Producing a Burning Laser 200~300 mw DVD Open Can Laser Diode Used.

[axel1973w]

What are the Voltage/Current specs for your Laserdiode? it seems DVD burner diodes emmit visible lasers. What about laser diodes that are used in laser printers? any experienve with those? what wavelength/color are those lasers?

[basspig]

I see the laser has already burned a few dozen pixels on the camera's CCD. :-)

[creepyjohnyboy]

it'd be funny to use a laser on the slides to make it bumpy and to burn some of the medal and to make the thing just fall apart burn screws,plastic,and more in the classroom like the desks,other kids homework,and to ruin some kids shoes! yeh but im not that mean or anything it'd be funny though

[jasonfoard1500]

Good idea with the fan.. I like that

[jasonfoard1500]

Speak..

[SpartanWinter]

Dude!

you soldered not the diode without it being in a heat sink first....!

thats it. get of the internet. lol

[shawnb1003]

it'd be pretty funny to point this laser at some kid in school who is sleeping.. bet you he'd wake up quick!. I wouldnt dare do this as im not stupid enough.. just saying it'd be funny.

[Zenodilodon]

@shawnb1003 One night at a party we where burning peoples ear with the wicked lasers arctic if they fell asleep... its not appropriate use but it's funny.

[shawnb1003]

@Zenodilodon LOL. Well i was going to make it with my spare PC Parts.. but my mother threw them away before i got ahold of them -.-

[UrbanTurban007]

where do you get the laser housing from, im doing the same project

[Zenodilodon]

@UrbanTurban007 I used a stock core i7 heatsink however you can order standard laser module heatsicks off ebay fairly easy.

[SettimaLegione]

IMPORTANT: dont use lasers from DVD or CD burner without PROTECTION goggles. It can EASILY blind your eyes forever!!!! Safe laser is 3 mW, this stuff is 200-300 mW or more!!!

[pokeyoshi3]

@SettimaLegione if the cd-dvd drive isn't connected with power, is it important to use protection goggles?

[SettimaLegione]

@pokeyoshi3 No, of course -> no power, no laser, no risk!

But when you give power you must have protection glasses. There is people left with permanent blak spot in their eyes (like the camera in this video!) or left capable only to see black and white images forever!

[artie2099]

yep camera pixels burnt out

[Warx93]

Yeah mount that shit XD

[username83831]

Haa, when i built my first laser. I made the same one as you, I am colourblind so I could not see the big red splodge without the lense. It was weird! And by the way, why such the big heatsink? I only used an inch x inch thick and it never gets hot.

[Zenodilodon]

@username83831 That's such a cool thing to have that color issue and not see a color, I imagine it would be almost like looking through a dichromatic filter. I made the heatsink for overall test purpose I wanted to see how hard it would be to convert the whole thing over and it wasn't easy but it looks awesome, even though yes... for such a little diode it is over kill.

[username83831]

@Zenodilodon Yes these diodes are so cheap and I wouldn't say it is cool to not see that certain wavelength but it is pretty weird. It kind of scared me because my dad was with me when I made it. He said it was working and I was like, WHAT, I couldn't see a thing :)

[billy1rawktm]

wow if u managed to burn the diode out with dat heatsink on it u obviously pushing too much through it try turning the pot down :/

[juniortore1]

Good idea with the i7 heatsink. I was going to use a pentium 4 heatsink, but there is not deep enough metal to drill into and get good contact between the LD and housing and the heatsink. They are only about 8 dollars on ebay, and that is worth the overkill cooling of a diode driven near the death limit.

[Hyudryu]

Your camera receptors got damaged from the lasers. That is why there are black spots.

[Zenodilodon]

@Hyudryu I know, i've already replaced the CCD

[rat1a1tat1tat]

wish i had that heatsink :(

[Zenodilodon]

@rat1a1tat1tat Stock core i7 heatsinks are really cheap on ebay, they also do have whole heatsinks already tooled for laser modules.

[hellterminator]

I think you're seriously overdoing the whole cooling thing, the amount of heat generated by DVD burned diode can be safely radiated through few square centimeters (I'm using a north bridge heatsink without any fan and it's more than enough, you could've saved the i7 heatsink for something better).

[Zenodilodon]

@hellterminator I still managed to burn out the diode with COD after about a week of lab use x,x

[RavenRof]

I Got a laser from a Small Black and White laser printer. I only salvaged the Diode. Wonder if i can make it work. There were a few labels talking about invisible radiation Class 3B or something. Hope i wont grow another arm :D

[shadowscion]

What was wrong about the lens?

[Zenodilodon]

@shadowscion the lens is designed around the edges to focus the dot tighter, unlike a laser pointer lens that spreads it out evenly. you can see the grooving rings on the video and there is alot of power lost because the light is taken away form the center point.

[devilsthy]

do every laser need a driver to work and if yes how to make it ,

[Zenodilodon]

@devilsthy I order my drivers or pull them out of bad laser modules and fix them. Do you NEED a driver, no, will you WANT a driver, yes. the lasers are very very sensitive to power input voltage changes and amperage. drivers ensure the reliable use of the laser, running them without a driver is very risky and will most likely cause you to burn out the laser diode.

[sevendust55]

Shining the laser into the camera burns the pickups, that's why in the center of the video there are little specks. The longer you shine the laser at the camera the darker and bigger the specks. They are also permanent. I researched it after noticing pink specks on my iPhone camera. Awesome laser though.

[Zenodilodon]

@sevendust55 yea, all my cameras end up with marks on the CCD, yes it it permanent but with the amount of laser videos i shoot it's bound to happen when I have a few slips in filming. but at least ya know i have some nice lasers lol, good enough to fuck up cameras.

[thelethalmoo]

how the hell, you know i said u read my mind on ur last vid O.o i have that egsact heatsink and 2 dioeds out of a dvd burner and i was actuly gunna do egsactly that also with the same termal paste but then i was a fool and broke the laser by putting too much power through them :( now they do nothing

[Zenodilodon]

@thelethalmoo lol, i warned you, i channeled your mind are you thinking " I need a monster energy drink " ? i do lol but for the heck of it order up a cheap laser that is 5 mw green off ebay, the driver should already be side to run the laser at at least 150 mw or so, I cannot guarantee it but out of dumb luck it worked and continues to work flawlessly for me, oh also try for the driver style without a IC, they are direct draw and unregulated so they wont try to compensate for the diode change.

[thelethalmoo]

@Zenodilodon xD lol did have a monster last weekend, but cba with buying stuff, il just find another dvd writer someware lol, in a few years maby if i upgrade pc or my ps3 breaks i will take the blue ray out of it and try make a propper blueray laser

[Zenodilodon]

@thelethalmoo I just blew out the red laser x.x, i was beam joining with my green 250 mw lab laser and the filter protecting the red got bumped, the green just wiped out the red laser's diode crystal instantly x.x

[thelethalmoo]

@thelethalmoo also are thier drivers in the actual cd drives them selves? wiuldb vtryed to worked out how to wire one of them up tbh and saved myself breaking both of em

[Zenodilodon]

@thelethalmoo there are drivers but they are made for use with the dvds software,they are designed to be used for lower power read for a long time or used for pulsed burning. they are not designed for continuous use at higher powers

[thelethalmoo]

@Zenodilodon ah kk, anyway, i seem to allways just get too caried away and break things xD

[kgunby]

You should make a kickass laptop battery gun setup to go along with that like you did with the green laser. Build enough guns to recreate some Star Trek battles. lol

[Zenodilodon]

@kgunby now if only they would randomly stop, say... 3 feet or so. id do starwars.

[kgunby]

@Zenodilodon An illusion that would certainly be difficult to reproduce...but I say it's possible.

[Zenodilodon]

@kgunby I have the Spyder 3 Arctic coming in " i hope " and I a, going to try to set up a small pole and use a microdrive platter and a mirror array to duplicate the look, it would not be a light saber but it would look close and burn on contact but it would be a thin solid core still, though near free of weight it would be wicked just to play around with lol.

[householdhackernews]

Lasers that burn shit even with the wrong lens! AWESOME SHIT DUDE!

[LazerReviews]

EPIC HEAT SINK! sweet build! thanks for the post!

[tostrong4you]

the setup looks sweet