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40mW 635nm 10440 MXDL Pen
Here is a fun little DIY build that I did. This is a little MXDL pen light that I have paired with a 40mW 635nm diode from the eBay deal and coupled it with a driver ripped from a dead green eBay pen. I also got a couple of turned down modules from qumefox that fit in this host as it is a tad smaller than the standard Aixiz module.
I really like the red color and the goldish focus ring which kind of gives it that Iron Man color scheme.
Assemboly
Alright so I had a few of these MXDL pens for a while now in a few different colors. I took a red one and popped out the LED leaving an empty host. I had been using them for flashlights and they are not bad for that but I wanted to get a build going in this host.
Next I had a dead green pointer that was under $5 before it died and I am going to use the driver out of it for this build.
So here is what the build consists of. A 40mW 635 diode pressed in a turned down module with a driver soldered directly to the diode pins with a spring, the empty head of the host, the body and tailcap.
I took the top half of the green pointer with the driver in it. I did have some diffuclity trying to figure out how to nicely get the module/driver out.:thinking:
In the end I used the can opener approach and took out the driver.:eg:
First thing I wanted to do with the driver was bypass the momentary switch as the host had it's own clicky. So I soldered a small wire to one contact point for the switch.
Then cut the wire to the proper length and wired it to the other side effectively bypassing the switch.
Next I hooked up my driver to my test load with the positive side bypassed as it is a case/LD positive diode. This will differ if you are working with a LOC which in that case you will want in a case negative setup. Anyway the driver is now wired for always on and got it just under 100mA.
Then I soldered the driver directly to the diode pins of the diode that is mounted in the turned down module.
I wrapped the driver in some electrical tape to keep it from shorting on the host walls and I am now ready to put it in the head.
Next I got out a little thermal adhesive and mixed it up.
I spread some on the inside of the host head and then pushed the module in snug.
Then I gave 5 minutes to let the adhesive set before moving on.
And I am pretty much done. I screwed the head into the host body.
Then I threw in a 10440 3.7V Li-Ion. Note this is a case positive build so the negative end of the battery goes in first toward the diode/driver.
Screwed on the tailcap.
And fired it up.
Now qumefox also turned down an Aixiz focus ring so that it will fit in the opening for this host which turned out a little goldish in color. I really like it with this red host. Thanks brother.
I also paired it with a red coated lens that came with a 9mm O-Like module that I ordered for some reason.So I screwed in the lens and here is what we have.
LPM Test
So here is the LPM test which comes out to just under 40mW which on a build like this you don't want to push the diode very hard because the more you do the higher the wavelength which can negate the entire reason for a more expensive 635 diode.
Final Thoughts
I have had a lot of fun playing with this little build and it was very inexpensive to construct. It has a pretty sweet look and I do really like the color scheme. The divergence is good. It is definitely more orange and seems a little brighter than my 200mW LOC. It is a great project and I definitely recommend this for a low power 635 or a LOC build. Thanks for reading my review/tutorial.
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