The dangers of lasers

Well, today turned out to be an unfortunate day. I left my newly built 462nm 2 watt laser in the center console of my car while I was eating. Sometime during my dinner the inner part of my laser's end cap popped loose and closed the circuit thus putting my laser in a constant on position. The laser then proceeded to burn a nice hole into the back of my center console interior. Fortunately the batteries drained before it made it all the way through and the only thing behind that part of the console was a metal screw so even if it would have made it through the plastic the metal would have stopped it. I could smell the oh so familiar smell of burnt plastic when I got back in my car. At first I thought the batteries popped from heat but then I saw the faint glow of the laser hitting the back of the console compartment. I quickly picked up the now very hot laser with some napkins (good thing I keep them crammed in my visor) and unscrewed the back and unscrewed the 510 module from the host. I thought for sure the diode was lost because of the dim output. Fortunately the diode survived!!! It had drained the batteries from being on for so long. Lesson learned about mech mods and storing lasers in a car. Always unscrew the module from the battery and never trust the quality of a mech mod from China... lol I've attached pictures of the mech mod tail switch and the burn hole. The tail switch is one of those magnetic switches and somehow the inner magnet came unscrewed causing the spring to cock sideways and complete the circuit.

Yikes, that's pretty amazing! Shows how dangerous lasers can be once again

-Alex