How to open this laser?

[xJumper]

Ok so I want to open my DX 50mW Greenie and ad a little special something to it but how do I get started? Mine is a pen style laser you have probably seen it before many times, look at my sig for an example.

So how do I open this thing, is the front end of it threaded or is it glued it and I just have to pull? Next do I have to push the button in before I do this and since its a green laser and theirs all sorts of crystals in their, IS IT OK to just open it and look at it meaning I would unscrew anything else but just look at. Or if I do that I will un aline the krystals or whatever and then my laser would be fked?


Please read the post carfuly and anser as many of my questions as posible! ;D

 

[chido]

For the metal part on the front I've heard you have to clamp it with a vice and wiggle it until you get it out, as for the rest I can't remember right now.

 

[potatorage]

The front thingy is glued in, it takes a lot of force to get it out. You probably won't screw up the crystals, but the impact from trying to open it might screw it up.

 

[xJumper]

And I have to push my button in right? And what can I use so I wont damage my case and put dents in it?

 

[glona]

use a dremal cut the tip off ( if you dont mind the look) use a dowel and push out while pushing the button down first tiem its cind of tight

 

[Zarniwoop]

I'd love to take my DX20 apart so I could fix the intermittent contacts, but I haven't gotten it to budge at all while putting nasty gouges in the chrome caps with pliers. The glue seems so tight that the case would be a total loss to get it out.

Has anybody successfully taken a DX pen laser apart in such a way as to save the case, i.e. so that it could be put back together and still look good?

The next time mine starts dropping out I may just decide to waste the case and make a new one for it.

 

[glona]

i have done it 1 time pit thte tip in a ziplock bag and slowly boil it till glue heats than pull tip off be verry carfull

 

[Glaserfan]

There are two types of cases for the DX lasers..

One is thicker and is marked LASER POINTER on the clip, has a button the same color as the tip, and a farly wide open aperture.

The other is thinner, no markings on the clip, chrome button, and has a smaller aperture.

For the first type, clamp the body firmly in a vise, minus about 9/16 of an inch of the body from the tip, then grab the tip wrapped in leather with visegrips and wiggle and pull hard. Protect the body fom the vise also so it doesn't get marred up.

For the second type, the tip is threaded into the module(not the body), and is trickier. Clamp the body in the vise tight enough to secure the module inside(leaving the end 9/16" free), then grab the tip in the same way as above, and unscrew it. Trying to wiggle it is futile, as you'll be trying to wiggle the whole module. There really is no way to clamp the body without damaging it and be able to get the whole thing out at once...

For both, afterwards simply unclamp the body, and push from the battery end with a dowel.. pushing in the button will only make this more difficult and perhaps damage the switch/driver board.

The first type will have a 3-piece module, the second a 2-piece.

Feel free to ask any more questions

 

[Zom-B]

Thanks for the tips too. Now I know I won't be opening my DX 50 for any time soon

 

[IgorT]

I damaged the paint on the head in the first one i ever opened.. Wasn't careful enough.

But the second one, i managed to open without any damage. I mounted the head into a vice between some cardboard for protection, with the body sticking up. Then i edged it out slowly.

If you twist it, you rip the legs of the diode off, because the button prevents the "driver" from turning. But you do NOT have to press the button in, because it is not connected to the "driver". When you pull the module out, the button will just fall out in the end. The silver head, module with crystals, diode and driver come out in one piece.


You can ruin the laser this way easily, if you're not very careful. Sometimes, the pump diode can get dislodged, even tho it is screwed and glued in. And once that happens, it is near impossible to get it back up to the original power.


If the reason you want to do this is more power, i would suggest using an 10400 Li-Ion with a spacer or shortened barrel.