Laser help!

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LaserNoob

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Oct 26, 2005
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Hi everybody, first of all I am NEW to this site and NEW to lasers!

Only laser I ever had before now was them little red ones.

Anyway I bought myself a green laser ( <5mW llla ) from EbaY. I got it and was pretty impressed withith but to be honest I did expect more...

Anyway I looked around this forum and found this site http://www.greenlasers.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1111314012 which shows how to mod the laser....

I managed to get the button off but can't find anything small enough to turn the little screw ! :mecry:I managed to prod the screw gently with the laser on and seen a massive GOOD difference, really pleased with that...

So my question(s) are, what can I use to twist the little screw, and Also will it be even brighter than it was when i prodded it?

P-s, my laser is in a right state now, scratched , missing button, I nearly chopped my finger off too.

Thanks!!!

Leo
 
Please don't resort to a steak knife or anything like that. You'll break it!
Go to your local electronics store. The used/surplus type with buckets of diodes and switches lining the aisles and old commercial equipments lining the shelves is best.
And then get yourself a plastic non-conductive adjustment driver.
They usually have a blade on both ends and knurling in the middle but they are all plastic and made to be used with micro pots on small boards.
I think I read on the forum here that straight slot works best even though it looks like a +. Come to think of it I don't think I've seen those tools in philips configuration, they are always straight blades in my experience.
I don't know if the ones on the wall of a Radio Shack would go to small enough of a size and they have the disadvantage of being made of metal, but maybe they've got something hidden away.
That's my 2 cents.

EDIT: Just to clarify "your local electronics store" and move away from Radio Shack which is still a great store for lots of things (and maybe this too but probably not, haven't looked).
Look in your local phone book for electronics supply, or surplus. You want to go to the place that the electrician and technician go to buy parts/tools. Thats the best.
 
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do not ever use metal objects to fiddle with the pot because since the case is used to carry electrical current to the diode and the pot also carys current when you touch both to a metal object you are esentialy bypassing the resistors and things on the driver and you could easily burn out the diode like that. if you go down to walmart you could find little eye glass repair kits that have tiny skrewdrivers that i find fit perfectly into the pot, just wrap electrical tape to insulate the shaft of the skrewdriver and then rig the laser in the on possition and slowly turn the pot until it gets brighter, then when it goes completely out, turn it a bit back till it turns on again and it will be at the maximum power level that the pot can be set to, good luck
 
Thanks alot for the replys, as this is my first ever laser im not too bothered about messing it up, it all helps me learn. I managed to twist the pot with a hair clip :thinking: and its brighter but im sure it can go a little brighter. Im actually from england UK so we dont have walmart, best bet is for me to look on ebay or something for the tools I need, what should i search for?


Thanks again.

Does adjusting the pot take up more battery life?

Thanks
 
The main thing to be concerned with when modding a laser pointer is that you will likely be shortening the life of the diode. Also, be sure to be very careful as not to damage the pointer during the modding process.
 
the one you want to turn should look like a small round disk with a cross sunk into it, kind of like this: (+) and it should be very small, you may be looking even at the wrong part of the board inside and may need to gently nudge it around until you see the pot
 
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