Originally Posted by
ZeroPoint
. . I'm having trouble with the blue. It was only measuring about 65mW at the rated current. I'm over driving it now to 250mA and only getting about 115mW out of it. I don't remember if I took this video before or after I started over driving the diode, but either way it's putting out less than it should. I'm going to be replacing it with a known good diode that will do 180mW easily.
I've seen this occasionally as well. First, what colimation lens are using? You should be using a G2. An acrylic lens will result in lost power.
This lack of power, especially when the colimated beam seems a bit skewed in one direction (as opposed to being a tight dot extending a bit into a short line), can be indicative of the diode not being seated in the mount properly. If it is at a slight angle, you lose a good portion of the beam and your power. I've also seen the occasional dud of a diode that simply isn't performing at its minimal specs. I've probably seen a two or three out of the ~80 or so blues I've purchased from DTR. If you purchased the diode in the bullet mounts that DTR sells, pull it apart and see if you can see if its not fully pressed in on the back. (You need a special tool to seat it properly.)
-David
"Help, help, I'm being repressed!"