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pot-mod 100mw O-like

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knorkneutel

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I have a 100mW O-like green module, can I do the pot mod with these?
I've the Jayrob diy green, so there's good heatsinking,
 





A 100mW from O-like is more than likely putting out more than 100mW's, plenty of green beam. If you want more laser light it would be best to get a laser made for that ouput rather than try an boost one to it.

Bottom line- Pot Modding is a no no :tsk:
 
Yes i didnt get the beam stronger when i try the potmod..... So there no changes in de power so it will not broken ;)
 
If you "tried" to pot mod it you have probably upped the currently slightly to the diode and that will in turn result in a shorter life span.

Why even bother trying to do something which just breaks your laser with an already decent module? I just don't understand.
 
I don't get it.. It has been soo long since I have seen a video or article telling people it's an awesome idea to pot mod there lasers for more output... What are the new people looking at that tell them to pot mod a laser?? I don't get it. Why is this idea still floating around?

You shouldn't ever touch the pot on a laser unless you assembled it and understand the diode's capabilities and what stress is already being put on the diode.
 
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I bought once a 1mW kaleidscopic green laser from Germany. I did the potmod with these and the beam get very clear and burning into black plastic easily.... And it never broke! The 100mW i didnt' get brighter so it wil not broke because there no extra power too the diode , logica, I hope :D
Maybe some owners of laserpointershops will say like 'don't pot mod' otherwise people don't buy the expensive ones :P
I think the cheap under 20 mW laser you can do the potmod? My brother had the O like kaleidoscopic laser I thought 30mW and he says the potmod did not work on this one.
 
"I played two rounds of Russian roulette and I didn't die, so its entirely safe!"

You, sir, have horrible logic.
 
knorkneutel said:
I bought once a 1mW kaleidscopic green laser from Germany. I did the potmod with these and the beam get very clear and burning into black plastic easily.... And it never broke! The 100mW i didnt' get brighter so it wil not broke because there no extra power too the diode , logica, I hope :D
Maybe some owners of laserpointershops will say like 'don't pot mod' otherwise people don't buy the expensive ones :P
I think the cheap under 20 mW laser you can do the potmod? My brother had the O like kaleidoscopic laser I thought 30mW and he says the potmod did not work on this one.
Click to expand...

Just because the 100mw laser didn't get brighter that doesn't mean you didn't raise the current to an unsafe level for the diode. The life can still be shortened.

And the stores probably say "don't pot mod" because you risk breaking them if you do. Even if you can potmod a 20mw laser to get a few more mw, why would you want to?? You can buy a 50mw laser for a few bucks more... Lasers aren't arm-breaking expensive anymore. You shouldn't really have to potmod any hand held laser for more power.
 
pot mod + probably already overdriven chinese non-tested diode= sadness. Just saying, only mod something if you know it's waaayy underdriven.
 
With lower power green laser like 1mW or 5mW pointers, it is generally ok to "pot mod" them.
With these low power lasers, the pump power is reduced (turning the current down) so that it will meet the Class IIIa requirement. Increasing the current to the diode will give a small gain in power, but you will likely never get more than 25-30mW from a 5mW green laser. Also, some green lasers have an APC integrated into the driver. This APC tries to keep the current at a preset value. Bypassing the APC will result in slightly higher power.
The downside of pot modding low power lasers is that they can be unstable. Excess heat and crystal saturation will put more stress on the diode and crystals causing power fluctuations and a shorter life of the diode.
If a current adjustment is made, it is best to keep the current within the rated specifications of the pump diode to maintain a long lifetime. Simply cranking it up all the way is not a good idea.

"Pot modding" higher power lasers (>20mW) will not result in more power. This is because the crystals are typically already saturated. Increasing the pump power just increases heat. This will cause power to drop and/or mode shifts.
Once the crystal is saturated, adding more pump power will not increase the green output. You can turn up the current as high as you want, but the diode or crystals will burn out without any noticeable increase in output power.

"Pot modding" is not a way to cheat the laser retailers but it is a good way to ruin a good laser if you don't know exactly what you are doing.
 
Thanks for this good information I needed.....
So it's better to set the pot back to a save value ? How can I do that?
 
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