Disassembling RPL-Style green?

[pseudolobster]

A friend of mine recently brought me his 300mW greenie to see if I might be able to fix it..

He dropped it and knocked the lens out of focus or the crystals out of alignment.. In either case it's been knocked out of focus to the point where the beam is about 4 inches across at 20 feet. At first I figured it's just the lens, and I should be able to refocus it, though now that I look closely at the spot, it seems it's gone into TEM01, since it looks like there's a dim portion down the center of the spot, as if it wants to split into two beams... So, I fear maybe the crystals have been knocked out of alignment. I think he's happy with the output, and wouldn't really care that it's mode hopping, so long as it could be focused back into a tight beam.

In either case, I can't get the [redacted] aperture shutter off, and it looks impossible to pull the module out the other end.

Any suggestions on how to disassemble an RPL-Style host?

 

[phoenix77]

DREMEL :crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup:

 

[pseudolobster]

DREMEL :crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup:

That thought *HAD* already occurred to me.. Unfortunately I don't think that's an option here.

 

[phoenix77]

t-n-t

 

[pseudolobster]

t-n-t

Well, I suppose I hadn't thought of that... But it's still not an option...

Basically I'm looking for a way to remove the shutter cap without destroying the laser. Anyone?

In before lasersbee tells me to use the search function, believe me I've tried.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Removing those kind of caps is a pain. Usually it requires two sets of hardwood blocks with holes, and a vice/clamp or two to properly grip the two sections, and then you have to twist them. Some are pressure-fit, so you'll need to pull as well.

 

[john_lawson]

no it comes apart easy ACE82 took his apart he dropped his also let me try to find it for you



OK here it is

http://laserpointerforums.com/laser_pointer_forums_3/forum/showthread.php?t=28892

 

[pseudolobster]

no it comes apart easy ACE82 took his apart he dropped his also let me try to find it for you



OK here it is

http://laserpointerforums.com/laser_pointer_forums_3/forum/showthread.php?t=28892

Thank you! That's perfect! Or at least it would be if I could somehow muster the superhuman strength needed to unscrew this thing... I'm not sure if mine is exactly the same, it's probably not a real RPL, though it looks identical. I can't see that there's any threading on the head like Ace's, and I've already hurt my wrists trying to unscrew the thing.

 

[rog8811]

Leverage.....

Regards rog8811

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Which is why I mentioned the vice and hardwood blocks, like what Rog depicts in his image.

 

[chipdouglas]

@bionicbadger..... man that self-satisfying grin is annoying

 

[ElektroFreak]

Often times it can be very difficult to obtain good divergence values without a beam expander when the laser is running in a higher-order mode. TEM00 typically allows for the best divergence. You should be able to do better than a 4" spot at 20' though.

 

[pseudolobster]

I don't think it's coming off... It doesn't look like it's threaded.

Ace's had a thread between the first and second fins of the heatsink, yet as far as I can tell there's nothing there. Mine looks like it's one solid piece. (see attached pic (sorry if pic sucks, the forum made me resize it to 800x600))

I don't have a vice, nor two blocks of wood or a way of drilling an RPL sized hole through them, so I grabbed two mousepads to use for grip and let my big mechanic friend use all his strength to try and unscrew it, but it didn't budge.

Any other ideas?

I think this is a DragonLasers Hulk 250, if that helps.

 

[phoenix77]

Try calling DRAGONLASERS & ASK THEM...........rob

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Since the diameter of your laser's host is larger, try using two strap wrenches. Even big mechanic arms can't compete with leverage, and the barrel parts are often glued on.

I was going to try two of them with one of those focusable lasers from DX, but I have only one of those strap wrenches. It does grip pretty well on it though.