I have a 1.2 - 1.4 watt blue laser in a gatling housing. When I received it, the negative terminal spring was bent, and after swapping batteries a few times, it bent to the point where it is resting on the inside wall of the host (pic #4). I emailed pics of the problem to the seller and voiced my concern about it shorting out, and now I have a free replacement in the mail and I get to keep the old laser.
I bought some protected 16340 batteries, and found that when inserted the spring compressed enough to no longer be touching the inside wall. However, the last time I inserted batteries, when going to screw on the tail cap, I accidentally touched the side of the cap to the positive battery terminal and the host, causing the laser to turn on briefly. Unfortunately, I believe the spring didn't have enough pressure to pull itself away from the inside of the host when that happened. After I finished screwing on the tail cap, I turned the laser on. It ran about 7-10 seconds, then died. After taking the batteries out, the inside of the laser smells like burnt electrical components.
I was able to slide a paper barrier between the spring and the inside host wall, unreasonably hoping it was a short that was keeping the laser from powering on, but to no avail. Now I'm hoping it's just the board that is fried but the diode is still good.
My problem now is that I can't figure out how to get the components out of the host. I don't see any threading for the components to screw into, so I'm assuming they are pressed in. Is this correct? Might it be glued in place, as I can see some sort of black substance on the inside seams between the component's housing and the host, or might that be some sort of thermal paste? I have tried gently tapping out the components from both ends, but nothing seemed to move. I was afraid to tap very hard in fear of damaging the diode which I'm hoping is still good.
I searched the forums for disassembly pictures / instructions. I found some pics from a few years ago that showed the host being in two pieces (after you remove the 12 rails), but it appears I have a newer model that is all one piece. I also couldn't tell exactly how the component housing was mounted inside the host.
Any information on how to disassemble this thing would be greatly appreciated. If it's pressed together and I need to bust out a hammer and punch, I can do that. If doing so might damage the potentially good diode inside, but that's the only way to get it apart, so be it. I'd just like to know I'm doing the right thing before I start hammering away.
Thank you for any help you can give on the matter, and thank you for the highly informative forums.
I bought some protected 16340 batteries, and found that when inserted the spring compressed enough to no longer be touching the inside wall. However, the last time I inserted batteries, when going to screw on the tail cap, I accidentally touched the side of the cap to the positive battery terminal and the host, causing the laser to turn on briefly. Unfortunately, I believe the spring didn't have enough pressure to pull itself away from the inside of the host when that happened. After I finished screwing on the tail cap, I turned the laser on. It ran about 7-10 seconds, then died. After taking the batteries out, the inside of the laser smells like burnt electrical components.
I was able to slide a paper barrier between the spring and the inside host wall, unreasonably hoping it was a short that was keeping the laser from powering on, but to no avail. Now I'm hoping it's just the board that is fried but the diode is still good.
My problem now is that I can't figure out how to get the components out of the host. I don't see any threading for the components to screw into, so I'm assuming they are pressed in. Is this correct? Might it be glued in place, as I can see some sort of black substance on the inside seams between the component's housing and the host, or might that be some sort of thermal paste? I have tried gently tapping out the components from both ends, but nothing seemed to move. I was afraid to tap very hard in fear of damaging the diode which I'm hoping is still good.
I searched the forums for disassembly pictures / instructions. I found some pics from a few years ago that showed the host being in two pieces (after you remove the 12 rails), but it appears I have a newer model that is all one piece. I also couldn't tell exactly how the component housing was mounted inside the host.
Any information on how to disassemble this thing would be greatly appreciated. If it's pressed together and I need to bust out a hammer and punch, I can do that. If doing so might damage the potentially good diode inside, but that's the only way to get it apart, so be it. I'd just like to know I'm doing the right thing before I start hammering away.
Thank you for any help you can give on the matter, and thank you for the highly informative forums.