Pot mod for a noob

I got a 5mW green laser. I bought it a couple of years ago and I never worked out how to get it unscrewed so I could have a go at pot modding. It takes 2*AAA and is marked as a Changchun. It does have an IR filter and its a pretty nice piece of engineering, very sturdy but been abused over the years and its a bit scratched now.

I can pull off the front part, just an outer metal "sheath", up to the gold ring, to reveal the thinner main silver tube. I can also move the button about. But I cannot get the "head" to pull off completely.

Any ideas guys? I read ages ago this could be done. Do I just need to get some pliers and pull really hard? Should I push the button out of the hole first and push it forwards?

Pot modding a greenie will usually do no more than cause it to overheat and shorten it's lifetime. 90% of the time, it is not worth it. I know this from experience with 2 of my past greenies that I have killed..

There are many threads in this section with the same basic question having been asked, all with this same answer..

You would be much better off grabbing up a new laser if you want more power.. Let us know your budget and there are many helpful people here that will steer you in the right direction

it sounds an awful lot like a CNI laser, they are made in Chang Chun north east China. it has a gold ring and a silver tube under the cap...do you have any pictures? These have a one turn pot that works but they are usually set at maximum. they sell the lasers at the max power they can produce with that set of crystals and IR diode. they are very nicely built. if you want to get more power just buy a more powerful one, pot modding will only kill your laser. if you buy one ment for a higher power it will last for years (as long as you take care of it)

yeah if it says Changchun it's probably a CNI (Changchun New Industries). They are usually pretty robust and you may actually be able to get more power out of it. The problem being that you will need a laser power meter. you could gain 10 or 15mW without even noticing a really big change, so it could also be very easy to turn it really high and end up killing the diode, even if the output doesn't look a whole lot different. Also the pot will be very sensitive. Even an 8th of a turn clockwise will probably add a good amount of current. If you get to the driver board, start very slowly with turning the potentiometer and see what happens. If the output power drops while you're increasing the current, turn it back.

Also dont even attempt this unless you are fully ready to have a dead laser. If you want to keep using it for a while, dont do it. The reason I say this is because it IS possible to have really nice power gains by pot modding, but usually only on higher end lasers (such as a CNI), but it is equally possible that you will just kill it and then have no laser. That being said, I have no problem with pot modding but just be aware of the consequences. The reason pot modding works with CNI lasers is because the customer only wanted a 5mW laser. Generally they use similar parts on all the power levels. So if someone only wants 5mW there is a good chance that the laser is actually de-tuned to produce that power. DX and other similar lasers, on the other hand, are produced to make the most possible power so if you buy a 30mW that's probably the most the laser can do without dying.

sorry for stealing your thread. but since you're talking about modding, i'm just wondering, how come for green lasers, a small increase in power output has a big increase in price? why not just mod them?

StrictlyBudget said:

sorry for stealing your thread. but since you're talking about modding, i'm just wondering, how come for green lasers, a small increase in power output has a big increase in price? why not just mod them?

Click to expand...

Its simple... It does not work. The companies test the lasers output and sell them at there rated output. Instead of risking your laser you
could simple buy one at http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/ledp/LP1075.htm.

--hydro15

hydrogenman15 said:

[quote author=StrictlyBudget link=1227753102/0#4 date=1227760358]sorry for stealing your thread. but since you're talking about modding, i'm just wondering, how come for green lasers, a small increase in power output has a big increase in price? why not just mod them?

Click to expand...

Its simple... It does not work. The companies test the lasers output and sell them at there rated output. Instead of risking your laser you
could simple buy one at http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/ledp/LP1075.htm.

--hydro15[/quote]
please kindly explain to me what the limiting factor is. i understand that the diode they use is the same for various outputs, but that's all. thanks!

StrictlyBudget said:

[quote author=hydrogenman15 link=1227753102/0#5 date=1227800515][quote author=StrictlyBudget link=1227753102/0#4 date=1227760358]sorry for stealing your thread. but since you're talking about modding, i'm just wondering, how come for green lasers, a small increase in power output has a big increase in price? why not just mod them?

Click to expand...

Its simple... It does not work. The companies test the lasers output and sell them at there rated output. Instead of risking your laser you
could simple buy one at http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/ledp/LP1075.htm.

--hydro15[/quote]
please kindly explain to me what the limiting factor is. i understand that the diode they use is the same for various outputs, but that's all. thanks! [/quote]

Yes, greens are DPSS so they use a IR diode, yag and ktp crystal to achieve green. Now the lasers output is very dependent on the efficiency of the crystals and a crappy crystal set can only output so much before they get completely "saturated". The crystals are a very defining factor in prices. Thats what really makes them cost so much. A lasers output can be very different even though pretty much everything is the same. Hope this helps.

--hydro15

hydrogenman15 said:

[quote author=StrictlyBudget link=1227753102/0#6 date=1227801430][quote author=hydrogenman15 link=1227753102/0#5 date=1227800515][quote author=StrictlyBudget link=1227753102/0#4 date=1227760358]sorry for stealing your thread. but since you're talking about modding, i'm just wondering, how come for green lasers, a small increase in power output has a big increase in price? why not just mod them?

Click to expand...

Its simple... It does not work. The companies test the lasers output and sell them at there rated output. Instead of risking your laser you
could simple buy one at http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/ledp/LP1075.htm.

--hydro15[/quote]
please kindly explain to me what the limiting factor is. i understand that the diode they use is the same for various outputs, but that's all. thanks! [/quote]

Yes, greens are DPSS so they use a IR diode, yag and ktp crystal to achieve green. Now the lasers output is very dependent on the efficiency of the crystals and a crappy crystal set can only output so much before they get completely "saturated". The crystals are a very defining factor in prices. Thats what really makes them cost so much. A lasers output can be very different even though pretty much everything is the same. Hope this helps.

--hydro15
[/quote]
i see. thanks!