A metal mini-flashlight can be made into a laser flashlight by removing the incandescent bulb and replacing it with a laser diode. This laser diode can be taken out of a broken or unused computer DVD drive to provide a powerful laser light. Installing the laser diode into the mini-flashlight is not for the casual user. The process requires some basic knowledge of electronics, but is not complicated or very time consuming.
Instructions
1. Put the clean cloth down on a work surface, and put the DVD drive on it face-down. Remove the screws from the bottom and sides of the DVD drive with the Phillips screwdriver.
2. Turn the DVD drive over and remove the casing and the disc tray. Locate the laser assembly in the center of the motherboard and remove the screws using the jeweler's screwdriver. Remove the laser assembly from the railings on each side and put it down on the clean cloth. Discard the DVD drive.
3. Desolder the two pins of the laser diode where they contact the circuit board. Wiggle the laser diode with the tweezers until it comes free. Put it on the clean cloth.
4. Unscrew the AixiZ laser housing. Hold the half of the housing with the circuit board so that the laser diode is vertical. Pull the laser diode off of the circuit board with the tweezers.
5. Take the DVD drive's laser diode and insert it into the connectors on the laser housing's circuit board using the tweezers. Push the laser diode into the connectors until it is firmly seated.
6. Solder a connecting pin to each of the two contacts of the exposed top of the laser diode. Put the half of the laser housing with the laser diode down on the clean cloth.
7. Take the mini-flashlight and remove the battery cap and the batteries. Put them down on the clean cloth. Unscrew the reflector from the front of the mini-flashlight and put it down on the clean cloth. Unscrew and remove the incandescent bulb from the mini-flashlight.
8. Remove the plastic shield from the inside of the reflector.
9. Insert the half of the laser housing into the mini-flashlight so that the conductive pins go into the body of the flashlight and touch up against the electrical contacts.
10. Put the reflector over the laser housing and screw it back onto the mini-flashlight.
Take the silicon gel and apply it liberally around the laser housing and the inside of the reflector. Let the silicon gel set.
11. Put the batteries back into the mini-flashlight and screw on the battery cap. Aim the mini-flashlight that is now a laser flashlight at a far wall of the room and press the switch to project a beam of laser light.
Tags: laser diode, clean cloth, laser housing, circuit board, down clean, down clean cloth, clean cloth Unscrew