# The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever pot at 73mw



## deezdrama05 (Nov 4, 2005)

Well ive had over a hundred 105 units pass my hands and have potmodded and tested all- most reached 20mw and a scarce few hit 50mw+ - There was one unit that hit 73mw with potmod only and became more efficient as it got warmer!.....You know i had to keep this rare unit for myself. I kept it for several months with potmod only and a couple weeks ago i got curious and decided to do the resistor swap, put it like this...it was a disaster-the brass module was so tight i dont know how it ever got in there- no other unit i dismantled was ever this snug-soooooooo i broke the diode legs off at midpoint while getting the module out.........now i felt like going nuts. I looked at the back of the diode and it was completelly white plus there was thermal paste everywhere in/on the brass housing, the diode had really thick legs and a wierd cross like design on the back along with a couple other odd markings on the brass body that ive never seen on another leadlight. Well i put the broken laser up being scared to make it worse untill tonight with coronas advise-thanks dude- and some patience I got the unit working fine again and even did the resistor mod..... I did the resistor swap and got it all put back together after 2 hours of nail bitting and fixing a couple problems with the driver not being centered but all in all it went smoothly and for some reason the current would not go over 430ma but thats probablly a good thing.anyway I tested it on my LED DMM which ive set with over 100 laser pointers and find very accurate and this beast peaks at 450 and settles at 430 after a few seconds meaning its around 150mw stable. I did not believe it at first but I have owned a wickedlaser mx which was 90mw and this leadlight puts it to shame- I pointed it at a freckle on my arm and it felt like a cigarette being put out on my arm instantlly- my wicked mx i could feel a slight burn after 5 seconds- this thing smolters electrical tape instantly- I cant believe a leadlight is capable of this much output. I will have to follow a strict duty cycle so i dont burn up this badboy. All these readings and tests where done with a half used set of aaa's. I think this was produced as a high output unit and somehow got mixed up in an order of 105 units. This unit is crazy powerful.Brightest pointer ive ever seen and its a leadlight....I will post picks when i get a chance.


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## nemul (Nov 4, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

lucky


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## _MiChAeL_ (Nov 4, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

wow i wanna see pics


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## deezdrama05 (Nov 5, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Ill try and get some pics today of it next to a standard 5mw unit. I popped a ballon last night from 6 feet away in about 3 seconds. Light a cigarette in about 20seconds.


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## _MiChAeL_ (Nov 5, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

did u take any pics of the markings or nething when you took it apart


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## HD58PHD (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Light a cigarette? LOL!!
Lets see a video clip of that one,it takes less time to click a couple pics and show it than it does to type that half page story!
At least maybe a baloon video? KICK MAN KICK!!!
What resistors did you change and what size/value were they?
Is it/was it an APC type? Red or green LED?
KICK WITH SOME VIDS/PICS!


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## Athoul (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Just some points I find a bit odd... not saying it isn't true...but it sounds a bit far fetched. You need some videos of the laser or pictures etc...videos are more credible. The reason is, it takes alot more then 150mW to light a cigarette, and also there is no way a leadlight rated 5mW with a 200-300mW pump diode can output 150mW. There are no ammount of resistor mods or current mods that will do this without instantly blowing the laser diode. 

Also... the LED test is very very inacurate. I have found this when comparing results from the led test to that of a Coherent LaserCheck meter.
People seem to use 2.8 as the factor to divide by...but it varies with different LEDS

post vids

cheers,


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## deezdrama05 (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Well just let me say that If i read this thread I probablly would not believe it either- that being said....... I have been a member on this forum for a long time and Ive been messing with lasers for a long time and Im not the one to conjure up a false story for any reason- I just wanted to share my experiences. Let me tell you a little of my background... A while back I designed a laser mount for telescopes- since then Ive sold these with leadlight units- Ive had over a hundred 105 units pass through my hands in the past few months and I checked shipped output-potted output-before and after current draws- And I have device I designed that houses each unit stable at the same exact angle to the LED diode when testing on my DMM. - the unit also bocks out reflected light and allows for pretty accurate testing with no variables of the people who just hold there pointer at a green LED. That being said - I have tested over one hundred units- and use the average stock output as a base for testing so yes it is very accurate give or take a few +/- mw output reading as I had a coherant lasercheck and its reading where spot on-to very close to my LED DMM readings. Let me remind you guys that out of all these units this is the only one that had outputs like this- all others where in the 15-20mw range after pot turned up. This particular unit came to me stock at 26mw stable and increased output as its on time increased. After potmod it hit 73mw stable. Furthermore Ive owned/tested/and reviewed the wickedlasers mx that was 85-90mw. This unit was very nice but from hands on playing of the mx and this leadlight alone I can easilly tell you this leadlight is way more powerful than the mx- I can tell you this without output reading,testing,laserchecks or DMM. The mx would cause a slight burning sensation to a tattooed part of my skin-the leadlight would downright sting inteselly. The mx could light a match that was marked black with a marker-the leadlight will light one without the marker. My mx would make a cigarrette smoke- the leadlight will damn near light it-making it smoke heavilly-and will instantlly singe electrical tape. I have no reason to lie about this pointer- you can believe what you want it does not bother me at all. I do not have a video camera and my digital camera sucks but after i get moved into my new house and unbox everything i will post pics. I posted pics on here a while back when it was 73mw.


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## cbfull (Nov 7, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

It is true that you would not be able to get 150mW from a 300mW pump diode with the standard components used to construct the leadlights.

It sounds like that laser has already been modded by somebody else. The crystals could be better optimised for heat transfer, which could explain all the extra thermal compound. Another thing is the diode legs which you describe as being thicker than usual. The old diode has probably been swapped with a better diode, 500mW or possibly even 1W. The only thing puzzling is that I have never heard of any diode above 300mW in a 5.6mm package.

Does the module appear to have been re-machined for a 9mm diode?


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## deezdrama05 (Nov 7, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

I think it was some kind of high output unit that slipped and passed for a regular leadlight 105-but I was not aware leadlight made high output pointer style lasers. Im going to open her back up and take pics when I get a chance.


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## That_Guy (Nov 7, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

I don't think it's unreasonable. Some wicked lasers have been reported to have peaked at over 200mW, and that's from a 500mW pump diode. That's 40% efficiency in the crystals.

A 300mW diode isn't _that_ much less than 500mW, so it sounds reasonable. 150mW from 300mW is 50% crystal efficiency. But remember that the diode is being over driven, probably closer to 400mW, which would make the crystals around 40% efficient, which isn't unheard of.


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## deezdrama05 (Nov 8, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*



That_Guy said:


> I don't think it's unreasonable. Some wicked lasers have been reported to have peaked at over 200mW, and that's from a 500mW pump diode. That's 40% efficiency in the crystals.
> 
> A 300mW diode isn't _that_ much less than 500mW, so it sounds reasonable. 150mW from 300mW is 50% crystal efficiency. But remember that the diode is being over driven, probably closer to 400mW, which would make the crystals around 40% efficient, which isn't unheard of.




Thank you for backing me up- again I have no reason to lie about this lasers power and it was one out of over one hundred units that i had. Im currentlly only running the diode at 430ma of current but yes its overdriven- This unit has some very efficient crystals in it thats for sure. It stopped working tonight when i was testing current draw- the diode connection must of came undone where I soldered it- Ill take pics when I take it apart to fix


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## teslacoiler1 (Nov 8, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

I wonder how many of these super 105s have been delivered to people that don't have a clue as to what they have. If it has happened once, I'm sure it has happened before. Wish I could get so lucky.


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## EGP (Nov 8, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*



teslacoiler1 said:


> I wonder how many of these super 105s have been delivered to people that don't have a clue as to what they have. If it has happened once, I'm sure it has happened before. Wish I could get so lucky.



But then imagine someone saying "Hey, it's only 5mW so it's perfectly safe; here - let me point it at your eyes...." :shakehead 


Regards,
Erling


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## Athoul (Nov 9, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Oh, don't get me wrong... I'm not saying it isn't true, just saying it "sounded" far fetched...basically of the 200mW diode pumps in leadlights.

Let me just clear up some things, as you seemed to get defensive, but this wasn't in any way an attack on your posting.

1. I work with lasers as well..I have an engineering background and was not questioning your experience or your background. I'm more of a facts person then a word of mouth person...as in, I like to see some images etc to back up any claims...doesn't make any difference to me if someone is a long time forum member or a guest.

2. One of the reported Wickeds at around 200mW was done by myself and it was indeed a unit with a 500mW diode pump, however I included both pictures and videos with it...I knew if I didn't, the claim would be brushed off as moot....So what I'm saying is, try to get some pics, or even better get some vids. Hell I'm sure we would all like too see em!

3. The LED test can be accurate if done right, you would need a laser in which the mW output was a known "spot on" figure. This could be done with a lasercheck or similar device. Then you would need to get the divisional factor that you would apply to your mA reading to get the mW output, you could then apply this to all other units... that would be the only way to get an accurate reading, if this is what you do then yea.. I would agree it is accurate. 

Some notes though..
300mW diode is a lot less then a 500mW diode...300mW is 40% less.
40% conversion rate is not unheard of...but 75% is, if it's a 200mW diode thats not over-driven...which are what's in leadlights.

From what was said, I agree that either the diode is being over-driven to 300 or 400mW...or I think it's possible that the diode has been replaced at some point(before you recieved it) with a 300 or even 500mW diode.

Like I said...in cases like this, nothing beats some images etc.

cheers,


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## cbfull (Nov 9, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

I agree. I don't want it to sound like I am saying these numbers are wrong, I just think the parts have been "modded up" so that it is basically no longer the typical leadlight. I can't imagine how the cement that holds the Nd:YVO4 to the KTP could last very long at that output. It makes me wonder if the crystals have been changed as well.

Very interesting indeed.


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## deezdrama05 (Nov 10, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Unfortunatelly when getting my diode connection soldered back onto the brass body and it tested fine- after getting it in the laser body it doesnt lase. Ive took it back apart and cannot figure the problem out- Im not an expert on electronics so Im going to send the unit to corona for him to test and figure out what the problem is. Maybee he has a digital cam better than mine and will post pics


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## deezdrama05 (Nov 10, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

CLICK the link in my signature- theres a few shots of the laser when it was 73mw. Theres a shot of it and a 20mw unit side by side. Remember I have a crappy 2 MP digital camera and a 5mw lasers beam doesnt even show up on my camera. It dont look that amazing but my camera sucks and I dont have shutter speed camera tricks. Its brighter to the eye in real life then in these pics- ecspecially now at over 100mw


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## Athoul (Nov 10, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

No problem, I like the fast shutter speeds..as I find it gives a more accurate display of the beam dot...although sometimes it's hard for it to pick up the actual beam line. The comparison image is great, you can see quite a difference.


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## Corona (Nov 11, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*



deezdrama said:


> Im going to send the unit to corona for him to test and figure out what the problem is. Maybe he has a digital cam better than mine and will post pics



I do have a decent digicam and can apply shutter tricks to get some good photos, and can compare it to my 30(??)mW APC 110 

I can also take video shorts (that's how I made my avatar, in a hotel room, with a bit of cigar smoke). Wish I had my old galvo setup working 

I also have a "spare", fairly hot 105 laser barrel assembly, so I can test the SuperDiode in it (in case the Nd:YVO4 or KTP has died in the BADDEST pointer). So I can for sure shed some...ahem...light on what happened here.


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## Davidgojr (Nov 13, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

That would be amazing to get that kind of conversion rate. It would be good to see some pics and vids!


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## deezdrama05 (Dec 1, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Well the verdict is in - The diode in this unit is damaged- One of the legs was damaged when re-assembling after resistor swap and the leg became loose and the tiny wire inside the LD must of became severed. Corona was kind enough to test the diode and driverboard. Good news is that the awesome crystal set from my pointer is still fully functional. I believe the original diode in this unit was just a standard 250mw diode. He has a LD from a 110 unit. Anyone know if they are the same output rating as the 105 diodes??? Hopefully a new LD and some decent collimation will get that baby powered up to close to original outputs. Ill keep everyone up to date and hopefully 
Corona will get life breathing back into this pointer and maybee be nice enough to post some pics.


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## Corona (Dec 6, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Well, it's fixed, sort of. I replaced the dead LD with one from a Vital 110, but set the current to a more survivable 350mA. Measurement on my LED power meter indicates approx 75mW, although that could be off by 20% or more. 

It does pop a red balloon in a couple seconds (I'll post a vid clip, left the camera at home today). I'll be sending the pointer back to deezdrama05 today as well. While I still have two fully functioning retinas. Reflections off this thing are very very dangerous...

IMO, it's all in the crystal set on this one. It is remarkably more efficient than any other I have seen (only about a dozen though), a few 105s, and several 110s from Atlas and Vital. I did no LD rotation peaking, just screwed it down and soldered it back together and WOW time to burn stuff ahahahaa 

I put in a total of about 3 minutes ON time...waiting to hear what deez will do with it when he gets it back (anybody think that 350mA setting will be changed?)


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## deezdrama05 (Dec 6, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Awesome! Just read you email, glad this badboy is functional again. So is the 110 tube you put it in a better fit then that super snug 105 tube-body? I will probablly leave it alone for awhile but eventually i will get in there and mess with diode collimation and maybee turn up a few extra mA of current.....j/k or am I??? hehe thanks again bro!


Oh yeah- to all you unbelievers........told you it was the baddest leadlight 105 ever- Hehe- naw.. just a super efficient set of crystals


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## Athoul (Dec 7, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Glad to hear you were able to get it repaired! Hopefully we can see some pictires soon


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## Corona (Dec 7, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Pictures then. Static photos (beam shots etc) didn't turn out as all that impressive; but I hooked up my old rotating mirror lissajous figure setup and here's a couple of them. Comparing a "stock" ~5mW pointer to the ~75mW beast. These are frames snatched from a video clip I took. 5mW first, a cloverleaf pattern







And the beast, same pattern






Now the 5mW, one mirror stopped






And the beast






The coolest thing I noted on that last one was that I could see the beam trace in the dust in the air (in the photo) as a little corkscrew effect. Way Cool.

By the way, the barrel was not machined for a 9mm diode; a standard (200mW?) LD was installed. 75mW from a 200mW pump diode makes sense with a (really good!) crystal set conversion factor of about 35%. Probably the dead diode was a 250-300mW unit; I have also not yet seen any 5.6mm 808nM LD above 350mW (claimed).

Anyway, they show how much brighter the beam is when moving; this would be a GREAT lightshow laser. I have a set of crappy old slow galvos that for some reason I feel the urge to dig up and start playing with...


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## deezdrama05 (Dec 7, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Thanks again man! recieved the units today...very well packaged. So do you think it would damage this crystal set if i ordered a diode in the 300-350mw range if a strict duty cycle was maintained. I just checked it with my LED DMM and came up with 79mw so our setups are pretty close, and just image........ this beast was reading over 400 mA on my LED dmm before i broke the original diode. right now its at half its potential but im going to leave it alone.........................for a while mwaahaaahaaa<----evil laugh


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## Athoul (Dec 9, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

It should be ok, but you don't want to risk damaging the crystals with an excessive ammount of energy.

Personally I would keep it as is, it's a very nice find especially since it seems a lot of these lasers are checked before they are shipped.


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## Bangstrom (Dec 15, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Hello world- 
Please don't flame me (or point that laser at me  for being off-topic--

It might be mechanically impossible to do this, but if your intention was to just zap balloons- could you take the crystals out so that only infrared is emitted? Wouldn't that get the job done quicker? (with more stealth in public too)

ps I just started surfing around for bright green lasers in general and found all this mod talk so now I'm bidding on one on ebay, hope to get a 105 for $20-30. Any reason to go elsewhere? Hope to get it up to 20mW just for kicks. (maybe more..)

And now my on-topic question:
Your laser rocks; have you seen any differences in lot numbers on those packages? 

-Bº


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## deezdrama05 (Dec 23, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

what do you mean by "lot numbers"


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## bg2vo (Dec 24, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*



Bangstrom said:


> Hello world-
> ,,,, but if your intention was to just zap balloons- could you take the crystals out so that only infrared is emitted? Wouldn't that get the job done quicker? (with more stealth in public too)


Actually the infrared has much more divergence(if same lens is used) than green making it more difficault to zap balloons at distance.


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## Athoul (Dec 25, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Like bg2vo said, the divergnce on IR is much greater then that of 532nm light. Though IR would be better for up close, it will not be as effective over longer distance of even a foot or so.


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## deezdrama05 (Dec 30, 2005)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

Just thought id say this unit is still working great- thanks corona!!
Im going to go buy some rechargeable aaa's today and align the diode and crank up the current a bit. Ill post my results


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## Corona (Jan 4, 2006)

Glad to hear it's still whompin' out them photons. 

Don't hurt it now! Anxious to hear what you get with a little more current. I would advise charting the power and current and watching for the "knee" in that curve - stay below the knee if you want to keep that diode alive.


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## deezdrama05 (Jan 7, 2006)

Well I cranked the current to draw 430, The results on my DMM read 124mw for about 5 seconds then drops and stabalizes at around 103mw....with new batteries....but I keep a very strict duty cycle of 30 seconds or less on this beast...............Amazing!


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## deezdrama05 (Jan 7, 2006)

I dont use the laser much to try and preserve it- but next time i have it apart i will lower the current a bit


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## tobjectpascal (Jun 13, 2006)

*Re: The BADDEST leadlight 105 ever*

After doing the resistor mod on my 105 i was getting 450+ usually i get around 360 - 400 because i can't align the LED up properly, if i move it about at an angle it shows around 100, but when i get it straight it's near 400, but as this camera video shows

http://daynacommunications.com/peak464.avi (800k) 

But the strange thing is, this too gets a higher reading the warmer it gets, i noticed this morning after it had reached just 6c in here, it flicked on and off and struggled to get a beam out until i had warmed it up in my hands and then the power just got stronger, i dare not leave it on for too long, then i might damage it....

It was bought as a leadlight 20mw, it looks identical to a 5mw 105 in every way just the pot was up (and i was told this was done in the factory) I could even quote the serial number to confirm it.

http://daynacommunications.com/peak464.avi (800k) 

there you have it, peaking at 464, it's not a true DMM so it could be quite a bit lower, but if you look at the other thread i made, it burns plastic, can't light a match though, it starts to burn your skin after about 3 seconds, not a light tingle either, enough to make you want to move your hand away fast.


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