The diode and driver have arrived, finally.
I had to order the diode module and the driver separately as it was cheaper than the diode plus 12mm housing with inbuilt driver.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when the package arrived. Jordan simply soldered the driver to the diode, inside the housing as I originally wanted. Big thanks!
So the work was much easier this way. I only had to push the diode module into the heatsink and fix the side button switch.
Some soldering work had to be done but nothing like mount of additional heatsink or applying thermal paste or such.
The biggest challenge was to find out how to solder the positive and negative wires so they did not get twisted.
As there is not much space between the switch and the contact board I wanted to avoid cable twisting at all costs.
Finally I decided to push the two cables through the hole in the contact board.
This gave me the advantage to avoid twisting while the contact board holder part got screwed into its place.
On the other side I had to get the cables through the side of the spring, attached to the center contact from the battery side.
That made things overall a bit untidy but that solution is still more affordable and secure than let the cables twist.
Second, minor thing was to keep the switch's inside fixing nut in the same position, no matter how the host is used, e.g. shaken. That nut has a hexagonal shape and is prone to get loose very soon. So I applied kinda glue that is used in wet environments. It cures in 20-30 minutes but remains still flexible after curing so I hope it holds the switch's fixing nut in place forever
And that is all. No other diy methods were necessary to finish the build, so the host has proven itself to be really suitable for this build.
The duty cycle for the brass heatsink has not been tested yet, but after lasing some 5 minutes the heatsink was only warm, definitely far from being hot, but still this diode seems to be quite power hungry for the ~1W light output.
I have mounted the Sanwu X3 as well for testing and I am pleasantly surprised, to see the dot at far distances during the bright, sunny daylight. I will do some more distant pinpointing tests in the next days, and I try to make some photos as well.
Overall, I am satisfied with the host, the diode, driver and the whole solution at all.
And, as soon as there is a new, more powerful greenie diode @affordable price, I shall gladly try it in this host for sure.
Now I am uncertain at one thing only, just to know what power the laser can have, estimated. I am unsure how much current Jordan set the driver to, and I was too lazy to measure it before finishing the build.
@Jordan: if you read this, can you please provide the current value? THX
(shipment of N520 to Hungary)
