I have a question.

Im new to lasers and wanted to start small so i get a Laserglow Lyra C5. I was reading about it and saw that is does not have a continuous duty cyle. What is a continuous duty cycle? Does it matter on this power laser?
Thanks,
Carson

Duty cycle is the on/off cycle of the laser.

No electronic device is 100% effiecient. This means that some of the electrical energy it consumes must be dissipated in other forms of which the most common is heat energy.

On higher powered lasers, there is a duty cycle to prevent the components from getting damaged due to overheating.. The Lyra C5 is rated at 5mW right? Personally, I would still stick to a duty cycle even with low powered lasers specially the pen type ones even if there is no suggested duty cycle.. I just stop once I feel it getting a bit warm.

Btw, I like you choice of getting a laser from Laserglow. It is a very good and reputable company with quality products. Hvae fun and stay safe!

EDIT: DId you get your laser directly from Laserglow? Contrary to what you said, there is a duty cycle at the bottom the laser info. It says 90 sec on/20 sec off.

so does this mean the laser will shut off out of random baceuse of the duty cycle?

It could be. The laser will act wierd once it overheats and overheating could fry the sensitive crystals of green lasers. It could also be caused by low batteries.

How long do you think i can have it on for before itll shut off?

If it doesn't get warm under normal use, you're fine doing what you're doing. I imagine if you left it on continuous for an hour or so that it would start to get warm, which is why they state that it's not a continuous duty cycle. The IR diode pumping the crystal is much higher than 5 mW, so it probably produces a little heat

I guess 5mW will handle 100% duty cycle just fine.
Stronger lasers (like 1W) can overheat quickly, in minute or so, even with nice large heatsinks. But 5mW ? Even if pump diode would be around 50mW, it's still nothing ..

^^^ Dr Sid I cant agree with that-- pens are small as is the heatsink inside- My first ever 532 5mW ($40 back then) died the very first night I 'played' with it- several minutes non-stop was too long-- I felt it getting hot but was wrong to not allow it to cool down-

Zeebit wrote

EDIT: DId you get your laser directly from Laserglow? Contrary to what you said, there is a duty cycle at the bottom the laser info. It says 90 sec on/20 sec off.
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Reading slower and more closely may be good advice.
makers tend to suggest a safe duty/rest- you may be oKay with using a longer duty cycle- BUT finding out how much is TOO much is not a good way to discover the limit- most savvy laserowners here tend to use a shorter duty and longer rest.

If you just try to turn it off every 30 sec or so and let it rest for 15 sec you should be OK- BUT if you are using it when its very hot outside you should use shorter duty times.
I never run mine if they feel warm to my hand- < we own more than one laser so we can always have one on--lol

Most handhelds , when they shut down due to overheat never work again without repair- & your warranty is void if you failed to let your laser take a break--

smaller host mean smaller heatsinks

hak:wave:

Its from laserglow.

Laser smith, I don't think its possible that he left it on that long. It has a momentary switch so it's unlikely but it could happen.

If the laser starts to act up, give it a break or you could stick to the recommended cycle of 90sec on/20sec off.

I agree with hak. I've seen some videos on YouTube where these pens are taken apart and out comes the green laser module without additional heatsinking.

cb19 said:

so does this mean the laser will shut off out of random baceuse of the duty cycle?

Click to expand...

"out of random'???? not sure what you mean.
Very few handhelds that 'shut off' from over heating will work well after-
you may end up with an expensive LED light..
*************

Laser smith, I don't think its possible that he left it on that long. It has a momentary switch so it's but it could happen.

If the laser starts to act up, give it a break or you could stick to the recommended cycle of 90sec on/20sec off.
+++++
Many use something to hold down the momentary switch- that is what I was doing when I killed my first 532 pen-

Ok, thanks guys. I have one more question. Is it really possible to turn of a street light with my 5mw lyra? or no?

I don't think it is powerful enough and it will require a direct hit to the sensor above the light to shut it off. Besides, it is not the best thing to do and you could be in trouble. Don't do stupid things with lasers.

Prolly not and there may be someone seeing you do this that could report you- so I would not try that- plus most lights will just come back on soon anway..

Ya true...... Ok thanks guys for your help.

Zeebit said:

Laser smith, I don't think its possible that he left it on that long. It has a momentary switch so it's unlikely but it could happen.

If the laser starts to act up, give it a break or you could stick to the recommended cycle of 90sec on/20sec off.

I agree with hak. I've seen some videos on YouTube where these pens are taken apart and out comes the green laser module without additional heatsinking.

Click to expand...

I wasn't saying he did, I was giving a hypothetical situation to explain why the company states it does not have a continuos duty cycle.
Let me elaborate. Once again hypothetically.
Company sells 5mW green pointer, claims unlimited duty cycle.
Guy buys pointer, tapes the button down and in an hour it doesn't work.
Now he's complaining to the company about his broken laser.

If the company states "Not continuous duty cycle," then they don't have to replace it in that event. But in reality, under normal use, the duty cycle is probably almost nonexistent. (In the good way)