rhd
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- Dec 7, 2010
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Ya, I mean certainly the reason I did this ^ in the first place was that the Arctic was putting out 110mW of blue. Though to be fair, it was a used second-hand unit. But absent the power issues, I think this is a decent enough looking unit. It's of a higher quality than I expected. I laughed when I saw that it uses an Aixiz half-threaded standard 3-element lens! I figured it would use something proprietary. That's cool.
Anyway, I'm having some fun with the build, and doing something that runs totally counter to any advice I would normally give anyone else. I'm running this build on continuous, logging it on a LaserBee, just to see where it ends up, to see what happens. If the diode dies, it dies. I've got a decent Samsung cell in it. If the test stops, for whatever reason, and output is still possible, I'll take a spectrometer reading. I'll do the same again once it has cooled, with a new cell (presuming the laser is alright). I'm not calibrated to test the RED spectrum properly (accurate wavelength determinations), but I can still do comparisons within the spectrum, of two relatively close wavelengths, and should be able to state a differential figure with some accuracy.
We're at the 20 minute mark now.
- I'm seeing 490mW output, with an average for the run that is still around 505mW.
We're at the 30 minute mark now.
- I'm seeing 482mW output, with an average for the run of exactly 500mW.
We're at the 40 minute mark now.
- I'm seeing 463mW output, with an average for the run of 494mW.
AND, at the 42 minute and 29 second mark, DEATH.
- At least, the laser stopped outputting. Investigation in progress. One way or another, that's an awesome duty cycle.
AND, she's just fine
- I'm guessing that either the cell dropped below some sort of cut-off voltage, or the Arctic driver has thermal protection (on one of the ICs) that kicked in, or some combination of the two factors. 2 minutes after the "death" proclamation, with a fresh cell, it jumps back up to 490+. It's still warm, so I'm going to shut her down for half an hour, and see if it actually jumps back up to the full 550mW.
Quick ~10 minute cool down by an open window (it's 1 degree C outside) and a charged IMR 18650:
- It LPMs back up to full power (actually a little higher this time).
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