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Green Laser Vortex for fog machine (No batteries needed) PHOTOS included :)

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12K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  Wolfman 
#1 ·
Hello everyone I was busy setting up my haunt and had a brain fart. I realized the AAA battery changes every 15 minutes last year for the green laser pointer pens that were attached to the spinning mirror on my laser vortex.

Well to make a long story short, I had a red green stage laser machine that stopped spinning. I have them in all the trees to create thousands of laser dots last year.
Well I decided let me try to take it apart since it is fan cooled and see if I can use the laser.
It turned out to be SO SIMPLE!
I figured I would share it with you guys so you can use the idea.

The machines are 5" x 4" and 2.5" tall.
They are about $17 on ebay. They are called Red Green stage laser (Cheap blue metal case to them.

I took off the screws and realized I could take out the spin motor first. Very easy since it plugs in to the board. Then I decided to disconnected the red laser on the side of it. Simple plug as well. Then there was a small square diffuser piece of plastic on the hole where the laser comes out on the front of the case.
I removed that small square. Then put it all back together.
IT WORKS AND IS FAN COOLED!
So many people complained about the batteries online and the soldered pointers overheating.
Well this solves that problem 100%

It has been running for an hour and no heat, no death of laser.
WOOOOHOOOOO
I have used these lasers in last years haunt. If you look carefully at the video I will post it shows them in the trees but it is VERY hard to see due to the camera I was using to record video.

Needless to say I have posted picture to show how simple this is and want to share it with you since total investment is less than $25!!!
Here are the photos and the video from last year. Sadly the vortex had dies so it did not show in the video. But the lasers in the trees do. For $17 it is so worth it to add it to your trees and use this part for the vortex.

Happy haunts everyone!
2:38 and on show lasers in trees. (Hard to see but trust me in person its 100 times more vivid!)




Technology Electronic device Gadget Floor

Electronics Technology Electronic engineering Electronic device Electrical wiring

Technology Electronic device Wire


Green Room Hospital Interior design Ceiling

Green Room Technology

Green Room Interior design Technology Flooring

Technology Electronic device Gadget Floor


Finally here are the two pieces removed from the laser machine.
So simple and works FLAWLESS! No more overheated lasers that were soldered and no more battery changes! Hope this helps all of you
Electronics Technology Electronic device Wire Cable
 
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#2 ·
Sp00ktacular,

Great information! Cheap and easy too, bonus!

Not to hijack your post, but for members that were interested in my laser vortex units (that I just didn't have time to get to), this looks like a great option. I think I'll have to give it a try myself.

Thanks for the info and Happy Haunting!!
 
#3 ·
I think the reason your batteries were burning out so fast is because you were using 'AAA' batteries. When I set up my pen laser, I solder in a battery pack from radio shack that allows me to run it with 'D' or 'C' cells. I used it last year and ran it for hours with no problems. I know it's not a problem now, but for future reference.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the tip, Spooktacular! I was meaning to write to you. I sold you the Ouija Board last year, if you remember. And I did buy one on those same laser units off E-bay on your recommendation. It's pretty cool and I can't wait to use it at Christmas.

Glad to see you're still doing your yard haunt. It was awesome looking last year!
 
#5 ·
Hey there dave! Sure do remember you :) I actually had an idea to that laser to protect it from moisture. A 10 or a five gallon aquarium turned over on it.
Not sure if I told you they cant be in the moisture overnight. So maybe a simply small $8 aquarium can act as a protection unit for it and not block the lasers :)

I actually tested out the board today that I got from you and it still works good as new. Sadly I have to downsize my haunt since we moved but it will still take a center stage if we get visitors.

Yes the laser works awesome. I just made a video of the vortex tonight but am converting it from the camcorder now. I will post it shortly.

Sadly my haunt will be only 60-70% of what it was last year. We had to move rather quickly since we had a sink hole form in our yard and the owners didnt have sink hole coverage on the house. So we moved to the country on an acre of land.
So yea I moved and left many things behind for garbage since we downsized and moved 50 miles up to the Citrus county area.
I live more in the country now so I am not going all out but am going to feel it out this year and see what I get for people. I plan on advertising as well so hopefully I create a trend in this slow paced area lol.

I have been trying to clean out my fog machines tonight so I havent had time to work on the haunt yet. Most of the stuff is all last minute props anyways. I just hope I get some visitors this year. We topped several hundred last year and cant wait to welcome ourselves to the neighborhood and show these folks just how interesting of a holiday person I am LOL.
 
#11 ·
Unfortunately I cant do anything about the weather as I am not the good witch (Thats my other half on good days) So I cant wave a wand for that but I will ask her to use those magical powers (That dont just visit once a month) to cast a weather spell to help all of us out. Lets hope she isnt in a bad mood or her title will only rhyme with witch and may backfire on us :p

Just kidding. A lil' halloween humor never hurt anyone (Until the stunt went too far)
 
#8 ·
Great job. Love the price too! For the less mechanically inclined (myself) willing to spend a little more--approximately $50 at Guitar Center--here's an alternative. The mod is simply unplugging one of the unit's two motors and voila. Done. No separate mirror / motor / board. It's almost 3X more expensive than your setup. I had a video of it up on YouTube. But I had / have lingering concerns about the safety of projecting a Green Laser Vortex directly out toward an audience so I took it down. Don't know if I have the source video and/or original photos as I lost a hard drive a while back (duh!). I may purchase one of these $17 units though for the green dot effect.

Disney's Aulani resort on Oahu, Hawaii (Leeward side) uses a very expensive green laser dot effect unit that projects up into the trees at night and looks absolutely gorgeous. The exact price and unit I have posted out somewhere on HalloweenForum.com--if anyone was interested, you could probably do a google search like:

site:HalloweenForum.com +Aulani +Laser

I use Google a lot to perform web-site specific searches. Can work better than native web site forum search engines.

http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/87995-purchasing-pre-made-green-laser-vortex-effect-2.html

"I successfully modded my Venue MLG Green Mini Laser Light unit to permanently produce the "plain cone" required for a halloween green laser vortex effect. I can post pictures if anyone's interested. It was so easy even someone mechanically disinclined can do it--after all, the subject of this thread is about how to purchase a green laser vortex effect, and not build one, for a reason: limited skills on my part.

Now, when in manual mode, it's only capable of producing two patterns--a "dashed" cone, for lack of a better term, and a solid, unbroken cone--the kind required for the green laser vortex effect. When powering the unit on, you get the dashed cone. One button push and voila, the solid cone.

Here's what it took (not much):

1. Opened up unit using "torx T10" drill bit.

2. Unplugged the power cable attaching the "first" motor to the circuit board--a bit like working with PCs. By first, I mean the motor/mirror the laser hits first. If the unit with its projecting beam to the wall and the controls in front of you, it's the motor to the right.

That's it.

As always, make modifications at your own risk. And for goodness sake, ground yourself so you don't short anything out and don't touch the thing while it is open and plugged into the wall.

The different patterns get produced, seemingly, by the interplay of motor speed and mirror wobble between the two. Disconnecting the power to the "first" motor leaves its mirror steady and still. All green laser vortex projects I've seen use only one motor and mirror. So in essence, the modification makes that so for this unit. As far as motor speed itself, I'm actually not quite sure if that does change when cycling through patterns. It may not. But I definitely saw the mirror attached to the "first" motor wobble at different speeds."

UPDATE:

Just ordered the unit this thread is about. Found it for a little extra on Amazon with Amazon Prime shipping ($19.45):
http://www.amazon.com/FORESTORE-Projector-Spotlight-Equipment-Party-Blue/dp/B00HB3MZD4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413720870&sr=8-1&keywords=FORESTORE+Mini+Mixed+Red%26Green+Stage+Lighting+Projector+Spotlight+Sound%2F+Music+Active+DJ+Equipment+for+Disco+Lights+Club+Party-Blue
 
#9 ·
FYI: In an eBay description of what appears to be the same unit, it states, it broken English, to shut the unit off after 2 hours of run time to allow the laser diodes to cool. I see several reviews of this unit in various places where people complained about the lasers dying. So running it for significantly longer than 2 hours at a time could be an issue, even though it has a fan.
 
#10 ·
Thank you for the reply.
Yes it does tell you that but I havent had that problem yet.
I have used these units for 4 hours at a time the last two halloweens. No issues but then again it DOES indeed state 2 hours use then a one minute cool down.I did not head that advice and had no issues at all. I actually had them for tree lights prior to modding them into vortex. I put them on a 2x4 on the roof and aim them at the trees. I have 3 units I use just for that to project the hundreds of moving laser dots at the trees.

Keep in mind that reviews can be correct but many times can be deceiving. They only tell half the story. Misuse, environment or neglect can lead to a bad review. For example take a look at a product on walmart.com 50 people love it but 10 people hated it and gave it a low score. So always be open when reading reviews.

I can say from my own experience this works great and has been great as the ones I have are now 3 years old. The only problem I had was 2 plugs went bad (Made in china) But they are $3 on ebay. One burned out but one broke when plugging it in. Part of the great made in china era LOL.

If you are at all worried about a longer than 2 hour run time with a one minute cool down like they suggest, You can solve that with about $20 in material by using a motion sensor flood light unit. You can always use a motion sensor flood light and put the screw in plugs into the bulb sockets. Then plug the laser and fan motor to it. Set it for 10 - 30 minute runs on the selector for the motion light. That will allow cool down periods. Of a minute between runs
I was considering doing that myself with the pointer pen lasers but then had this idea for the stage light instead and it works way better than expected. I ran it for an hour when I built it and then for 2 hours last night.

I also built 2 more so if the is any problems at all I have 2 back ups and still spent less than what they sell one for on ebay that is a homemade vortex.

This is only to help offer a cheap low cost project that has been effective for me (a family man on a budget)
Everyone has great suggestions on here so I wanted to offer this one to help as well.
We are all here for examples and to learn and you all have some AWESOME ideas on here which has lead me to some cool designs.
Once I have everything set up I will add a video this year that shows the props in mild daylight. Sadly I learned last year in the dark you cant see LOL.

Happy haunting everyone :)
 
#13 ·
Hey, I'm glad to hear the Ouija is still working great.
Sorry to hear you had to move. Sinkhole? Now that's scary! At least you didn't fall in it while sleeping like that guy in Tampa.

Sorry to hear you had to downsize your haunt, too. But, I guess better to downsize than not do it at all. :) I hope it's a big success again this year.

Great vortex video, too!
 
#14 ·
Green and red laser unit + Gemmy Lightshow Blue Kaleidoscope on trees = ... Pandora?

I liked the effect of combining the green and red stage laser, the subject of this thread, combined with the Lightshow Blue Kaleidoscope spotlight from Lowes onto trees--looks a bit like Pandora (Avatar) to me--that I purchased / ordered one more of each unit today. My point and shoot digital camera performs horribly in low light conditions; so this is just a small taste of the effect:

 
#15 ·
First of all, thanks so much for the info on the stage laser. I was having trouble getting my loiter to work with an AC source and this was a great solution. Second, there is no mechanical knowledge really necessary for this. The motor unscrewed and unplugged (great for a future robotics project), and the red laser was clearly labeled and simply unplugged. I mounted my laser a little closer to keep it compact. It just makes a bit of an ellipse instead of a circle, but not enough to be noticeable. Got it done in time for Halloween! Here's a pic of mine:
Machine Tool accessory Machine tool Tool
 
#24 ·
First of all, thanks so much for the info on the stage laser. I was having trouble getting my loiter to work with an AC source and this was a great solution. Second, there is no mechanical knowledge really necessary for this. The motor unscrewed and unplugged (great for a future robotics project), and the red laser was clearly labeled and simply unplugged. I mounted my laser a little closer to keep it compact. It just makes a bit of an ellipse instead of a circle, but not enough to be noticeable. Got it done in time for Halloween! Here's a pic of mine:
View attachment 227119

BKR1969
is your Laser goes cycling, when i disconnect red laser, my green goes cycling mode(on and off every 30sec)
hmm
im trying to make always on
Any idea?
 
#21 ·
Dmitriy,

For mine, I'm running two separate power supplies for the laser and the fan. For the mirror, I just found a small mirror and chipped it away into a mostly circular shape. I then used double faced tape to attach the mirror to the fan, doubled up on one side of the mirror to create the needed angle. Splice in the wall-wart from the two wires coming off the PC fan. I soldered and shrink tubed mine, but just twisting the wires together and a little electrical tape would work in a pinch. Hope this helps. I picked up a variable supply/wal-wart from Menards that did the trick, most of the PC fans these days are 12V DC.
 
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