Got my diode in today! Kind of tempted to put it in direct drive with 1x18650, but think I will wait until I get a proper driver. Dont want to be pulling this apart and doing too much rework on it unless absolutely necessary . Too much money invested in that tiny lil diode lol
I ended up taking the stock bezel off and replacing it with the shorter stainless attack bezel so I can stand it on the head again.
Ill get some pics posted up later, we just got power back. We lost it at about 1pm Monday and its now 1:55pm Thursday... had a 5000w generator, but I was only able to back feed 120v. So no stove, no doing laundry. Got some catching up to do. Had plenty of flashlights too! haha.
Is there a p60 lockout switch made? If so, can someone link me to it?
Please never do DD with a laser diode it’s the fastest way to kill it believe me on this one. “Except a simple coin cell on the small red diodes”
Enjoy your build as far as lockouts go I don’t know I’ve never built one into a flashlight host only box mods
But if you have kids around its a good idea to have a lockout or lock them up safety first always
+1! Laser diodes have been known to survive direct connection to batteries but rarely. More often than not, it will turn your LD into an LED : HERE
Batteries are rated in mAh. If a battery is 2000mAh, this means it can supply, under normal conditions, 2A for 1 hour. If you connect it to a laser diode directly for a few seconds, it’s very likely the diode is going to get a huge current surge. It also depends largely on the battery. Some may have much lower internal resistance than others, which will mean instant death to your diode : HERE
You will come across many videos and articles that will suggest that to build a laser, all you need to do is unscrew the end of a Maglite, remove the bulb, push the pins of a laser diode into the holes and switch it on. If you want to test a laser diode that will last, you need a drive circuit. Never test it directly with a battery. Many innocent laser diodes have died having been abused in this way. A laser diode is current hungry, it will take all it can get. If your batteries are weak your laser will be saved by the fact that it will not get much power. But without regulation, put in a new set of batteries without a driver to mitigate power and the laser will draw high current, heat up, which makes it try to take more current…then it dies : HERE
my sisters cars windows were always covered with those cheap, super sticky, paper stickers that when you try to peel them off just left nasty torn paper that was near impossible to remove. since having kids, i have embedded in their heads that any sticker stuck anywhere in my car would bring the worst consequence ever... luckily they have never tried it , because I would most likely fail to deliver lol.
thanks! I think it is quite the looker too. I think my next build will be something like the c8 with a screw in pill, do away with the stock head, and just enlarge the pill to be the head.
Glass is easy with a razor scraper. $0.66 amazon add-on or currently $1 on ebay. If only it was a little sooner. Cheapest Christmas present for your sister ever? :bigsmile:
Strong window cleaner, other cleaners that cut grease well or gasoline in a pinch will take off glue residue. For stickers elsewhere use a hair dryer to heat the sticker while sliding a knife under the edge (under the paper, through the glue layer). Grab & peel while wearing leather gloves so you can keep the heat on it.
Looks good. This OP at LPF has a link to a driver that they say will work. Only has 1 mode, but only costs $1.99 shipped. Googling indicates it can be resister modded up to 2.5 amps, but starts getting hot over 2 amps. That's OK since you want it no higher than 1.8 amps.
EDIT: Opps, posted the wrong link above. Corrected.
Thing is, by the time a cheap one will take to get here from China, I would have the cash to get the xboost from DTR.
Was thinking about asking him if he could list one on ebay, I have a $50 gift card right now... but my fiances sister got me one too, but she wasnt able to print it out because of the massive power outage we had in our area the past week... Not sure how much the one from her will be, but wanted to get set up with a Raspberry Pi and a case for it with the ebay cards
had a backlog of ebay purchases I needed to leave feedback for, and I went ahead and left feedback for the diode with out thinking that I never even tried it
I used a lifepo4 rcr123a, so there was probably significant voltage drop. it lit up but was not very bright as expected... so it works!
Hopefully it's due to the lower voltage of the lipo. It needs around 5.5v at 1.8amps. You may have bigger cajones then me, but the thing should still scare you (at least a little) when you run it at max.
3.2v nominal voltage with lifepo4, and the rcr123a's tend to sag underload. so I imagine i was giving it just enough to light up
put it this way.... when i tested it, it was unfocused (bigger) and was aimed at the arm of my black hoodie... my eyes feel like i flashed myself welding right now and that was some time ago.
do not want to turn that thing on again until i have proper eye wear, but $45+ is expensive... but, as a welder, my eyes are my money makers... so this project may be put on hold longer than expected
Ordered the X-Drive from DTR. All he had was the square drivers, not 17mm, so I had him put it on a 17mm contact board and attach the positive contact spring. Could have done it myself, but got no additional springs, and just want it done.
Came to $30 shipped, bringing the total build up to about $125 if my memory is correct on some of the prices
Now I get to bug you guys about building another. Violet, green or red. Have not decided yet. Think I would really like a violet right now, but maybe too close to what I already have?
