Driving a Red Laser

Hello, I just bought a Groove 2 off the internet. I'm just wondering if it will be able to power a 650nm diode off of 2 CR123's or will that put out too much voltage? The site says run it off of 4.5-5.5 Volts so I'm curious if i can push it that extra half a volt. Thank you!

I think if you look on the datasheet for the Groove 2, the input voltage range is Vout+1.2V - 12V. You should be ok. Unless you posted the wrong driver

Then you would need a diode (1N4000) in series with the driver power input in order to drop the voltage down.

Groove 2 datasheet *here*

I think the Groove 2 is just an LM1117 isn't it?

In which case, you should be fine. However, you're going to get a bunch of heat with all the excess voltage (basically the entire second battery) being dissipated as heat.

If you can, you would be better off running it on 1x 18650. If you're going to be running the diode at 400mA or LOWER, then you're looking at around 3V or less required for the diode. That means 1 fully charged lithium ion should be fine.