Hello everyone. This is my first review and first post on laser pointer forums. The laser I am reviewing is the Wicked Lasers nano 405nm 75mw with lens kit. I decided to write this review after my nano died in less than 2 weeks :cryyy:. For this reason I cannot provide pictures of the beam itself or the packaging used to ship the laser. I have not yet received a response from Wicked Lasers about whether they will be warrantying my laser, but I will update this thread as the situation progresses.
I chose to purchase a laser from Wicked Lasers simply because I was naïve. I had recently been mesmerized by a friend’s 405nm laser and immediately proceeded to buy one for myself without doing much research. Soon after ordering it I found the many horror stories of Wicked Lasers on this forum.
Shipping –
Order placed - July 15, 2013
I immediately received an automated email from Wicked Lasers with my order details, but for the next week I received no further updates on my order. At this point I had read about the many problems others had experienced with Wicked Lasers and began to worry. I decided to send them an email asking for a status update on my order, within a few hours I received a response explaining my order had shipped with a tracking number and link to track my package. The timing seemed odd, as though they might have forgotten about me until I inquired.
Order shipped - July 22, 2013
The email confirming shipment did not tell me the shipping service used, but it did contain a link to track my package. The link was to packagetrackr.com which recognized the number as EMS, however it said there was no tracking information available for the package. I also tried Googling the tracking number, but Google couldn’t determine the shipper. I researched EMS a little and read their tracking can be slow so I didn’t worry about it.
Another week passed and there still was no tracking information available at the link I was sent so I decided to email Wicked Lasers again. – July 29, 2013
Again I received a response from Wicked Lasers within a few hours. They apologized for the confusion and explained that the laser had shipped EMS to USPS and the tracking number I was given could be tracked through USPS’s website, not the one linked to in the email I was sent. I checked the tracking it was scheduled to arrive in 2 days.
Order arrived – July 31, 2013
The laser and lens kit had been wrapped in bubble wrap and then placed inside a padded envelope. The laser itself was inside a belt holder for some additional protection. None of the items had been damaged in transit.
In total 16 days passed from placing my order until I had the laser in my hand.
The Laser -
I immediately started playing with my laser and was very impressed.
The beam -
The beam was a bit larger than most lasers I have seen, but not too big. The advertised size of <4mm seems accurate. The divergence was good, but did not seem as good as advertised at <.5mRad. I did not take measurements of the divergence.
Unfortunately I do not have any equipment for measuring the light output of a laser.
Visibility -
The beam was slightly visible in the air in a dimly lit room and easily visible in the dark. The spot was visible on objects during the day within about 100 feet and within 1500 feet at night. Shining the beam on a white surface in a medium to small room created enough light to see things in the room :can:. There did appear to be a slight distortion in the light emitted on one side of the beam.
Burning -
With a fresh set of batteries this laser can sting skin within about 3 feet. Within about 1 foot it can burn through thin black plastics.
Power consumption -
This laser pulls a lot of power. Alkaline batteries will only last less than 20 minutes. Using 750mah rechargeable NiMHs will power the laser for less than an hour. I did not try lithium primaries in it.
I tested the power consumption with a multimeter. With the batteries producing 2.4 volts the laser draws about 475 milliamps.
The laser dims just slightly through the life of the batteries until it just goes out.
The laser never gets hot, but does get warm within about 30 seconds of continuous use.
The Lens Kit -
The laser comes with a filter-less cap. The filters in the lens kit are not the same diameter as this cap and so an adapter is provided to fit them (pretty strange). The radial and grid effects are almost impossible to see even in a completely dark room. The flare effect is somewhat visible. The line and galaxy effects are the only 2 that are highly visible. The galaxy effect is definitely the most interesting, but does not allow you to rotate it to create collide scope like patterns as I have seen with some other lenses. In general the lens kit seemed cheap, definitely not worth $39.95.
In general changing the filters was not as easy as it should have been. It was very easy to miss align the threads when first screwing on a filter. It takes about 12 full turns to screw on the filters.
How I broke it -
Most unfortunately my fun with this laser did not last long.
On August 9, 2013 (exactly 9 days after I got the laser) I was sitting in a chair and it slipped out of my hand. It fell about 2 feet onto the ground and would no longer light. The green indicator light turns on and stays on if the button is double pressed, but no light whatsoever comes out of the aperture. This laser is sealed quite well so I can't open it to see if the problem is something as simple as a broken solder point. The aperture end appears to unscrew possibly giving access to the diode and driver, but Wicked Lasers kindly glued the threads. Maybe a solvent would loosen it up...
I have contacted Wicked Lasers, but have not yet received a response. If anyone has any suggestions on how to repair or replace this laser while spending as little money as possible it would be much appreciated.
Pictures -
This is exactly how the laser was shipped to me. On top is the lens kit box and at bottom the laser in the included belt holder.
The laser out of the belt clip.
The label at the aperture end of the laser
The aperture end of the laser with the provided filter-less cap removed. Notice the paint is already wearing off the threads. This was from changing filters only a dozen or so times.
The FDA cap end of the laser with the FDA cap removed and dismantled.
The laser from the FDA cap end. Notice the small mark on the FDA cap, this was from when I dropped the laser.
The filter box with the filters still inside.
The filter box with all the filters lined up. The item on the far left is not actually a filter, but an adapter to make these filters fit (a little strange).
UPDATED RMA Process -
Request sent - August 10, 2013 (Saturday)
RMA Instructions Received - August 12, 2013 (Monday)
So far so good on the RMA process. WL responded with an apology for the trouble and RMA instructions within the first business day after I emailed them. I was also pleasantly surprised that I only needed to ship the item to Torrance, CA instead of where it had been shipped to me from, China. The shipping cost was $6 USPS from Chicago.
RMA Received by WL - August 16, 2013 (Friday)
WL emailed me the return shipping tracking number - August 20, 2013 (Tuesday)
I had to email them Tuesday asking about the status of the RMA before I was emailed the return shipping tracking number.
Item Arrived - August 26, 2013
The shipping time was extremely fast, even faster than the first time I ordered; it took 7 days to arrive China to Chicago. Unfortunately tracking was not available until the last minute. USPS tracking only indicated "origin post is preparing shipment" for the first 5 days. On day 6 it updated to arrived at sort facility and was delivered on day 7. Tracking still shows no information about where the package was in the time between...
I will likely extended this post soon in an additional comment below to include some pictures of the beam as well as some more exact measurements of the beam's characteristics.
I chose to purchase a laser from Wicked Lasers simply because I was naïve. I had recently been mesmerized by a friend’s 405nm laser and immediately proceeded to buy one for myself without doing much research. Soon after ordering it I found the many horror stories of Wicked Lasers on this forum.
Shipping –
Order placed - July 15, 2013
I immediately received an automated email from Wicked Lasers with my order details, but for the next week I received no further updates on my order. At this point I had read about the many problems others had experienced with Wicked Lasers and began to worry. I decided to send them an email asking for a status update on my order, within a few hours I received a response explaining my order had shipped with a tracking number and link to track my package. The timing seemed odd, as though they might have forgotten about me until I inquired.
Order shipped - July 22, 2013
The email confirming shipment did not tell me the shipping service used, but it did contain a link to track my package. The link was to packagetrackr.com which recognized the number as EMS, however it said there was no tracking information available for the package. I also tried Googling the tracking number, but Google couldn’t determine the shipper. I researched EMS a little and read their tracking can be slow so I didn’t worry about it.
Another week passed and there still was no tracking information available at the link I was sent so I decided to email Wicked Lasers again. – July 29, 2013
Again I received a response from Wicked Lasers within a few hours. They apologized for the confusion and explained that the laser had shipped EMS to USPS and the tracking number I was given could be tracked through USPS’s website, not the one linked to in the email I was sent. I checked the tracking it was scheduled to arrive in 2 days.
Order arrived – July 31, 2013
The laser and lens kit had been wrapped in bubble wrap and then placed inside a padded envelope. The laser itself was inside a belt holder for some additional protection. None of the items had been damaged in transit.
In total 16 days passed from placing my order until I had the laser in my hand.
The Laser -
I immediately started playing with my laser and was very impressed.
The beam -
The beam was a bit larger than most lasers I have seen, but not too big. The advertised size of <4mm seems accurate. The divergence was good, but did not seem as good as advertised at <.5mRad. I did not take measurements of the divergence.
Unfortunately I do not have any equipment for measuring the light output of a laser.
Visibility -
The beam was slightly visible in the air in a dimly lit room and easily visible in the dark. The spot was visible on objects during the day within about 100 feet and within 1500 feet at night. Shining the beam on a white surface in a medium to small room created enough light to see things in the room :can:. There did appear to be a slight distortion in the light emitted on one side of the beam.
Burning -
With a fresh set of batteries this laser can sting skin within about 3 feet. Within about 1 foot it can burn through thin black plastics.
Power consumption -
This laser pulls a lot of power. Alkaline batteries will only last less than 20 minutes. Using 750mah rechargeable NiMHs will power the laser for less than an hour. I did not try lithium primaries in it.
I tested the power consumption with a multimeter. With the batteries producing 2.4 volts the laser draws about 475 milliamps.
The laser dims just slightly through the life of the batteries until it just goes out.
The laser never gets hot, but does get warm within about 30 seconds of continuous use.
The Lens Kit -
The laser comes with a filter-less cap. The filters in the lens kit are not the same diameter as this cap and so an adapter is provided to fit them (pretty strange). The radial and grid effects are almost impossible to see even in a completely dark room. The flare effect is somewhat visible. The line and galaxy effects are the only 2 that are highly visible. The galaxy effect is definitely the most interesting, but does not allow you to rotate it to create collide scope like patterns as I have seen with some other lenses. In general the lens kit seemed cheap, definitely not worth $39.95.
In general changing the filters was not as easy as it should have been. It was very easy to miss align the threads when first screwing on a filter. It takes about 12 full turns to screw on the filters.
How I broke it -
Most unfortunately my fun with this laser did not last long.
On August 9, 2013 (exactly 9 days after I got the laser) I was sitting in a chair and it slipped out of my hand. It fell about 2 feet onto the ground and would no longer light. The green indicator light turns on and stays on if the button is double pressed, but no light whatsoever comes out of the aperture. This laser is sealed quite well so I can't open it to see if the problem is something as simple as a broken solder point. The aperture end appears to unscrew possibly giving access to the diode and driver, but Wicked Lasers kindly glued the threads. Maybe a solvent would loosen it up...
I have contacted Wicked Lasers, but have not yet received a response. If anyone has any suggestions on how to repair or replace this laser while spending as little money as possible it would be much appreciated.
Pictures -
This is exactly how the laser was shipped to me. On top is the lens kit box and at bottom the laser in the included belt holder.
The laser out of the belt clip.
The label at the aperture end of the laser
The aperture end of the laser with the provided filter-less cap removed. Notice the paint is already wearing off the threads. This was from changing filters only a dozen or so times.
The FDA cap end of the laser with the FDA cap removed and dismantled.
The laser from the FDA cap end. Notice the small mark on the FDA cap, this was from when I dropped the laser.
The filter box with the filters still inside.
The filter box with all the filters lined up. The item on the far left is not actually a filter, but an adapter to make these filters fit (a little strange).
UPDATED RMA Process -
Request sent - August 10, 2013 (Saturday)
RMA Instructions Received - August 12, 2013 (Monday)
So far so good on the RMA process. WL responded with an apology for the trouble and RMA instructions within the first business day after I emailed them. I was also pleasantly surprised that I only needed to ship the item to Torrance, CA instead of where it had been shipped to me from, China. The shipping cost was $6 USPS from Chicago.
RMA Received by WL - August 16, 2013 (Friday)
WL emailed me the return shipping tracking number - August 20, 2013 (Tuesday)
I had to email them Tuesday asking about the status of the RMA before I was emailed the return shipping tracking number.
Item Arrived - August 26, 2013
The shipping time was extremely fast, even faster than the first time I ordered; it took 7 days to arrive China to Chicago. Unfortunately tracking was not available until the last minute. USPS tracking only indicated "origin post is preparing shipment" for the first 5 days. On day 6 it updated to arrived at sort facility and was delivered on day 7. Tracking still shows no information about where the package was in the time between...
I will likely extended this post soon in an additional comment below to include some pictures of the beam as well as some more exact measurements of the beam's characteristics.
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