Another Dorcey Mini Mod

[jeepnewbie]

Sorry didn't want to impose on someone else's thread about a different diode.

First off let me say I've enjoyed what down time I have reading your post on here and have learned a bit about things I wasn't sure how they worked. I have a few questions, with some pics. They are a bit crappy and when I find my camera I'll take better, (using my laptop web cam).

I saw a lot of flashlight mods and really cool looking flashlights. I can't say I have a fetish yet, but some of the guys I'm deployed with say I do. Mini Mag, Gerber 1xAA, 2x dorcy's (one of which I'm now modding to a laser pointer), Surefire L2, Romisen RC-T6, and a Luma Power MVP (both heads), and a few more at home.

Alright down to the questions. I done as much reading as time allows me and purchased the things required to put together a nice laser pointer (gotta love ebay). My wife boxed them up and shipped them. I have a dorcy mini ran by 1 CR123 LED, a red LD from a LITE-ON DH-20A4P 20x Burner, a few Aixiz housings, and a few tools to help me through it. I can borrow a electric meter from the shop when needed and have used it.

I got the whole thing put together (basicly copying Kenom <sorry beat me up if need be just wanted to try out one first to see if i can do it>) following this thread
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=168964
and this one also helped
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=162202
this is mine.

inside the flashlight housing where the LED's circuit board is.

I put everything together as I read about, and when I fire it up I get a very dim light. Figuring what I have read it will still damage my eyes but can still burn something, I try it and nothing on electrical tape. Thinking I have a low battery I charge up one of my 123's and still nothing. I'm curious about this and would like to get some assistance if possible. Do I need to crank up the volts? I've tested it directly to the battery after putting a fresh one in the light only to recieve a dim light again. I figured what the heck the board in the flashlight might restrict too much power. It still gave nothing, other than a dim light. The Aixiz ones I ordered have a board directly on the back of the diode and hooking them directly to the battery gives a bright light, does this make a difference? Any help would be great.

 

[proud2deviate]

It's probable that you've used the infrared diode instead of the red one. Most DVD burners will have two laser diodes in them; an IR for CDs, and a red for DVDs. Look at it with a phone camera or somesuch thing to see if it's cranking out IR.

Another possibility is that you've cooked the red diode, reducing it to LED status (I hope not.)

 

[jeepnewbie]

Bummer I guess I reduced it. I shined in front of my laptop camera and snapped a picture. It didn't look very strong, so shining it towards the camera so you can see it running did nothing other than tell me i now have a red really dim led. I hooked up the other rectangle looking diode still in the housing and could see a feint glow and it got warm pretty fast. I'm thinking its the IR one.

Guess I'm gonna have to wait for another burner, this time I'm gonna try to find cheap used ones, call my wife to hit up the PC shops around town, lol. My hobby really is with my jeep, but hard to work on it when I'm on the other side of the globe:laughing:. I can't turn down a good project though that keeps me interested. Have fun every one and when I get my flashlight stuff from DX I'll post my hopefully really bright (for a beginner!) flashlight. Look forward to reading more from this awesome website.

 

[Kenom]

Your problem was you used a rechargable cr123 instead of a primary lithium battery. A primary lithium only puts out 3.2v or thereabouts when brand new while a rechargable lithium Ion puts out 4.6v or thereabouts when fully charged. this is too much voltage and current for the driver and will end up feeding more current than your laser diode can handle. You ended up killing it. I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing a Flex drive from here:
http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_diode/Micro_FlexDrive.php

Remove all of the components from the existing driver and feed + and to the board then to your new laser diode (you blew up that one you have) and adjust your current with a voltmeter on the 1 ohm (green) resistor on the driver. You don't want to go over 450ma. You'll be rockin!

You can also purchase just the sled from a LG or sony dvd-rw for about $15 depending on where. I sell them as well. This will give you the laser diode you need.

 

[jeepnewbie]

[FONT=&quot]WTF @$$#^&*!?, Stupid internet connection, I'm not retyping every thing I just did. I Limited on time so I'll make this quick.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sorry Kenom I thought I posted I didn't use a rechargeable at first, just a reg sanyo 123. It was pushing 3.4 out the top of the regulator board. I bouth two dif lights to use both are dorcy. The one you see and a AAA one, the AAA didn't have a regulator board on it. I wanted to use it but being in Iraq means waiting a long time to get your next item you order, it would be great too considering you can put a fail safe switch in key activated (if you know where to get one please let me know. I wan't to put it toget this way its safer). My next question is would 3.4 push 450ma, or does it really depend on the driving board?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I ordered some glasses just in case not sure if they are good or not.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220307132436[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Here are two sleds I'm looking at ordering, one red one blue.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260364994753[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260365253854[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Will blue burn things like red? I haven't research them. And Kenom if I did buy something from you how would I go about it, I'm always weary on buying something online and never ordered anything on a forum. PM me if its no trouble. Well I gotta go now, thanks again for the help everyone.[/FONT]

 

[Kenom]

It really depends on the driver. See, most of these are designed for a Luxeon led which uses upwards of 750ma and does not need to be protected against spikes. A laser diode cannot handle a spike for even a nanosecond. Since this driver is known to spike when you first turn it on, you won't even notice that the laser has been killed or if you do, it was one quick flash of laser, then dim. I'll PM you about the other components.

AS to the burning capability of each wavelength, it's more dependant on the medium your trying to burn, and how each wavelength responds to that medium. If it's reflective to that particular wavelength, then it's not going to burn worth poop. However, if your medium absorbs that wavelength, then your gonna be a burnin baby. the shorter wavelength (bluray at 405nm) is going to burn a lot more things than the red as the shorter wavelength is absorbed more readily than the red (650nm)

 

[jeepnewbie]

Alright... I have received the heat sink and aperture cover today. It is really nice and fits into the bezel perfectly. He shipped fast too I never got mail here that fast. I plan on ordering more things from Dark Horse custom, if I make another build like this.

 

[Kenom]

He is a fast shipper there is no doubt. I'm still waiting for the parts you got from me so taht I can ship it to you. Dr. Lava gets so backlogged with orders that when he finally does get the drivers in stock he has to fill back orders first.

 

[jeepnewbie]

Awesome, thanks Kenom look forward to getting them.

 

[golfdawg]

Looks good, I'm gathering the parts for my first one, a blu-ray. What are the other common hosts besides the Dorcey jr? I guess what I mean is which hosts can I get heatsinks for the easiest?

 

[jeepnewbie]

Looks good, I'm gathering the parts for my first one, a blu-ray. What are the other common hosts besides the Dorcey jr? I guess what I mean is which hosts can I get heatsinks for the easiest?

To be honest I'm not all that sure. I choose the dorcy just because I like the looks of it and saw another thread on it. Granted mine didn't go as well as the other thread. I'm still new to all this and learned quite a bit, so it's mostly going depend on your taste of what you want to mod. I'm looking at the DIY flashlight housings on DX just because there is a bit more room for a learner like me to play with. I'm putting a P7 in one as soon as the housing gets here. I'll post a thread on it later.

Kenom was awesome enough to send me this link for getting a heat sink that would fit the dorcy, but they have a few others and one that would work great in just about any build.
http://mysite.verizon.net/grall/darkhorsecustom/id74.html
They have really fast shipping.

 

[jeepnewbie]

Its done!

 

[Kenom]

incredibly awesome build huh? my first host was a dorcy and I love em.

 

[jeepnewbie]

Yes they are, I now want to make a blue one. Any idea where a good place to buy a diode? I found this on ebay and wondering if anyone bought from them?

http://cgi.ebay.com/150mW-405nm-Blu...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1308|301:1|293:1|294:50

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=140314732518

http://cgi.ebay.com/150mW-405nm-Blu...hash=item270358459161&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116


I also have a question that I'm researching. I'm currently in Iraq heading back stateside for a couple of weeks. I would like to take it with me but not sure how customs would deal with it, and then when I get to the airport. I've read most people are able to take their laser pointer with them, but with the increase of people pointing lasers at aircraft. I would hate to loose this, and don't want to try and mail it out unless its a last resort. I was also planing on taking my Lumapower MVP home too. Will I have to mail both of these home?

 

[Kenom]

a few people have done so. As long as you keep it tucked away, you should be fine. There are a ton of sellers on LPF moving bluray sleds for $12 a pop.