China RGB laser modules: worth it?

[colouredmirrorball]

Put some scanners and a DAC on it and I assure you, you're gonna have a lot more fun!

How come if you connect 0 V to the modulation the lasers turn off, but are apparently on by default?

[PhantomRage]

I little update on mine. The red burned out after 15 mins of use. Kinda bummed but expected it not to last...

(we lost the house and are moving. After the move I will see about a repair)

[ktroy]

I little update on mine. The red burned out after 15 mins of use. Kinda bummed but expected it not to last...

(we lost the house and are moving. After the move I will see about a repair)

Sorry to hear about the house.

I had the red burn out on me in TWO of these units, I sent both of them back and bought from another ebay member that sells analogue version. I also think, it only happened twice when I was using a 12v source with a little more than 12v current. I never seemed to have a problem using the 2 19650 batteries in tandem, which is well under 12v. I hope it doesn't happen again.

[orbital]

Hi, I'm Andy and I bought december 2012 one from Ebay reseller Laserlands.
It's a W500: 635nm/120mW, 532nm/80mW and 470nm/200mW. Searching on internet I found on the website of Shenzhen Optlaser Technology the same module with same specs. This module is TTL. I've tested it at 10 Meters and for me it gives a beautifull small dot.

But boring 7 colour TTL so when I saw the Analog version of the W500 at Techhood I ordered this one and received it today.
I connected on 12 volt and immediatly was producing a beam (?) I have not tested it on my dac so I don't know yet how the analog driver is working.

But....this module gives no beautifull, small dot but a very very ugly multimode 638 red and the beam looks less powerfull (probably caused by the broad beam?) green and blue seams to be small but they drown in the huge stripe (even at 2 mtr!!) When I look at the specs of the Techhood module again I see other specs:532nm/80mW, 638nm/250mW, 445nm/200mW...Why didn't I see it before? The sticker on the module is exactly the same as the module of laserlands:W500 followed by serialnumber but what a difference!! Also the fan in the Laserlands module is very quiet, the one in the Techhood module very loud.

I have send a message to Techhood and asked why the components in this module are so different because it makes this module really unusable for projectors.

Maybe change the red diode in the techhood for a nice Singlemode version? Or send it back and better change the driverboard of the laserlands module for an analog one?
Or keep both and make both modifications? Suggestions are welcome..

Greets, Andy

[ktroy]

Hi, I'm Andy and I bought december 2012 one from Ebay reseller Laserlands.
It's a W500: 635nm/120mW, 532nm/80mW and 470nm/200mW. Searching on internet I found on the website of Shenzhen Optlaser Technology the same module with same specs. This module is TTL. I've tested it at 10 Meters and for me it gives a beautifull small dot.

But boring 7 colour TTL so when I saw the Analog version of the W500 at Techhood I ordered this one and received it today.
I connected on 12 volt and immediatly was producing a beam (?) I have not tested it on my dac so I don't know yet how the analog driver is working.

But....this module gives no beautifull, small dot but a very very ugly multimode 638 red and the beam looks less powerfull (probably caused by the broad beam?) green and blue seams to be small but they drown in the huge stripe (even at 2 mtr!!) When I look at the specs of the Techhood module again I see other specs:532nm/80mW, 638nm/250mW, 445nm/200mW...Why didn't I see it before? The sticker on the module is exactly the same as the module of laserlands:W500 followed by serialnumber but what a difference!! Also the fan in the Laserlands module is very quiet, the one in the Techhood module very loud.

I have send a message to Techhood and asked why the components in this module are so different because it makes this module really unusable for projectors.

Maybe change the red diode in the techhood for a nice Singlemode version? Or send it back and better change the driverboard of the laserlands module for an analog one?
Or keep both and make both modifications? Suggestions are welcome..

Greets, Andy

I would keep the laserlands one because the analogue version I have from techhood has poor results when applying voltage through the TTL inputs. It either turns the laser very very dim, or has practically no affect.
The 200mw version I have from techhood has the 650nm red, but it has very poor brightness control on the diodes. Even turning the POTs on the driver board , practically turns the diodes on/off. Strange.
This is makes very hard to get anything more than 7 colors. The one from laserlands (which I sent back due to the red failing) had precise control over brightness of each diode using the pots. Not helpful for projector use but for my use it was nice.

Have fun!

[orbital]

Hi Ktroy, thank yoy for your reply. Don't take it as an offence but when I read your earlier posts I can imagine why you've had 2 of these with red burned out. The pots on the drivers are not for modulation purposes. Thats why they seal these pots. Unplugging the colors like you wrote in post #54 isn't also not so good idea because you likely unplugged the diodes from the driver. Laserdiodes are very ESD-sensitive components. When you unplug the diode from its driver and plug it again all without taking care of ESD its very likely you ruin the diodes (If the driver is powered during plugging, its even worse!) And if they not completely ruined, they can lose there brightness quickly. When the modules are replaced I think the reseller has a very tolerant return policy. Lets hope it has.

Its better to leave the drivers for what they are. Its likeley when they manufactured these modules they regulated them to the max (maybe not too gentle on the diodes?). So better dont touch the pots, keep them sealed and do the modulation only external (like it supposed to be). What voltage do you use to drive the TTL inputs?
For your purpose you probably don't need a dac, but you need at least a 5 volt source for TTL, or a regulated 5 volt source for analog modulation or better: 3 regulated 0-5 volt sources to make every possible colour (if analog modulation on the driver is working well...) Let the magic begin!!
Google for variabel voltage regulator 0-5 volt.

Enjoy your lasers!!

[swamidog]

or just use 10k ohm linear potentiometers on the 5v modulation inputs.

Google for variabel voltage regulator 0-5 volt.

Enjoy your lasers!!

[ktroy]

Hi Ktroy, thank yoy for your reply. Don't take it as an offence but when I read your earlier posts I can imagine why you've had 2 of these with red burned out. The pots on the drivers are not for modulation purposes. Thats why they seal these pots. Unplugging the colors like you wrote in post #54 isn't also not so good idea because you likely unplugged the diodes from the driver. Laserdiodes are very ESD-sensitive components. When you unplug the diode from its driver and plug it again all without taking care of ESD its very likely you ruin the diodes (If the driver is powered during plugging, its even worse!) And if they not completely ruined, they can lose there brightness quickly. When the modules are replaced I think the reseller has a very tolerant return policy. Lets hope it has.

Its better to leave the drivers for what they are. Its likeley when they manufactured these modules they regulated them to the max (maybe not too gentle on the diodes?). So better dont touch the pots, keep them sealed and do the modulation only external (like it supposed to be). What voltage do you use to drive the TTL inputs?
For your purpose you probably don't need a dac, but you need at least a 5 volt source for TTL, or a regulated 5 volt source for analog modulation or better: 3 regulated 0-5 volt sources to make every possible colour (if analog modulation on the driver is working well...) Let the magic begin!!
Google for variabel voltage regulator 0-5 volt.

Enjoy your lasers!!

Orbital, no offense taken at all. This was my first lab diode and I wanted to tinker with the RGB capabilities. Although you could say, I am a perfect example of someone using something in a way it was not intended! If I touch the pots, I turn them down and not up, I don't think there would be much harm in this.
Grounding the TTL inputs turn the selected diode on/off. This seems to be a safe way to deactivate the diodes.

Hope you get your analogue modulation working, let us know how it goes.
Thanks

[electrowiz]

Guys,
Got the 400mW RGB Analog eBay version today and here is what I see.
1) Yes the beams are a little mis-aligned (mine showed up at about 50 feet). But then again I doubt too many of us could design and build a module that was still aligned well after a bumpy trip from China.
2) With about a hour of fiddling I was able to align all three colors and get a nice white beam. All adjustments are with a 2.5 mm hex wrench. The green stays un-adjusted as the reference beam. The two hex head screws on the front where the beam exits, are the blue diode, there are two inside (facing the fan) that adjust the red, there are two on the case where the heatsink is that adjust the two dicros. If you have done this with other RGB assemblies it is pretty familiar.
3) You can have a lot if fun with a module like this if you are not trying to light up a stadium at a rock concert. But for a more modest venue for the price two or three could do some fun displays.
4) A little bit of caution in setting it up can help prevent the disappointment of burning things out. We all know that "just took it out of the box can't wait to see the beams" feeling. But slapping on some clip leads in a quickly rigged setup can easily cause shorts or spikes that will kill the unit, and the fun. Find a good 12v supply(I soldered to the pins in each connector and applied hot melt to lock in place) to power it. If you've got the Analog version three pots wired with +5V and ground and the wipers to the analog inputs should give you beam control. Not sure about what is "analog" as it looks like there is a high frequency pulse-width fade up to the point it is full on. Start with the pots turned down to ground, power up the 12v and then check out each beam or the color combinations.
5) And a little historical perspective of what you are holding in your hands, back in the day Laserium put on planetarium shows with a Spectra Physics 165 Krypton laser that was almost 4 feet long, weighed 40 lbs and sucked up 2.2 gallons of water a min. just to keep cool (If you walked around the back of the Griffith planetarium there was a garden hose down the hillside with the cooling water flowing out if it). Spectra physics output power was near 1 watt. These little modules are technically amazing by comparison.
Hope this helps.
Have fun, stay safe.
Bill

[electrowiz]

Sorry to hear about the house.

I had the red burn out on me in TWO of these units, I sent both of them back and bought from another ebay member that sells analogue version. I also think, it only happened twice when I was using a 12v source with a little more than 12v current. I never seemed to have a problem using the 2 19650 batteries in tandem, which is well under 12v. I hope it doesn't happen again.

Ktroy,

You may want to measure your 12V supply with nothing connected on the power supply leads. Your lasers seemed to work fine on batteries which would not fluctuate to higher voltage levels. But on the power supply, if it was poorly regulated it may have higher output voltages at power up, and thereby fried your red beams.