Old DVD drive, possible salvaging of diode?

I don't know anything about building lasers, but i found this old DVD rom drive in an e-waste bin on my campus and I’m curious if the diode would be salvageable. It's a "DVD-Master 12E model SD-612" ... probably dates back to 98/2000? It's also not a burner.

Would i be able to do anything cool with it, or is it just a piece of junk to throw out?

Sorry for the extremely blurry shit pictures, I'm using an old 40$ phone camera.

You could mess with the optics, but in terms of the diode its not worth anything more than practicing extracting diodes.

if you have any 2-lead motors, those can be handy. Glue one of the glass mirrors from the sled onto it, voila free spiro'. I took apart a cheap player, it had 3 motors and a combo IR/red diode. Output will be low.

BShanahan14rulz said:

if you have any 2-lead motors, those can be handy. Glue one of the glass mirrors from the sled onto it, voila free spiro'. I took apart a cheap player, it had 3 motors and a combo IR/red diode. Output will be low.

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Do you know how i go about powering the diode? Would i need to get something online for me to be able to do it... or can i macgyver' something with what i already have?

If you have a multimeter, you can use the diode test setting to find which pins are correct. Usually, the diode will glow just enough for you to see that you have the right pins.

I would be very very conservative with how much current you give it. Perhaps someone else would have a better idea of where to start than me. With these cheap diodes I usually get some crappy batteries to power them. Heavy duty's or long life alkalines.