Build your own laser helmet w/ O.M.G: Part II - Determining the Number of Diodes (Downloadable PDF!)

By OverMachoGrande
Aug 17, 2008

Ok, you want to get this LLLT thing rolling!  If you’ve already built your laser helmet, determining the number of diodes you need is a pretty straight-forward task (and we ARE going to cover that). 

...But what do you do if you haven’t constructed your helmet yet, you want to come up with another unique helmet design, etc.??  How do we figure out how many diodes we need for THAT??

...EASILY!  And I’m going to show you how!

http://www.overmachogrande.com/files/
determining-the-number-of-diodes.pdf

...also, these instructions are located on the left column in the “Do-It-Yourself” section!

First of all, let me state that although determining the amount of diodes that you will need is pretty easy… if you haven’t already constructed your “Laser Messiah” or other helmet design, go ahead and expect that your final diode count will more-than-likely be a little different than the initial “ballpark” figure we come up with!

That’s ok, don’t worry… I’ll prove to you in the next set of instructions that it’s REALLY EASY to add an additional few diodes to the whole shebang since we are using unscrewable “wire nuts”!  You don’t even have to change the wiring hierarchy or anything.  So basically, don’t be afraid to start work on the helmet just because you are short some diodes.  Adding them is a SNAP!

Back to business:  There will be two sections in this (as well as a “secret third section” that we will get to later)… “Determining the Ballpark Number (before you’ve made your helmet)”, and “Determining the Final Number (after you’ve made your helmet)”.  Obviously, if your design is different than the “Laser Messiah” and you are actually going to use the gutter guard as the diode holder (like I did with my first helmet), then “Section 1” is all you need to do, baby!

Obviously, like I’ve alluded to before, the best way to do this would be to build the helmet first -in which case you can completely bypass Section 1 and jump straight to Section 2, but obviously I’m aware that things happen -like “group buys”, or simple impatience, or whatever!- and you want to go ahead and order diodes before the helmet is complete.  Well, hey man… start with “Section 1”! 

Rock ‘N’ Roll, and let’s get busy…

-O.M.G.