hello everyone! i need some help with my mini dorcy laser. the last 2 laser diodes i bought , wen i hooked them up to 2 AA batteries(just to test it) they were very dim. am i supposed to put a resistor or capacitor or something on them to make it be brighter???? if so can someone draw a simple picture for me (in paint) to show me how to attach it to the laser diode pins so that it can fit in the mini dorcy flashlight. i have little experience with electronics so im sry if im asking stupid questions.

You need a current regulating driver between the batteries and the diode. The current "spike" when a battery first connects is blowing your diodes. READ at least the "stickys" in the forum. You CANNOT hook up your diode directly to batteries safely.

Peace,
dave

What kind of diodes are you using?

Click on the link in my signature.
You will find everything you need.

hello again, i've read all u have told me to and I understand more now. if I hook up my diode to the mini dorcy flashlight without any resistors or anything , will it work properly? cuz there is a power regulator in the flashlight.

That power regulator is meant for LEDs, which are tougher than diodes.
It has a power spike that will kill a laser diode, but will not kill an LED.
If you want to do this simple mod, you will need to solder a 5 Ohm resistor to the + pin on the laser diode.

ok! I wouldnt have to solder the other end to the - pin? i would just leave it hanging off ? if u could draw a pic tht would be great!

No, you wouldn't...
You just solder one end to the + pin, and the other end to the + terminal on the dorcy.
Then you solder the - pin on the diode to the - terminal on the dorcy.

thanks so much uve been a big help!!if I have any more problems or any more questions I'll post it here in this topic.

so basically it will look like this?

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More like this:

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oh ok thanx Spyderz !!! ill try it out and let u know if it works.

Should work for you. The dorcy Jr with a 5ohm resistor should give you about 200mA through the diode, which is well with in the safe zone.

I've been to 3 radio shacks around my area and none of them had any 5ohm resistors , the lowest was 10ohm. so if anyone could give me a link to a TRUSTED site that has one that would be awsome. I've seen on stonetek.org they had a full kit of the parts to build this laser and all they had was the flashlight, laser diode, aixiz module, and a flex drive. what is a flex drive and if anyone could give me a link to buy one...... that would be awsome also. cuz wut it sounds like is that a flex drive would work just as well as a resistor becuz if it didn't , y would they put it in the kit right?

You can get 5 Ohm resistors on eBay...

Edit: Don't forget to get 1/2 Watt.

You can get these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-2-OHM-1-2-WATT...QQcmdZViewItem

buy a flexdrive from dr lava theyre nice