does this look like a Suitable host?

[strik3]

purchased one of these off ebay for about $8 to have a look at as a possible host for a 50mw green laser module. it is labeled as a 6v xenon flashlight, runs off 2 cr123a batterys

complete assembly

dissasembled

please let me know what you guys think.

[edit] pics are not working so atached them to the second post

 

[strik3]

hmmm ok for some reason the pics wont show up so have attached them instead

 

[Eudaimonium]

It looks great. You should have a heatsink made for it, to replace the front LED assembly, to support and cool your laser module.

If it accepts 2x 16340, it is possible that it might accept single 18650 cell, which is a better choice. Do you have any on hand to try it?

 

[jakeGT]

Are there green drivers that use 2xc123a's over single 18650?

 

[Eudaimonium]

Well you can make your own, but there are no commercially available green drivers for two lithium ion cell's voltage range, no.

Simple LM317 or 1117 should do the trick though. There's gonna be a lot of waste of power and IC will produce a lot of heat, but it's doable.

 

[strik3]

unfortunatly i have only just entered into the realm of lasers, and as such dont have very much in the way of batterys or accessories yet, i do have a couple 16340 . but i will look into it. im probably goint to send it off to jayrob for the heatsink as i unfortunatly dont have access to a lathe anymore.

 

[qumefox]

Most stock green drivers are are for 3V. Ocassionally you can find them that will work with 3.6V but from what i've seen, these just have a diode added to drop the voltage a little, which is a modification that can be easily done to normal 3V drivers. Your not going to find a factory driver very easily that works with more than a single li-ion cell.

 

[strik3]

Yeah I was going to modify the tail cap with a spacer so that It will require only 1 battery. As I understand that giving it anything over 3v will destroy it. Or maybe running two in parallel I'm not sure if it's possible or even fif it will handle two in parallel. So any advice or observations from anyone who has tried running parallel batteries are more than welcome

 

[Eudaimonium]

Yeah I was going to modify the tail cap with a spacer so that It will require only 1 battery. As I understand that giving it anything over 3v will destroy it. Or maybe running two in parallel I'm not sure if it's possible or even fif it will handle two in parallel. So any advice or observations from anyone who has tried running parallel batteries are more than welcome

Well, a green module is fairly larger than standard LED assembly in flashlighs. Once the heatsink and module have been installed, module's electronics protrude far into the battery barrel itself, and leaving just enough place for one CR123 sized cell, which is no problems.

If you have space for two of those, than you can use one 18650 lithium ion cell, which is about the size of two CR123 ones, but still acts as single cell.

No worries either way

 

[strik3]

Ahk thanks for the info. Will have to see how much room is left after you make the heatsink up.

And I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to help me out with info and suggestions

 

[strik3]

just found some other hosts that i have ordered and was wondering if anyone has used these before and if so how well it went as a host

ZOOMABLE 7W CREE LED Flashlight Torch Zoom Lamp SA22

picked it up for about $10

see attachment for pic

 

[bhwollen]

Haven't seen anyone use it yet.

 

[Helios]

There's always a way to make it work but I've never seen that host used before. I could make you a heatsink for it.

 

[strik3]

do you guys think it would look nice and unique as a host?

 

[qumefox]

Almost anything can be made a host with enough effort. The question is, is it worth the effort. Most focusable flashlights are a pain to convert to a laser host due to the added complexity of them. Especially if you want to retain the focus control layout to control the laser focus as well.

 

[strik3]

nah i dont really care bout the focus control.