Leadlight clone pops black balloon

[joniverson]

Curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to shine the beam from the IR filtered Leadlight clone that I pot modded (with difficulty) onto a black balloon at close range <2". Amazingly, the balloon popped in about 3 seconds. Further tries have failed, so my guess is that the laser (or batteries) are loosing power the longer it is used. However, the initial result really surprised me and I didn't expect it, especially after I added the IR filter. Any idea what the power might have been? BTW, no additional lens was used.

Jon