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FrozenGate by Avery

Minimal mod green 510nm diode laser build

LaserRanger

LaserRanger

Active member
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
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Yet again I am far from home traveling on the job, not bei g able to sleep. I've been working 15 minutes away from the Mexican border since Monday, I brought lasers to entertain myself but Its not enough if I'm not trying to fit a laser into something lol.
Here, at a Walmart I found a small inspection light for less than $10 that called out to me for a laser retrofitting procedure. Since I have not tried a host of this kind I bought 2 of the and good thing I did, as the first one I tried to open had an incredible amount of stubborn epoxy that caused me to damage the anodized finish but pushed through it because it's raining and there's nothing else to do. Hence my I spent the next 2 hours cutting away at the aluminum with my pocket knife until I had cut too much and the module no longer stayed out. No big deal, I have one last chance.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my latest laser retrofit 15507393617983745588839247762001.jpg15507394429829042710606445641202.jpg15507394777861389662593806319517.jpg15507395067095876463342601994431.jpg15507395287512794358210658470672.jpg1550739575099216073848014991980.jpg15507395942132641927237963803954.jpg
Thanks for looking guys!
For anyone wondering how I solder everything, without soldering iron. I used one of the "modules" I had build for my LUMINTOP tool AAA and pretty much screwed it in the business end after carefully shaving off material from the lip that would normally hold back the lense on this inspection light and cut the spring short on the driver and there we have it. With just a pair of pliers, a pocket knife and some elbow grease, I was able to put together a new laser. I hope you enjoyed it

Luis 😎👍
 





thanhtung said:
nice build! seem its power under 70mW? can you pls tell to me how many current you set for diode?
Click to expand...

I do not remember the current I set for this driver but it is adjustable. And i don't have any way of measuring but my guess is somewhere between 40-70mW

@TinLethax it did not fit perfectly. I was disappointed at first because my idea was to push the module from the inside but it was too narrow. Then I just slowly shaved material at head but not too much, just enough to be able to catch the threads of the module. In my first attempt, I shaved away too much and the module doesn't stay in place anymore but it does fit further into the head. Maybe if I add shims or a set screw but I don't have any of my tools at the moment. All I had to do to this host was unscrew the head (huge pain in the ass on one but easy on the second) it is glued with epoxy so you have to use a bit of force then push out the led and driver. After that I used my pocket knife to make the opening just wide enough to force the module threads into the aluminum of the host and screwd down the module keeping it as straight as possible while it is being screwed down so the beam looks straight with the host
 
It is tricky to just guess at the current you set your driver for. It would be much better for you if you used a dummy load to set these in the future. I'm glad that this one seemed to work out for you.
 
For a low power diode I used ten 10 amp silicon rectifiers and a 1 ohm 5 watt 1% resistor. The rectifiers are not that expensive as I got 50 of them for ~$5.00. Make sure you keep your connections short and use short wire to connect to the driver.
 
@paul1598419 I didn't guess it, I just forgot what I set it to, I have build many of these modules with diode and drivers, same way just different lenses so I have a hard time remembering which one is what and what current was set to this one and that oneso sometimes I have a hard time remembering, 1I have a dummy load now, that diode and driver were from a previous build when I was trying ways to fit the module inside the lumintop tool AAA so I tried to make the module with driver the right size to fit the host As it turns out, it works just as well with every AAA battery flashlight I have thrown together. And it's just as simple as having the diode pressed in a module and a driver soldered to it, like the ones DTR sells already made, just find a host and carve away at the flashlight head, leaving just enough material to have the threads work themselves in and that's it ,
 
I always write the current down for drivers I have set before actually using them and putting them back in my stock. I can never remember either. It has served me well as I have actually gone searching for a driver and found ones already set and ready to go.
 
That's a good idea, should keep me from hurting diodes and will make it easier for the next use as well
 
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