5mw green laser off ebay, mods?

[nevermind1281]

Are there any mods I could possibly do to this 5mw green laser I bought? LINK. I saw a green laser on the website for Spencers Gifts, it was marked down from $100 and it said it could go as far as 20 miles. They dont have it any more but if you go to google and search "spencers green laser" it comes up with this link in there and thats the laser but thats the only info because they took down the page but kep the pic. Well anyway, the one I got says up to 3000 meters but thats slightly less then 2 miles, how could it be that much of a difference? Was that wrong or was it way mroe powerful then 5mw? It could have been 20mw but I cant remember what it said because it was a long time ago. Could I do a resistor mod to make mine more powerful? And if so, how much farther could it go? Thanks

 

[crailtap25]

the one you bought off ebay is not the same as the spencers one.. i used to have the spencers one untill i tried to find a pot and hacked it up to death... the one you bought is moddable, thoguh its hard to get the two peices apart to get to the module.. though, yours doesnt have an IR filter (though the spencers one does ) so be very careful when using it... to mod this. wedge a knife between the black area and the silver area at the aperature end of the laser.. work the silver part out away from the black part and pull the module out.. you should find a pot in there somewhere.

 

[Nisei]

Check this thread. It's about modding the laser you've bought on eBay.

 

[nevermind1281]

Ok, this thing sucks down batteries like nothing. I have to buy some rechargeable for it.

 

[nevermind1281]

I guess it wasnt working because it was cold. It is fine now. But the button switch is messed up. I have to play with it before it work. I think the switch is broken. Could I get it out to replace?

 

[Hemlock Mike]

Rechargeables output between 1.2 and 1.35 volts depending on NiMH or NiCad. That can sometimes be a little low. I use e2 Lithium which output 1.7 volts per cell.

Watch that cold weather, It can cause the power control to dump the amps into the diode to get output. I carry mine in my shirt pocketto keep them around room temp.

If it sucks batteries --- How much is it drawing ?? If over 300 mA for 5 mW, you got a weak one -- luck of the draw ..........

Many of the switches put in these pointers are rated at about 50 mA but that's for 50,000 cycles - - A few do fail early. Digikey has many switches available but height varies between pointer styles and you will have to pick the right one.

Mike