Help me diagnose my green laser problem !!

[liteglow]

I recently got trouble with my PLUTO RGB laser.

The green died suddenly..
Omar was pretty fast shipping me a new laser with DHL, only 4days from Hong Konk to Norway !!

But sadly when I replaced my green laser there still is something wrong, the laser at full power will only give out 2-4mW weak green light.
I also notice when I turn it ON\OFF in software, the laser slowly dim up and stays at 4mW max.. the blue and red is 100% bright !

What can be the problem ? Maybe there is something bad inside that also was the reason for the first laser to break down?
maybe there is something bad with the TTL signal to the laser? well I dont know...


btw, when powering up my old laser unit, there is total darkness, no light and NO light in the green LED on the PSU (so I guess that one was dead, maybe broken psu)


let me know where I should start to check for errors.

cheers

[absolom7691]

To start simple, I have no doubt you have checked the green attenuator pot (if the Pluto series has them). After that, I would hook the modulation input from the green laser directly to a 5vdc source to make sure it is definitely a problem with the laser and not anything wrong with something in the projector or the wiring.

[liteglow]

No pot, yes checking the modulation was my guess also to check.
Not so easy to reach the modulation cables.. but will give it a try.

[liteglow]

OK

I swapped green and the blue modulation signal now.
So when I use BLUE in software it give me green laser.

But there is still the same problem, laser slowly dim up and stay weak..
So the modulation from the "pluto" assembly is not the problem.

modulation in the driver must be the trouble, or maybe a bad GND signal ? i dunno...

EDIT: while playing in software, after the laser stays on for some minutes it is now a tiny bit brighter.
I have not measured it , but it could seems like 30-50mW (and not 3-4mW like before) it also blank faster..
sadly it does not seems like it get any brighter..

I know there is some start up time on the DPSS, but it should not be like this ??

[liteglow]

update.. when using my old (broken?) laser head on this PSU+Driver, I got the same result.
So that mean there is nothing wrong with my old laser head (and if I`m lucky not the driver either, so I will try to swap the PSU)

[absolom7691]

Sounds like you're on the right track. For both lasers to exhibit the exact same issues, there has to be a common denominator somewhere that is not a problem with the laser head itself.

[norty303]

If this is a DPSS module, be careful with swapping driver and heads around. The temp control and drive current are configured specifically for each head.

[liteglow]

If this is a DPSS module, be careful with swapping driver and heads around. The temp control and drive current are configured specifically for each head.

I know, and that`s why I think I need to open it again and swap the laser head !?

But I fixed it anyway... the Power supply from my old laser was dead (I dunno why, maybe to much heat?)
The new laser head I got and power supply was working fine also, but the new driver was faulty !
It seems like maybe 2 of the blue pots on one side is a tiny bit bend, but the solder is still in place so I dont know, CNI can figure that out (it was like that when it did arrive)

So right now I got my 1W green working, it did work on both laser head, measure the same output.
I dont know how important it is to use the correct driver for each head as they have the same output, same driver etc... ? (I will ask CNI\Omar)
No trouble to use the old laser head... but *sigh* open it all up again and tear it down, take forever


but I`m glad I sorted it out tomorrow the laser going back at the Club doing its job again.
And thank to Omar for a super fast support and fix for my laser. I`m also very glad that it only was a faulty PSU unit and not laser head itself!!

Will I buy another PLUTO again ? ... YES for sure !!

[Bradfo69]

Glad to hear you got it sorted. As I said in my PM, I wish I had thought to check the PSU on the one that I had. Might have saved Omar and I some time and money. Also nice to hear another thumbs up for Lightspace and the Pluto's. 2 more arrived on my doorstep thanks to DHL this afternoon. That's 7, plus 2 Pluto XS's Final modifications to be made shortly for the CDRH and the product report is ready for submission.

Thinking an Ascent needs to be in the near future.