen and they have never disappointed me on the capacity of any of the cells I have purchased from them.

 

[cistercian]

Now a 700 mAh 18350 is totally believable. More than twice that capacity, not so much. I'm not a youngster either. My 60th BD was a few years ago. I no longer buy any batteries on eBay. That lasted a very short time when I was unaware of the ridiculous claims made about their capacities. Most of my batteries come from Liion Wholesale. They seem to have the best prices for new OEM batteries than anyone else I have seen and they have never disappointed me on the capacity of any of the cells I have purchased from them.

I am 56 Paul...soon to be 57. According to what I have read compact vaping hosts are driving demand for higher capacity 18350 cells.
Compared to the several actual 3500mah 18650 cells 1100 or 1200mah seems doable in the package size. So far the
cells are performing admirably...but it would be nice to put them on an analyzer...to know for sure.Apparently the aspire 1100mah
is discontinued but a new 1100mah cell is available on the website you recommended. Perhaps 1200mah is actually reasonable if using
the same tech the 3500mah 18650 cells use. Supposedly, there was no demand for high mah 18350 cells until the vapers adopted them. My stepson vapes...and I charged a couple of LG 3500mah 18650 cells for him today. But his host is huge...not the new coolness apparently.

We will see. I don't like vaping...but I sure do approve the giant increased demand for powerful Li-ion cells. It really benefits us laser hobby users!!!

 

[Pelagius]

I am 56 Paul...soon to be 57. According to what I have read compact vaping hosts are driving demand for higher capacity 18350 cells.
Compared to the several actual 3500mah 18650 cells 1100 or 1200mah seems doable in the package size. So far the
cells are performing admirably...but it would be nice to put them on an analyzer...to know for sure.Apparently the aspire 1100mah
is discontinued but a new 1100mah cell is available on the website you recommended. Perhaps 1200mah is actually reasonable if using
the same tech the 3500mah 18650 cells use. Supposedly, there was no demand for high mah 18350 cells until the vapers adopted them. My stepson vapes...and I charged a couple of LG 3500mah 18650 cells for him today. But his host is huge...not the new coolness apparently.

We will see. I don't like vaping...but I sure do approve the giant increased demand for powerful Li-ion cells. It really benefits us laser hobby users!!!

I too have achieved later mid age. Being a kid and a fan of Lost in Space, and the original Star Trek sealed my fate as a laser fan! Although other than "The Menagerie/The Cage" they used "phasers," Funny, in the Cage they brought down a "laser canon" to burn through some rock- and all put on SAFETY GLASSES!
Funny thing-I was thinking the same-don't like vaping-but they have "fueled" battery research and design. For my 3 Challenger II's-I'm sticking to the Orbitronic Protected 3500 mAh 18650's-for the length. I also have Nitecore Protected 18650 3500 mAh. Also Nitecore 18350's and 16340's. With some Crapfire tossed in from when I knew ABSOLUTELY nothing (instead of a little). The smaller ones are for my Gatling 532 nm and Gatling 445 nm 1W

 

[paul1598419]

I can only go by what I've seen so far. I suppose next time I order batteries I'll try to get the highest capacity 18350s they have. Then I'll be able to test them for capacity. Panasonic has had 3400 mAh 18650s for years, but the 18350s were never close to half that. I'm not sure a 1200 mAh 18350 is doable as I have never seen that claim outside of the crapfire batteries. If someone else has tested the capacity of one of these high capacity 18350s, that would be enough to change my mind. Otherwise, I'll withhold judgement until I get a chance to test some.

 

[cistercian]

That's cool Paul. FWIW I share your skepticism. I too hope someone will weigh in...or I will have to buy an analyzer
to find out for myself.

To pelagius...star trek was really something in the 60's! It was my favorite show, by far! I remember the old edmund scientific
catalogue too...which had lasers. A HENE that was more than 1mw was over 1000 dollars in those days. I too share your
delight in what we can get today. Of course, my children take lasers for granted. I certainly don't!!!!! I still have and treasure my
first laser, a 650nm 5mw pointer. I remember laughing when I bought it because it was so inexpensive compared to
the lasers of my childhood! I keep playing with my 488nm and 505nm. They are so pretty and powerful...

And impossible when I was a young geek. I love electronics too...and learned vacuum tube tech as a boy and built many
projects with them, especially pirate radio transmitters! Now as an amateur radio operator...I don't do anything like that
but I can tell you the transceivers I own are like star trek compared to what was available when I was a boy.
I have an Extra class license...so the maximum privileges. It is a great hobby...also under appreciated in this time.
I was born in socal because dad was working on the SAGE project for IBM. A computer built for NORAD entirely from
vacuum tubes. There were SAGE installations in various parts of the US but the takeaway should be that any smartphone is
vastly more powerful than the computer NORAD used to use that filled a giant 10 story concrete bunker/building.

Growing up in our time...the advance in electronics has been incredible...to say the least. For me, it never gets old!!!!!


Here is a link to the NORAD SAGE on youtube. Enjoy!

 

[Pelagius]

WOW! Somehow I missed this post. I'm tempted to get a real laser Star Trek Tos Phaser built. The one I've seen uses a 445 nm . I'd rather it use a 465 nm-closer to the color I recall from the series.
That is a fascinating background! A TUBE computer for NORAD.
I had no one who knew electronics other than a childhood friend who got into CB and then ShortWave-and was always taking old TV's and Radios apart to get the magnets out. I DID have an old Tube AM Radio (wish I had it)-I thought that by sticking a sewing needle attached to a long copper wire-into the Ferrite Loop Antenna that I'd get more distance in my "DXing." What I got instead was a part of a Shortwave band. My friend is a Master Class? He can give out new Licenses after he admins the exam.


And I remember looking at plans for a laser-using a polished ruby rod back in the original series days
And I advanced in reading well ahead of my class-mostly through a love of SciFi-which of course helped with my fascination with coherent light.

That's cool Paul. FWIW I share your skepticism. I too hope someone will weigh in...or I will have to buy an analyzer
to find out for myself.

To pelagius...star trek was really something in the 60's! It was my favorite show, by far! I remember the old edmund scientific
catalogue too...which had lasers. A HENE that was more than 1mw was over 1000 dollars in those days. I too share your
delight in what we can get today. Of course, my children take lasers for granted. I certainly don't!!!!! I still have and treasure my
first laser, a 650nm 5mw pointer. I remember laughing when I bought it because it was so inexpensive compared to
the lasers of my childhood! I keep playing with my 488nm and 505nm. They are so pretty and powerful...

And impossible when I was a young geek. I love electronics too...and learned vacuum tube tech as a boy and built many
projects with them, especially pirate radio transmitters! Now as an amateur radio operator...I don't do anything like that
but I can tell you the transceivers I own are like star trek compared to what was available when I was a boy.
I have an Extra class license...so the maximum privileges. It is a great hobby...also under appreciated in this time.
I was born in socal because dad was working on the SAGE project for IBM. A computer built for NORAD entirely from
vacuum tubes. There were SAGE installations in various parts of the US but the takeaway should be that any smartphone is
vastly more powerful than the computer NORAD used to use that filled a giant 10 story concrete bunker/building.

Growing up in our time...the advance in electronics has been incredible...to say the least. For me, it never gets old!!!!!


Here is a link to the NORAD SAGE on youtube. Enjoy!

 

[Pelagius]

HA! DHL just delivered. I too am a member of the Waterproof BeamQ 505. club