can 1 dollar lasers be modded lol

[mikeeey]

hey guys can those red lasers from the dollar store be modded. i really dont care if it works for only 5 mins, its only a dollar and id like to see what it can do haha. i mean that would be sorta cool if it could burn stuff

 

[lazerlover]

no they cannot be modded the diode can't handle it. Pseudo and senkat can probably go more into detail why it can't be modded.

 

[SenKat]

Cause they are CRRRRRAP !
LOL

They are very low quality diodes, the driver boards are not made to handle much beyond what they already deilver to the diode. Buy some cheapos from Deal Extreme if you have the modding bug, and don't wanna break the bank !

 

[kingzilla]

Sometimes you can get a little more power by cramming in an extra battery, sometimes that will just cook the doide.....You can't truly mod those things. I guess you could change the whole doide assembly and and put a new one in. I guess then you might as well buy a new laser.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Those "lasers" typically have the LD as a chip clamped into a holder suitable only for voltage connection. The "driver" board consists of a chip resistor to limit the current to about 40 mA.
Just for fun, I've pushed these to their limits Go about 10 mA over the set current and it's toast. I've tried several and all the same. I even added cooling to one and it died an early death -- NO Burn...

Mike

 

[SenKat]

I am certain it burned, Mike - just not the way he wanted it to ! ;D

 

[mikeeey]

haha ok that answers my question.
i really like the quick responses on this forum, im still not used to it lol

 

[Tallaxo]

They "can" be modded to a certain extent by upping the voltage, I once went to a fancy dress party dresses as a "borg" , I assembled the laser to the side of the mask so it pointed where I was looking, and hooked it up to a 6V battery pack worn on a belt around my waist, hehe was well cool, and very bright, although it died a premature death in about 2 weeks, but at a dollar a shot, its no big loss.

Mike is correct about the current killing the diode, but upping the voltage to 6v will give an increase in brightness, just hope the driver boards resistor will still limit the current.

Jase

 

[mikeeey]

They "can" be modded to a certain extent by upping the voltage, I once went to a fancy dress party dresses as a "borg" , I assembled the laser to the side of the mask so it pointed where I was looking, and hooked it up to a 6V battery pack worn on a belt around my waist, hehe was well cool, and very bright, although it died a premature death in about 2 weeks, but at a dollar a shot, its no big loss.

Mike is correct about the current killing the diode, but upping the voltage to 6v will give an increase in brightness, just hope the driver boards resistor will still limit the current.

Jase

lol how did u hook it up to the battery though?

 

[Tallaxo]

used 3 dead button cells and a small hole drilled in the battery cap, and soldered the wires from the battery to the +ve and -ve , with the 3 cells in series.

Excuse the drawing.

Jase

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

The one I "cooled" and turned up the current had a steady flow of freezemist on it. The LD still died. --- But it was fun to try !!

Mike

 

[sgaterboy]

They "can" be modded to a certain extent by upping the voltage, I once went to a fancy dress party dresses as a "borg" ,. . .

Hahaha - NERD! ;D ;D ;D

 

[rog8811]

I knew no better then...... I have been running a bare cheapy red from 4.5 volts with just a resistor in the line, I just assumed it worked in exactly the same way as the leds I was using so used the same resistor....I haven't a clue what current it is recieving all I can say is it still survives and is brighter than it ever was as a pointer .

I suppose now I know what I did was wrong it will fail when I fire it up this year for halloween :-[

Regards rog8811

 

[Tallaxo]

[quote author=Tallaxo link=1181529955/0#7 date=1181562410]They "can" be modded to a certain extent by upping the voltage, I once went to a fancy dress party dresses as a "borg" ,. . .

Hahaha - NERD! ;D ;D ;D

[/quote]
Resistance is futile

Jase

 

[SenKat]

Ya - I made a borg costume for my son one Halloween....he LOVED it - plenty of old PC parts, a red laser, etc....problem was, it was an unusually HOT evening, and I attached everything to a sweatsuit - the little turdball never took it off, even though I think he lost about ten pounds of sweat that evening it was soooooo hot ! LOL

 

[marianne]

Ya - I made a borg costume for my son one Halloween....he LOVED it - plenty of old PC parts, a red laser, etc....problem was, it was an unusually HOT evening, and I attached everything to a sweatsuit - the little turdball never took it off, even though I think he lost about ten pounds of sweat that evening it was soooooo hot ! LOL

i can just imagine him saying "hot weather is irrelevant. sweatiness is irrelevant. you will be assimilated."...