with just a month of use my ortur master laser 2 15w just cant burn on a tile painted white. it powers on the firing beam is engaging it is focus but it just cant burn even in a 100 percent power!!! this is very frustrating!!!
I think that, with diode lasers, it’s recommended to not use higher than %80 power. Using %100 will shorten the diodes life.
However a month does seem to be very short. Perhaps contact the seller and see if they will replace the laser.
No, that’s not true.
The problem isn’t with using 100% of the power of the diode. After all, the 5V diodes I use on PCBs run at 5V - 100% duty cycle - and can last upwards of half a million hours operation.
The problem is with a 5W diode sold as a 15W.
They use a technique called ‘pumping’ to put far more power into the diode than the maker intended and they fail much sooner than the maker intended - sometimes in as short a period as a handful of hours.
They will still illuminate, so it looks like they’re working, but it’s broken inside.
New to this hobby, I’ve heard that about diodes, about not going over a certain %. My question to you, how do you know your getting a good diode? Or is it hit or miss?
My laser that came with my bachin(2.5w), died very fast, couldn’t burn unless I used the baking powder trick at 95%+(if at all sometimes). Bought a 5w, barley used it(still works) but I found a 30w diode so I quickly bought that one. More power more projects. So how should I know if I can truly run it at 100% without being out of a 30w laser?
Essentially there are no diodes certified higher than 5W that are at least commonly available. All diodes purporting to be higher than this are overdriving the diode with varying levels of mitigation strategies. The fact is that all diodes degrades with use. Even at 5W.
However, a certified 5W diode should last the expected life of that diode. From testing we know that diode life expectancy goes down dramatically with higher duty cycle. I suspect in reality this is mostly about heat generation which is why you see very beefy heatsinks on the diode. This is all about reducing operating temperature. This is also why you see strategies of reducing top-end output as well as break-times when doing long burns and extended fan cycling at the end of a burn.
Your 30W will likely be on a diminished lifespan. It’s up to you how you want to mitigate or manage the risk associated with it running hard. First thing to confirm is if your manufacturer or reseller is willing to guarantee a certain life expectancy. Then hold them to it or make the trade-off of how you want to use your laser.