how to modify an ebayser

[aaron_inc]

i recieved my 5mw ebayser a few days ago, it is the cheapest laser on ebay and is very easy to take apart and put back together because everything is threaded .
heres a picture of the laser i bought below.

 

[aaron_inc]

ok the first thing you have to do is undo the tip of the laser (it may be held in place with a small blob of glue)

 

[aaron_inc]

ok, now if you look into the end ot the laser you should see a threaded ring thing with two notches in it around the sides of the lens tube, so unscrew the lens tube, and use a small screwdriver to undo the ring and keep going until it comes out.

 

[aaron_inc]

after you have got the ring out put the lens tube back on and make sure its pretty tight, after it is on pop the little rubber button off then start to unscrew it again if you look in the hole where the button was the driverboard should be spinning around as you undo it (if it isnt then tighten the lens tube back up and try again) keep unscrewing it until the whole laser module and driverboard comes out.
below is a picture of the laser module, the laser tube and the rubber button.

 

[aaron_inc]

after you have the laser module out you need to set it up with a power supply outside the case.
ive just got 2 AAA batteries taped together with wires taped on the end and the module in a little clamp with the + wire touching the case and the - on the spring.
(remember to put it in the clamp with the variable resistor facing up)

 

[aaron_inc]

now all you have to do is hold the button down and while its down turn the variable resistor and you should either see it go dimmer or brighter (i forgot which way is which) and just keep turning it until it gets its brightest then just put it all back together the way it was (the brass ring is not really needed)
and there you have it a cheapo 5mw ebayser turned into a cheapo 10mw ebayser!
it wasnt hard at all and took about 5 minutes
i dont have any before and after shots because i took off the mca and i cant get it alligned again

 

[timelord]

Great thread aaron_inc i've put this up as a sticky seeing as many people ask this question how to do this kind of pot mod on a cheap laser.
Nice work

 

[SenKat]

Saweeeet ! I STILL cannot get mine apart - they used some sort of super-duper glue on it or something ! RATS ! Anywho - damn nice pics - keep em coming, you do some nice work !

 

[aaron_inc]

YES! my first sticky ;D
senkat try putting the tip in a clamp its not connected to anything important its just on the laser tube so it cant break anything.

 

[SenKat]

Sweet - I am gonna try that !

 

[Korean_boi]

hey, i just got my ebayser , i tried the pot mod, excpet for the fact you have to test it with an externam power source, i just screwed everything toegtehr and tested it couple of time, when i screwed the screw on the laser module, i tested it, i saw nothing, i peered into the lens and saw the laser emitting a red light, not so as to let out a beam, but a faint red glow.

what does this mean? did 30 dollars go down the drain?

 

[lazerlover]

I'm not totally sure what happened, you might have fried the diode, but one things for sure don't look into the laser and don't look at that red dot as it could be emitting loads of IR(infra red) and it could damage your eyes.

 

[Tallaxo]

I hate when I read stuff like this

KB , please dont look down into your laser. The faint red light that you see is not actually that faint. I. t could be up to many Milliwatts of mostly Invisible Infrared light. It is the invisible power source that powers most green lasers.

Laser safety is a great habit to Observe.

If you always assume it is on , even if you cannot see that it is, then your eyes should last you a lifetime.

Jason

 

[SenKat]

Korean_boi -

First off - you are VERY fortunate that you did not fry out your eyes with the IR coming out !!!!
Never look down the barrel with the power on - or even with the batteries in the unit - that could lead to MAJOR issues - like you not being able to read my reply, and I love to have people read my messages ( NO ego here, huh ? LOL) !!!!

It sounds to me like a few things could be happening:

- You could have misaligned the crystals, in which case if you did that, it is going to take LOTS of time to get them re-aligned.

- You may have inadvertanly shorted out the board to the casing - unscrew it, and check for that - if it is, try removing the short (like if the board is warped a bit, stick something CAREFULLY under it, to "unbend" it)

- You could have possibly turned the pot too far in one direction or the other. Try turning the pot back a bit in the opposite direction. Try this step first, since you said the POT was all you modified.

Let me know if any of this helps - I am going to post this in the thread, as well - so it may help others if they run into the same problem !

Greg

 

[Korean_boi]

hm, i found out the little white-ish/off-white piece of board on the laser module has been broken off, the board is connected to the laser module board at three points, two of them have been disconnected. any chance a good ol soldering iron would fix it? or would i brun off the green stuff(board)

 

[SenKat]

If you are CAREFUL you can do it !