OK! More on how I did this.
When I originally got my Prometheus, I measured the current draw from the batteries and noticed that it was only around 1.1A and the power output dropped as the battery drained. This told me that while the driver IS a current regulated circuit, it is not regulating. A couple months after purchasing the laser, the crystal set became loose somehow and I had an 'elongated' dot but the power was all there. It was almost a rectangular output. I spent many hours re-aligning everything and I finally had it back to where it originally was, if not even a bit stronger. While I had everything apart I noticed that the driver is just a few of those 'AMC' current regulating chips strung together. Also I was able to measure the output of the IR diode which was around 1.1W without any optics or anything. Straight from the diode. Now the normal 'peak' for this laser with a full to the brim battery would be 500mW, but that didn't happen very often and the real peak was around 400mW.
So now I had the knowledge that it is in fact a current regulating driver and that it wasn't getting enough voltage for regulation. SO I deicded to do what anyone would do with a driver out of regulation, and I gave it more juice. I used two CR123A's instead of the single 18650. The current draw is now around 2A. Keep in mind that this is indeed the 2.5W diode, so in all likelihood 2A is probably just a hair over 2W, still under the rating for the diode.
The picture is the result of using two cr123a's instead of an 18650.
Do I recommend that someone with an RPL/prometheus does this? No. Will it void your warranty? Definitely. Is it badass?
Hell yes!
The laser also warms up MUCH faster. It builds the same amount of heat in about 1 minute as it did with the 18650 in about 5 minutes so the duty cycle is much shorter. BUT... I dont really care about duty cycle. It's a pointer... I never have it on for more than a few seconds at a time anyway. Also keep in mind that I'm not going to run the laser like this all the time, but it is pretty cool to know that I can if I want to
Now you may ask "But GUS!!!! What are you going to do if you kill that diode?!?!" Well... that answer is pretty simple. I'm going to put in a 4W 808 and run it at the same levels that it is running at now. A 4W diode driven at 2W should last quite a while!
