I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
one with 10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
output of theirs before that which did not have the power
to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
I had run out of of course).
It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
(on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).

Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
consuming as usual?
I am sort of furious as this was nothing I could not do
without, just wasted time on it. May be some day I'll waste
some more time replacing the LEDs etc. but not today,
may be not this year...

Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com> wrote:
> I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
> one with 10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
> ( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
> output of theirs before that which did not have the power
> to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
> I had run out of of course).
> It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
> of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
> (on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
>
> Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
> consuming as usual?

Yes. It’s usually facet damage or dislocations getting into the active
area.

> I am sort of furious as this was nothing I could not do
> without, just wasted time on it. May be some day I'll waste
> some more time replacing the LEDs etc. but not today,
> may be not this year...
>
I doubt you could buy parts for that price.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC /
Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

On 2/1/2024 0:33, Phil Hobbs wrote:
> Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com> wrote:
>> I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
>> one with 10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
>> ( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
>> output of theirs before that which did not have the power
>> to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
>> I had run out of of course).
>> It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
>> of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
>> (on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
>>
>> Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
>> consuming as usual?
>
> Yes. It’s usually facet damage or dislocations getting into the active
> area.

So these have died after just a few hours of use. Great.
It was meant to be a toy to enjoy...

>
>
>> I am sort of furious as this was nothing I could not do
>> without, just wasted time on it. May be some day I'll waste
>> some more time replacing the LEDs etc. but not today,
>> may be not this year...
>>
> I doubt you could buy parts for that price.

I do find some NUBM47-A1 laser LEDs two of which would cost
almost as much as I already paid for the aliexpress NEJE module.
But it was meant to be fun, I don't need the wrestling part to
finish their half-baked product... May be I will one day, if I
really need the thing. For now I'll just forget about it.

Thanks Phil, I was hoping you would come in and explain as you
did.

>
> Cheers
>
> Phil Hobbs
>

On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:04:43 +0200, Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com>
wrote:

>I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
>one with 10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
>( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
>output of theirs before that which did not have the power
>to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
>I had run out of of course).
>It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
>of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
>(on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
>
>Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
>consuming as usual?
>I am sort of furious as this was nothing I could not do
>without, just wasted time on it. May be some day I'll waste
>some more time replacing the LEDs etc. but not today,
>may be not this year...

Momentary over-current? Static? (it's winter after all).

On Thursday, February 1, 2024 at 11:47:14 AM UTC+11, Cursitor Doom wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:04:43 +0200, Dimiter_Popoff <d...@tgi-sci.com>
> wrote:
> >I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
> >one with 10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
> >( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
> >output of theirs before that which did not have the power
> >to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
> >I had run out of of course).
> >It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
> >of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
> >(on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
> >
> >Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
> >consuming as usual?
> >I am sort of furious as this was nothing I could not do
> >without, just wasted time on it. May be some day I'll waste
> >some more time replacing the LEDs etc. but not today,
> >may be not this year...
>
> Momentary over-current? Static? (it's winter after all).

Lasers do fail very rapidly under overload - the active area is small, and you can wreck it in microseconds. Static seems a bit unlikely - it is a 10W part.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

On 31/01/2024 21:04, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
> I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
> one with  10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
> ( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
> output of theirs before that which did not have the power
> to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
> I had run out of of course).
> It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
> of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
> (on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
>
> Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
> consuming as usual?

Insufficient heatsinking is one way that they end up junked.

> I am sort of furious as this was nothing I could not do
> without, just wasted time on it. May be some day I'll waste
> some more time replacing the LEDs etc. but not today,
> may be not this year...

It could just be bad luck. Infant mortality in these devices seems to be
a bit of an issue - a bit like with filament lamps of old if it survives
the first 10 hours from first use then it should be OK for 1000+ hours.

--
Martin Brown

On 2/1/2024 11:57, Martin Brown wrote:
> On 31/01/2024 21:04, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
>> I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
>> one with  10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
>> ( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
>> output of theirs before that which did not have the power
>> to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
>> I had run out of of course).
>> It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
>> of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
>> (on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
>>
>> Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
>> consuming as usual?
>
> Insufficient heatsinking is one way that they end up junked

Did not look like that, its fan worked, it has plenty of
heatsinking etc. And the part of the room where it worked is
pretty cold, around 15C. They report "laser temperature" on
their application, which stabilized at two values it was
switching between every few seconds, 45C and something like
30+ (don't remember the second one). Might be temp for each
of the two lasers, might be poor temp sensor work/design/you name it.
..
>
>> I am sort of furious as this was nothing I could not do
>> without, just wasted time on it. May be some day I'll waste
>> some more time replacing the LEDs etc. but not today,
>> may be not this year...
>
> It could just be bad luck. Infant mortality in these devices seems to be
> a bit of an issue - a bit like with filament lamps of old if it survives
> the first 10 hours from first use then it should be OK for 1000+ hours.
>

Likely this was the case. Some day if I really need the thing I'll
replace the laser LEDs. I wonder if their control circuit is any good,
it takes 12V in and has a TTL PWM input. If they PWM it directly off
the 12V... well, I don't know what they do. I may find out if I get
back to it one day...

torsdag den 1. februar 2024 kl. 15.15.39 UTC+1 skrev Dimiter_Popoff:
> On 2/1/2024 11:57, Martin Brown wrote:
> > On 31/01/2024 21:04, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
> >> I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
> >> one with 10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
> >> ( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
> >> output of theirs before that which did not have the power
> >> to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
> >> I had run out of of course).
> >> It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
> >> of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
> >> (on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
> >>
> >> Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
> >> consuming as usual?
> >
> > Insufficient heatsinking is one way that they end up junked
> Did not look like that, its fan worked, it has plenty of
> heatsinking etc. And the part of the room where it worked is
> pretty cold, around 15C. They report "laser temperature" on
> their application, which stabilized at two values it was
> switching between every few seconds, 45C and something like
> 30+ (don't remember the second one). Might be temp for each
> of the two lasers, might be poor temp sensor work/design/you name it.

could be as simple as the guy assembling it screwing up putting on thermal compound

Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
> On 31/01/2024 21:04, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
>> I got a new laser module to engrave anodized aluminium with,
>> one with� 10W output (40W in it says), NEJE E40.
>> ( https://neje.shop/products/e40 , this one; I had a 5W
>> output of theirs before that which did not have the power
>> to engrave the plates I had the most of, was good for those
>> I had run out of of course).
>> It worked fine for a few hours of tests then it lost most
>> of its power. I measured the consumption, it is about 40W
>> (on a test setup, not while engraving on the machine).
>>
>> Do laser LEDs fail like this? Just lose output power while
>> consuming as usual?
>
> Insufficient heatsinking is one way that they end up junked.

And overdriving, and turn-on transients.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC /
Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics