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FrozenGate by Avery

DIY Cheap IR Laser Pen For $5 and Under.

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May 25, 2010
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Hey All,

I Just Built a little fun Project that anyone with IR Goggles Can Do.:eg:

If you do not own a pair of IR Goggles Then Just enjoy the Tutorial until you get a pair. Deal.:p

Anyways,

So This is a IR Build using the IR diode out of the LPC-815 sled. IR Laser IMO are mostly used for burning thing. So i dint want to Make a very expensive build since iam not really into burning and stuff. Iam more of a beam guy that likes to pop a balloon here and there.:cool:

So i went out Searching for a Cheap OK look Pen that i can take apart and Modify into a Burning IR laser. So i found this Guy Here:

>>>Cheap Red Laser Pen<<<

^^^Cheap but Pretty Nice Looking.:D I dint expect much quality as it was very cheap. Since the seller was located in the US i got it in very fast 4 days. If you order overseas and dont mind waiting you can get it even cheaper.:beer:

Its a Solid Pen pretty heavy i must say.:) The Front head unscrews very easy to reveal the Focusing Assembly. Its a very easy pen to mod and totake apart. THere is little to no effort poping the Head off. "Nothing Like A NewWish Pen" But you do have to be confident working on a very small space with soldering.

So here Is the Build:

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Firet off here is the Pen itself.

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You are going to want to Grab the head with your hand and keep wiggling back and forth until it pops out like in the picture. Mine came out pretty easy but some force had to be used. Nothing to the extent of difficult. But if you do find it hard to get off clamp it in a vice and wiggle it back and forth. Never ever twist. Learned that From TJ.:)

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Pull the Module out and you will have something like this. As you can see there is no Diode Socket there so i had to get creative. You will see what i mean later.

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Cut the Board down to like you see in the picture. Basically your cutting off the silver part.

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I then built a simple LM1117 Driver on the back of the Existing board with the Momentary switch on it.

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I used this Schematic.

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Now its time to extract the diode. In the Picture you can see that iam pointing to the IR Laser diode that we are going to use out of the LPC-815 sled. Just use a screwdriver to pop it out as its held in place buy a little glue.

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You will have this.


This is the Method i used to take out the diode from the Original heatsink.

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You will have this when you are done.

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Now i had to get creative on how i was going to mount this diode. As you can see i used some thermal adhesive and stuck it in place and centered it where the stock Laser diode was. Believe it or not this works great.:)

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Now solder your Diode to the driver. I only soldered the + Pin of the diode to the Adj pin of the LM1117 as i was using the host body as a Ground. Since this IR diode has the same Pin out as a LPC-815. So on the other side of the board i just used some thermal adhesive to hold the other pins in place so the diode does not move around and break a pin. Its hard to see the thermal glue but its there.

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Now you are going to want to realign the switch in preparation to push the module in.

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Push the module in and give it some force so in pops into place. Just make sure its aligned with the switch. Note: be careful that when pushing the module in the switch does not get caught on the button.

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Now Just take a dab of solder and melt some on the tail cap. I think there was suppose to be a spring there or something but it dint come with one. It had a hole for it though. So this made it easier to put a dab of solder on it.

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Your Final step is to Unscrew the head witch has threads and i not glued in place and comes off very easily and Re focus the laser since we are using a totally different diode and the focal length is different. I focused mine to be at a pin point at 3 feet and then it starts to diverge. Since this laser is not visible there is no point for it to be set to infinity since at infinity it will pop a balloon at a distance it wont actually burn anything because the "dot" is not focused to a point. It will smoke stuff though.

:wave:You are Finished.:wave:

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LPM Test:



Final Thought

This is A Great little Burning Pen. I like the Weight of it and how solid it feels. It takes 2x 10440 cells witch do not wiggle around or rattle in the pen. The Pen is allot small then any other pen style laser i have. Its about 2MM Larger then the 10440 cells.

Very Happy with this build and for $5 or less you cant beat that.

Please if you are going to build this build, You must have IR protective Laser safety Goggles.


:thanks: For Looking.!!!

Keep on Lazing.....
 
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LULZ, I still have a few of these 5mW red pens with nothing but a resistor as a driver.
I have a few IR diodes, too. You made my building fingers itch.
Hmmmmm, I don't have IR protection though.:(

Great step-by-step tutorial!
 
well, I'm just saying... :na:
awesome project! I've got 2 of these pens, 2 or 3 IR LD's from LPC-815 and some amc7135 drivers! I know what's my project for today :D (and I finally found out how to open it)
btw the schematic is a VOLTAGE regulator, NOT CURRENT regulator! in this way you're gonna burn your LD soon
 
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^^^ Its 2am here and iam basically sleeping but keep waking up.:)

I made sure i clicked the right one this time.;)

They where next to each other.
 
^ Yea. I went to the dentist yesterday and got 2 wisdom teeth out and i was a little out of it and half asleep.:)

I'am feeling better today.
 
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Hey, thanks for this idea! I ordered one of these pens and will eventually stick a diode in it... however, on your driver is that a POT? How did you manage to get that on there? What's it rated for?
 
Skills.j/k Their is also a Resistor That you cannot See.:) 1/2W
 
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Mm. What I may end up doing is putting a low power 635 in one of these (so a small LM1117 and a couple of 1/8Ws can handle the power). That and it will look pretty sweet ;)
 
Must spread more blah blah blah blah blah, before giving a well deserving member more reputation

You the man Angelos!!!
 





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