The next move - a 250mW + 637nm HL6388MG

[rhd]

The good news:
- I was able to get this to hit 234mW with a 445 aixis glass.

The bad news:
- It took 560mA of current.

I'm going to digest this experience a bit, and decided how build this diode. I'm happy with my results, though this thing got HOT, and only achieved that output with an icecube (wrapped in tissue to absorb the water) sitting on top of the aixiz module.

All things considered, the HL63133DG is a much better diode (IMO). But I'm happy. I'll keep this guy

 

[rhd]

And then..... started it cold again at 420mA - DEAD

The end.

 

[Trevor]

I feel like you're doing water cooling wrong.

I like it.

EDIT: ...didn't notice the above post. That sucks. ><

-Trevor

 

[rhd]

Post-Mortem Report

- To get even close to this diode's rated output power, I needed to exceed the rated maximum quite substantially. Though it appeared to handle this fine at the time, it complained afterwards (ie, it died immediately the next time I booted it up at even within-datasheet-range current).

- While there was some confusion regarding lenses, this doesn't really address the inherent problem with this diode. IE, at the "absolute maximum" current of 430, even with both a glass 445 and a glass uncoated, I couldn't hit 180mw.

- Further, this guy started getting hot very early. It needed an ice-cube strategically placed to keep the temperature "stable". Compare this to the HL63133DG which barely gets hot in my experience.

In closing, I think you could probably get 150mW from this diode in a pointer without cooling, if you drove it at ~430mA, and weren't too picky about life. Having experienced the HL63133DG, there is no shred of doubt in my mind that it's the way to go. It's more expensive ($175 vs $130 for this guy), but the extra $45 is absolutely worth your money. You'll get a better beam, and likely a higher output too (regardless of ratings).

That's it folks. I wouldn't go down this diode route again, though it was an interesting "hump day adventure". It sucks to loose the $130, but sometimes it takes loosing something to learn something new

 

[DTR]

I have mine set to 300mA and it gives 125mW. It looks about 3X brighter than my 300mW LOC.

 

[rhd]

It's interesting - this diode looking almost exactly like a 445 (but red). I suppose all multi-modes look the same (pattern wise), but I had never seen this from anything other than a 445.

However, it behaved differently at low (below datasheet) currents. 445s sort of "initialize lines one by one", but with this guy, the whole pattern lit up immediately, and scaled as a whole in terms of brightness.