Ok doing order now.
Anything i should be worried about when building? Static electricity?
Any hints or tips?
Yes static electricity can always be a danger to the diode. If you have a anti static wrist strap and mat then use them, if not it probably doesn't matter since you won't directly handle the diode, if you were going to press a diode in a module and solder to it yourself, then I would use the wrist strap and mat, but since you are buying a DTR module then some of the hard part is already done. Pressing a diode and soldering wires or a driver to the pins is where it sometimes goes wrong. Just don't walk around in your polyester socks on the synthetic carpet before handling the module.
Another place where it goes wrong is when you press the round driver or the battery contact board into the brass ring and again press that into the pill. This should be easy but sometimes people mangle the brass ring such that it's not useable. You also have to solder the outer ring on the battery contac board to the brass ring, should be a small amount in two places. Look at the photos in my two builds with Survival Laser parts, it may help.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/assembled-445nm-9mm-stainless-steel-host-pic-heavy-85997.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/assembled-m140-c6-pic-heavy-83543.html
Look at the pill to see what it should look like. Here is a YouTube video that may help some, don't use electrical tape, use heat shrink.
Another thing you must be very careful of is how and in what order you screw the parts together. It is a common mistake for people to twist the wires when screwing it all together and break a pin off the diode, if this happens it's not repairable, some people have even done this multiple times, and that would be an expensive mistake.
When you insert your batteries you must always insert them the correct way, in this case it will be negative to the tailcap, if you insert them backwards and turn the laser on then it will only take a few seconds to fry the driver. In this host you will be using two 16340 button top, you can also use two 18350 button top, but be aware that not all 18350 will fit in this host. If you decided to get the battery extension tube then you will use two 18650 button top. Remember to charge your batteries before using them.
Once the laser is assembled and you insert the batteries, before you screw on the tail cap you must point the laser in a safe direction. Twice before when screwing on the tail cap for the first time the switch was on and I didn't know it, so there is the potential there for an accident if you're not careful. You can avoid this by testing the tail cap first with your DMM to see if it is on or off.
That's all I can think of right now. Something often goes wrong on a first build, hopefully I have covered the important points.
Alan
