Crazy eBay green laser pointer mod. 1mW to 1400mW++

What started as a simple desire for a brighter laser pointer got carried away and I ended up building the brightest laser pointer in the world.

social media sillyness:

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I bought some green laser pointers on eBay recently and I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the lasers. Half of the laser pointers didn’t even turn on, and the ones that did work were very dim and covered in dents. I decided I should try opening them up and try to make them stronger.

I started with the classic “pot mod” by cranking up the potentiometer on the driver. It made the laser brighter but it still couldn’t burn stuff. I scrapped the driver and hooked it directly to my variable PSU but that killed the laser almost immediately. I realized that I needed cutting edge laser technology in order to satisfy my extreme desires.

I settled on using the Nichia NDG7475 laser diode as that is the brightest laser pointer out there that is still small enough to be jammed into a laser pointer housing. I hooked it up to a high efficiency buck converter for current regulation. I used a MOSFET as the main switching component as the stock switch in the laser pointer would not have handled the high current demands on the laser diode. I also used high drain 10440 li-ion batteries as the thought of 2 AAA batteries powering this new circuit is laughable.

The modded laser pointer is awesome. In fact it is probably the brightest laser pointer in the entire world if your definition of a laser pointer is a laser that fits in a 2x AAA host. I test out its burning capabilities by pointing the laser at a bunch of stuff.

Sometimes I don’t even know why I build crazy stuff like this.

Song towards end of vid: town of 24 bars - Unicorn Heads

[spatchy]

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what YouTube should be. You win.

[ixxxxxxx]

"You're probably wondering why I just plugged myself into the outlet." I love this guy.

[JPLAYZ]

Channels like this is what YouTube used to be all about. Great video.

[verebellus]

when he says "youd probably die" he might sound sarcastic, but he isnt kidding. he is actually really well educated and takes good precautions

[absolving]

"let's see if it can burn anything"

-*puts his finger on front of it*

[soccerfan-eprt]

"Your probably wondering why I just plugged myself in."

[antoniocarniero]

I cant even imagine the amount of watch lists he must be on by now.

[JenB]

This guys voice makes me feel like he’s more kid friendly then dantdm is right now

[derokim]

"The biggest issue is that these things can't even light things on fire"
i love this guy

[tenbeat]

This guy is the main character of an 80s coming of age comedy.

[iedb]

Styropyro: *Accidentally makes lightsaber*

“Uh, yea, don’t do this at home”

[Weretyu]

He likes lasers, blowing things up, science, cats, AND moths. This dude is officially one of the coolest guys on YouTube.

[uuhhh]

Thanks for the quick tutorial, I'm gonna go blow up the moon now

[nick]

Cheap Laser: *doesn't obliterate literally everything with light*


Styro: *Pathetic*

[sorryiwin]

One of the best channels out there quality over quantity

[shizathoth]

Most people would just make the lightbulb joke and leave it at that. You actually did exactly what you said, and it got a good laugh from me.

[moefromdagrieve]

Person: ya got a lighter?

styropyro: sure, *hands laser*

[mujahidiskandar]

"let's see if it can burn anything" *sticks finger in front of laser*

[chelo]

Nobody:

Styropyro:creates black hole, shrugs it off then explains how, then says do no try this at home

[TheLunaLockhart]

I am constantly amazed by MOSFETs tbh. Imagine, those could've been what all transistors are! (they were the first described transistors, but weren't built until decades later)