Laser Community

Alright, keeping it short and simple. I had a blue laser lying around I figured id mess around with. Its rated at "<200mW" however when i bought it, i believe it was advertised as ~60mW. I was going to pot mod it, but apparently thats a bad idea when your drunk. Im left with pieces of this laser taped to a wooden stick, and its far beyond my experience to repair it. Anyone care to take this project from me? Id be happy to mail it to someone with a reputable background (I cant remember his name, but the guy with a TON of lasers lying around that does stuff with them). Regardless, i'd hate to see this diode go to waste, because it was a pretty laser and im bummed out I broke it. Maybe if it can be fixed I could purchase it or something. Anyways, i have all the pieces.....let me know.

Alpha25, on 28 February 2012 - 07:02 AM, said:

StyroPyro is the only name that comes to mind, he has a s**t-ton of lasers that he's modded himself and a ton of really cool videos on YouTube.

I, however could take it off your hands... I don't have much experience with modding lasers (Although would love the chance.) I know how to soldier, build semi decent circuits and mess with breadboards and the such so I'm confident in my ability.

Yeah that's him! Well, I'd hate to ask, but if you were able to rig something up, what are the chances of me maybe getting it back lol. I'll post some pics, maybe someone can tell me what I'm faced with. It's not pretty. Also, are u in the US?

Not gonna lie, it's probably a pretty low chance of seeing it again if I get my hands on it lol. Either way, pics would be good and yes, I live in the US. PA to be exact.

Alright well let's see if styropyro gets a hold of this topic, I'd like his expertise once I get pics up.

Dont know how often he even comes here, you could probably send him a PM over youtube.

ok heres a picture, the diode broke off of the board (it wasnt very secure to begin with.....but it broke off and theres nothing i can do about that anyways). The wavelength on the sticker says "405 nm".

The uploader was giving me troubles, so ill have to stick with an image shack. Here you go:

http://imageshack.us...4/photo2bo.jpg/

I love you kipkay, i found out what im going to do with these lol! http://kipkay.com/vi...lighter-burner/

That's a pretty nice project, would come it quite useful!

Yeah, going to grab the stuff for it after class today. Would anyone care to see the final product?

Sounds interesting, i would like to take a peek at it when your done

I put it all together and when i pressed the "on" button, the laser DID come on (which is one hell of a leap for me, seeing my last soldering project ended up on the ceiling). Unfortunately, it was extremely low power, and i messed with the pot a bit, and got it to come out bright ONCE. Turned it a little more and it reverted back to this dull violet beam again . Emailing kipkay about some tips. I spent 46 bucks on the stuff to do this, not counting the laser. If i get it cleared up, i may invest in another laser diode, depending on the price.

The first one, fail or not, is always a step in the right direction.

And I'm not even gonna ask how you accidently get one of these lodged in the ceiling.

Alpha25, on 29 February 2012 - 05:11 AM, said:

I wish I would have seen this sooner, that mod will leave you with a fried laser diode because there is no regulation. KipKay, while great at making videos, doesn't use regulation in his most popular laser videos so most projects will end up dead in a short time. That dull glow from the laser is most likely a sign of a dead laser diode.

^I think you missed the part where he used a driver this time. The problems I see are:

1. The resistor does nothing but waste energy.
2. Button cells will only last a few seconds and will severely limit the power output.
3. Changing the batteries is very difficult.
4. The thermal mass is far too low and it will burn up in about a minute. (Assuming you used a battery that lasted longer than a few seconds, that is.)
5. Securing of components is done poorly.

It might be fun to see someone else do it, but "don't try this at home, kids."

just realized he used button batteries in that project.

yuck lol