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- Oct 26, 2007
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I bought three (3) packets of 70pcs 5mW red lasers for $18 each on eBay, which comes to about $0.25 each laser. One of the 70pcs packs had 80pcs so I actually received 220 of these lasers for $54 shipped. This price makes them about the same price as LED finger lights in bulk quantities.
The lasers themselves are very small and come in a simple brass housing with lens and leads.
The dot grows to about 0.5" (~1.2cm) or so at about 20ft (6m), but is decent for short distances. It may depend on how the lens is situated in the short holder.
I picked out one of the lasers and ran some tests to see how it performed.
3V, 20mA, 7mW
4V, 40mA, 14-15mW
4.5V, 50mA, ~15mW, LEDed
I was actually able to push it to 4.5V for a little while, but the second time it it LEDed. It actually didn't entirely LED, and still puts out a decent dot suitable for playing with cats, but the output dropped dramatically.
Finally, I took the semi-burnt out laser and fitted it into a finger light. It took a little work, and a little bit of snipping, but it works pretty decently. I only used 2x of the 1.5V batteries and used the third battery to hold the wire in place. I also had to solder one of the leads to a thicker piece of wire so that the switch would work:
The lasers themselves are very small and come in a simple brass housing with lens and leads.
The dot grows to about 0.5" (~1.2cm) or so at about 20ft (6m), but is decent for short distances. It may depend on how the lens is situated in the short holder.
I picked out one of the lasers and ran some tests to see how it performed.
3V, 20mA, 7mW
4V, 40mA, 14-15mW
4.5V, 50mA, ~15mW, LEDed
I was actually able to push it to 4.5V for a little while, but the second time it it LEDed. It actually didn't entirely LED, and still puts out a decent dot suitable for playing with cats, but the output dropped dramatically.
Finally, I took the semi-burnt out laser and fitted it into a finger light. It took a little work, and a little bit of snipping, but it works pretty decently. I only used 2x of the 1.5V batteries and used the third battery to hold the wire in place. I also had to solder one of the leads to a thicker piece of wire so that the switch would work: