Epic Noob Needs Info =p

Hello everyone, I just found this website this evening while doing some research on how to build a laser and thought I could use some of your expertise. I have a laser diode that i took out of a hp DVD writer. (HP DVD Writer dvd300e to be more specific) It has a maximum DVD burning speed of 8x and maximum CD burning speed of 40x. Now the only problem is that the diode is in a sort of housing that baffles me, when I try to remove it. I will be posting pics at the end to show what the housing looks like. Also I was wondering what kind of power you guys would expect this diode to make?

Also please feel free to point me in the direction of any tutorials or how to's that you think would benefit me. Also thanks

The silver metallic casing is the heatsink/mount that the laser diode is inside. You'll need to cut it away to expose the bare diode. Look up diode extraction in the search box to see what techniques others use for that kind of thing.

thanks a lot for the extremely fast response. Any ideas for power?

Funny thing is I just got my hands on another Sony drive... and it has this exact heatsink design. The first I extracted was extremely easy to remove, this one not so much. I'm guessing you can't just push it through, can you...?

mateo124 said:

Funny thing is I just got my hands on another Sony drive... and it has this exact heatsink design. The first I extracted was extremely easy to remove, this one not so much. I'm guessing you can't just push it through, can you...?

Click to expand...

this maybe is the most difficult heatsink to extract a diode.. i could not brake it without braking the diode

Try using a small pair of wire cutters or something, and eat away at the side of the heatsink until you reach the edge of the diode, then repeat on the opposite side and pull the diode out, or if you can't pull it out after cutting away, hold each side of the heatsink with a pair of pliers and twist in opposite directions for a bit of extra leverage.

Your best bet is to just try and cut your way in from each side.