the infamous laser flashlight hack(have a few ?'s)

I saw the video about this and i got all the parts and whatnot to make it complete with a 200mw red diode, then right before im about to make it i read that it is unsafe. I learn that it is unsafe largely because your connecting a battery right to a diode. My first question is, is that the only reason its unsafe? 2. can i just reconnect the lil circut board that came attached to the 5mw diode to make it safe? Is there a way to make it safe and still keep it in the mini-mag and can it be done with a blu ray diode?

Re: the infamous laser flashlight hack(have a few

duckhuntchampb24 said:

I saw the video about this and i got all the parts and whatnot to make it complete with a 200mw red diode, then right before im about to make it i read that it is unsafe.  I learn that it is unsafe largely because your connecting a battery right to a diode. My first question is, is that the only reason its unsafe? 2. can i just reconnect the lil circut board that came attached to the 5mw diode to make it safe? Is there a way to make it safe and still keep it in the mini-mag and can it be done with a blu ray diode?

Click to expand...

Yes, the lack of a driver is the main reason why building this is a bad idea. You could use the circuit board that came with the module to drive the diode, but it will still deliver the same amount of current and your laser won't be able to burn anything.

You need to either build your own driver or buy one that's already been built by a member here. The mini-mag is too small to really hold any kind of driver + the laser module, you should have a larger host for the laser so it will be able to hold all the parts inside.

Thirdly, bluray diodes require more voltage than red diodes so you're going to need more input voltage on linear drivers (like those based on the LM317) boost drivers like the Flexdrive by Drlava make the proper voltage needed by the diode themselves and can run on lower voltages.

Re: the infamous laser flashlight hack(have a few

duckhuntchampb24 said:

I saw the video about this and i got all the parts and whatnot to make it complete with a 200mw red diode, then right before im about to make it [highlight]i read that it is unsafe[/highlight].  I learn that it is unsafe largely because your connecting a battery right to a diode. My first question is, is that the only reason its unsafe? 2. can i just reconnect the lil circut board that came attached to the 5mw diode to make it safe? Is there a way to make it safe and still keep it in the mini-mag and can it be done with a blu ray diode?

Click to expand...

In case your questioning the safety notation...
It is safe for you... but it is not safe for the longevity of the Laser Diode..

Jerry