Greenie Modified

Well I have never been one to leave good enough alone.
After 10 min, a hacksaw, a AA holder, some wire and solder - my greenie now runs off of AA batteries

Anyone else done this yet? Is there anything I should be worry about after doing this to the unit? Is the abiltity for a higher current draw an issue?

The beam is not stronger but I expected as much seeing as how the voltage is the same but it should have a longer run time now from my understanding.

Comments?

what's a greenie? Got any pics?

It's a 532nm green laser pointer, which typically runs off AAA batteries. Sounds like a great mod! I've been tempted to buy one and dissect it, then mount it in a laser scanner, such as the American DJ Laser Widow, replacing the 5mW red laser that it comes with. I've already swapped out one of these with a 35mW red laser, and I'd love to have a matching green one...but I don't think the 5mw pointer would keep up...10mW, maybe, but not likely with just the 5mW. Anyhow, I'm rambling, time to quit.

Cheers!

Where's a good place to get a greenie? Last I checked, green lasers were really expensive.

But with a greenie, you can do this:




YC

And this...



The sillhouette is of a building approximately 1 mile away. See the green spot on it, and the beam that can be seen coming in from the right?

Oh Craig, my green actually can be unscrewed near the top end. As in near the metalic band between the button and the tip.

The problem with it not being bright was because it wasn't screwed on all the way. I'm still not brave enough to unscrew the top section all the way yet. I'm too scared that I'll break some wires or something.

YC

I was speaking with the guy who runs http://www.extremelasers.com/ and said this about running it off of aa's
"They offer too much current which is a death warrant to the pump diode. You are straining the diode."

This kinda has me a little concerned - does anyone else have input on this?

From what I understand it will try to take as much current as it needs (aaa, aa, or otherwise) and just kill smaller batteries quicker. (my whole reason to do the mod was runtime)

And if that's the case from what I understand - nimh aaa cells would be even worse as they allow for even a higher current draw?

Is not the point of the little circut board on the laser to regulate the voltage and current some how making this all moot?

*edit:

Oh yeah - not gonna post of a pic of it cause it looks totally getto (tape, elastic bands, ect...)

*edit:

So I lied and posted a pic anyway



Elastic band it just to keep it on for the shot - its not holding it together - that's the tape

Plinko - Greenies are realy bright - I think a 5mw would give the red a good run for the money - as well I believe some one has done that mod already and had it work fine.

Ahhh yes - just found it:

http://www.cheaperlaser.com/

Look about half way down the page and you should see a few lines about that mod and a link to a fourm to talk about it.

Originally posted by OrBy:
I was speaking with the guy who runs http://www.extremelasers.com/ and said this about running it off of aa's
"They offer too much current which is a death warrant to the pump diode. You are straining the diode."

This kinda has me a little concerned - does anyone else have input on this?

From what I understand it will try to take as much current as it needs (aaa, aa, or otherwise) and just kill smaller batteries quicker. (my whole reason to do the mod was runtime)

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Your reasoning should be correct. I'm not sure why this Extreme Lasers guy would say that - this 'bigger batteries offer too much current' is a bit of a strange statement. Current through a device is a function of the voltage across it and the devices' resistance. This doesn't change regardless of the capacity of the battery.
All I can think of is that he may have thought you were driving the laser diode directly from the batteries, not using the laser diode driver circuit.
This would be the only exception to the above rule, since if the laser diode has a low internal resistance, the current delivered will depend on that plus internal resistance of the battery.

But assuming you are still using the driver circuit, it shouldn't matter what batteries or power supply you plug into it..

Graham