Dropped laser

Ok so my friend had my laser in his lap while we where sitting outside.

He gets up, it drops around 2 feet onto solid concrete (actually bricks but same consistency w/e)

Laser seems fine, it got a couple small dings on the front (adjuster) and the rear (key switch). laser works, nothing seems wrong with it.

It's the green adjustable one from O-like

I'm doing some reading, I hear tell that the crystals in the diode can become misaligned? Is there truth to this or is it a rare occurrence? how would i know if they became misaligned? could it just become loose and completely break later on or would i notice it immediately?

I thank anyone in advance for their answers, and do note I have no intent to harm said friend but maybe give him a good punch in the arm.

consider yourself very lucky, you would notice if its out of alignment instantaneously, also you will see a very faint red glow from the module, if this does end up happening very careful not to look into it

but count ya lucky stars ... its fine


Dave

The crystals are bonded together with optical compound, usually. Misalignment usually only occurs via overheat (exceeding duty cycle) or if for some reason the bonding breaks between the two.

As Dave said above, you'd notice this instantly. Signs of it are vastly decreased power, artifacts around the beam, and most often, no longer operating in TEMoo, but other transverse modes (in other words: the dot is no longer just a round spot, but several dots or a pattern.)

Note, if you discover some speckling around the beam in a dark room, this isn't crystal misalignment either, so don't get too worried about that. Optics get dirty with use and such blooming around the beam is to be expected to some degree.

If the crystals were misaligned, you'd not be guessing; you'd be here asking why your laser barely works.

This is quite a testament to O-Like's build quality, though; I've seen DPSS lasers die with less harsh treatment.

That said, don't depend on it surviving another fall like that. And tell your friend to get himself checked out... to just stand up while someone else's multi-hundred-dollar device is sitting in your lap would, well, be "cause to have words"...

Wow thanks a bunch guys, you have reassured me that everything is ok.

Yeah, I will not be letting it fall ever again, I never drop things that are expensive or delicate so I was quite upset when my friend did, it was just careless. I don't think I will be letting anyone handle the laser from now on and I will be informing another friend of mine to follow suit with his laser aswell.

:thanks:

to just stand up while someone else's multi-hundred-dollar device is sitting in your lap would, well, be "cause to have words"...

Click to expand...

If the laser also happens to be on when this occurs and hits you in the eye... would be cause for a lot more than words. If no one got hurt I vote for at least 3 bruises

It's an inevitable lesson unfortunately... can't let other people handle high powered lasers.

FYI I've killed two pen style green lasers by dropping them. I mean one of them put out IR but the other one was just dead. If your green dpss laser stops working, put a piece of paper over it, turn it on, and see if there is any kind of reddish glow/color. Never look into the turned on laser.