This is a really odd thread. Why would you care Mr. RX if people break their stuff or not? Sure, it can be very disappointing when some person does it, and if they wish to walk the extra step to repair their units, then good for them. I've ruined several lasers in my time, some I’ve rebuilt, others I scrap for parts, even ship them off to other members who could use them for free! And there are ways to mod lasers, right ways and wrong ways. There are lasers more suitable for modifications then others. For anybody (noobs) who experiment by trying to mod their lasers need to be responsible for their own actions, just like everything else. When they begin their modifications, they made that choice that they could break their unit at that time. They decided to keep their hand, bet their laser, and lost. You can't say; "Please make better choices with your poker hands"... not that it is a gamble but it is. And mind me ask you Mr. RX, what are the majority laser models do you service? I'd be willing to guess, New Wish? An $11 5mW to a $60 200mW? I would assume anybody spending the big bucks on some of the other model lasers mentioned in this thread would have the sense or knowledge to do it correctly, not at all, or repair it themselves. Or are you a Wicked repairer? ;D
However, I do respect the specific facts you mentioned about high-powered lasers being more difficult to mod thus increasing the risk or damage in comparison to 5mW versions. One thing about Forums is that there can NEVER be enough information!
Actually, I do have a confession to make, which I thought was really funny. I’ve had many DX 5mW pointers, a few I’ve given away to associates for profecional courtesy, a few I’ve hacked apart, and I had one left stock, one that could have sold for a 30mW. I haven’t messed with it in a few months, and I decided to throw some batteries in it for shits and giggles. Well it already had one battery in it, so I just put in a single AAA. Well it was bright! More like 50mW! Nice clean, stable beam… for about 5 minutes of use (on and off that is) then it just stopped working. I removed the batteries to descover, what do you know, a 10440 3.7V at the bottom! I laughed because I remember I had used the battery holder for testing another of my builds (using 7.2V) and I completely forgot that I had left that battery in there! Well now I plan on replacing the LD, maybe even making an IR laser, I don’t really know. But I don’t really have all the time or money in the world right now so it’s just sitting there. Point of the story is, WHO CARES? I bought it for $17 about 1 ½ years or more ago.
And my initial thought when I saw the title of this thread, I was thinking more along the lines of what not to do with your lasers as far as safety, which in my opinion is much more important. Anyway, this is not a rant.
Peace - Ace
;D ;D 