IS it legit; cool laser

You havn't offended anyone I don't think. It's just that this question is asked a lot "Is XYZ laser good?"

A bit of searching would turn up similar questions, with the same answers that you are looking for.

USAbro said:

The reason you might think I know nothing about lasers is because of my trying to purchase from eBay. The reason is I trust eBay gaurentee and I can't afford to much so eBay is what I am looking for. I'm not some kid trying to annoy neighbors with too much time on my hands.

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1) If you're not looking to spend to much try a second hand laser from the B/S/T.
2) Ebay does have a gaurentee, but if you get sold a 500mW advertised as a 2W laser how will you ever know without the equipment to measure it? Eyeballing it or testing it based on burning power wont work.

ARG said:

You havn't offended anyone I don't think. It's just that this question is asked a lot "Is XYZ laser good?"

A bit of searching would turn up similar questions, with the same answers that you are looking for.



1) If you're not looking to spend to much try a second hand laser from the B/S/T.
2) Ebay does have a gaurentee, but if you get sold a 500mW advertised as a 2W laser how will you ever know without the equipment to measure it? Eyeballing it or testing it based on burning power wont work.

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The gaurentee is that if it isn't what is claimed you can return it and ebay will give money back. That is only if it is not the right product, so if you simply decide to return it you may not be able to. Second I did some yahoo searches of the laser and found nothing great so I decided to ask you guys who can answer. If it bothers anyone hear that I'm wasting their time note that they don't have to answer. Anyways what is your thoughts on that laser.

USAbro said:

The reason you might think I know nothing about lasers is because of my trying to purchase from eBay. The reason is I trust eBay gaurentee and I can't afford to much so eBay is what I am looking for. I'm not some kid trying to annoy neighbors with too much time on my hands.

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Asking if a class-IV laser is a good idea for a newbie gave it away. No, it's not a good idea. See below.

Your asking "do I need goggles" was a clue as well. Yes, you need goggles. Class IV lasers are unforgiving, far more so than their IIIb counterparts.

A class IV laser is a terrible first laser, all the more so if you apparently don't know that you need glasses for it. No way I'd recommend or build one of these for somebody who doesn't know what they're dealing with. You're better off getting 100mW or thereabouts, so that if (when) you get a reflection in the eye, you might not suffer permanent damage. Once you get into class IV there are no do-overs; accidental reflections, even from clear glass, are as dangerous as a IIIb direct hit. A reflection from a mirror will almost certainly do permanent damage.

The 3.5 watt lasers are flat-out scary. Stay away from those until you're more experienced and familiar with what can go wrong, how things go wrong, and that sort of thing. If the spot size on a laser like that (e.g. close to the aperture) is 15mm^3, then that comes to a power density of ~233kW (kilowatts) per square meter, roughly 170 times brighter than the sun. "One strike and you're blind", pretty much.

I've been hit with 140mW of 450nm (blue), right in the eye, a single brief flash due to reflecting off a mirrored object in the background that I didn't notice. You would be surprised at just how easy it is to get hit like that, and when it happens it's scary. The laser left a bleached spot in my vision that persisted for more than a week. It eventually faded away and a subsequent eye exam showed no apparent damage. I got lucky. But clearly the laser did some short-term damage, because you aren't supposed to have a persistent after-image like that. I'm really, really glad that laser was "only" 140mW and not 1.4 watts.

Sorry if you're feeling cranky but if that's how you respond to our concerns then lasers might not be for you. Consider taking a different attitude towards safety and whatnot, because high-power laser damage will be with you for life.

I am not stupid. I know of the risks and have watched many videos about safety and many reports of those jailed for shooting lasers at planes.

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Too defensive. It's good that you know about the dangers of lasing vehicles/aircraft. There are other hazards, see my story about that above.

I think I'll take the gamble, I can ship it back if it sucks that much. Besides it looks cool.

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Good luck. Even if you do get a return address, you're shipping to China. You'll pay a significant fraction of the purchase price just to get it back there, unless the seller agrees to cover it. I don't think they generally do.

I don't need to hear how it's crap, but if you have suggestions let me know.

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Buy something else, it's crap. You don't need to hear that but I'm sure we'll all get to read the thread you post when it dies, amirite? The only answer you'll get there is "it's crap", by telling you this now we're saving everybody some spam.

I don't care about duty cycle unless it is less than 30 seconds. Like a 60 on 60 off is fine.

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You'll care. 60 on 60 off would be an absurdly annoying duty cycle. I've tried it with my C6's just to see and no thanks, get a bigger heatsink/host because yours is not up to the job. Better, get a heatsinking (custom) host. These have no separate heatsink; instead, the entire mass of the host is available for heatsinking and transferring the heat to the air. Custom hosts are generally a lot more durable as well, and the price is lower than you might think.

My own opinion on that of course but if you want to do any photography with your beams you'll want long on-times. It can be a PITA to get things set up just right, and running up against the duty cycle all the time is just irritating.

I'm sorry if I offended someone. People have the tendency to believe that just because a person is new to a forum, that their new to that hobby.

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You didn't offend anyone, you caused concern due to not taking advice that was meant to direct your attention to safety. If we need to be blunt in order to get the point across then we will. You can get over any butthurt caused from that, you can't get your retinas back after you torch them because you thought shining it at a mirror or waving it around would be cool.

eta: Here is what we'd like you to avoid – Hit in eye with 1000mW blue laser. Yes, that injury is real and the damage is for life. How would you like some of that?

eta #2: If you just like that host style, there are machinists here who can probably duplicate it, one of whom can even do the anodizing in different colors. Such a duplicate would be superior to the chinese laser host in every way - durability, heatsinking, general quality of the metal, threads, and whatnot. If the laser dies, replacing parts is much easier than with chinese lasers.

Dont buy from ebay if you want a quality laser, if you are new to hobby buy one of those cheap pens instead, they should give you an idea and if u dont like it u didnt spend more then 10$ on it.. and shipping back stuff to china must be a pain, probably weeks or more wait i doubt you wanna do that and sit forever and wait before they get your package and refund your money like that..

Well the reason I asked if I needed goggles is because I didn't know if it actually was a class IV laser. China laser tend to be on the under powered side.

As for my first laser. As I've already stated I've own three laser pens (532nm) each which could light a match.

I also own a 5mw Radio shack laser (650nm).

Its good your eye healed, sorry that happened.

I'm not that into the hobby to be ordering parts though from random users on here. Thanks for the suggestion though. I am a big interested in rc planes, I already own models more than $400.

Laser are cool though.

Well the reason I asked if I needed goggles is because I didn't know if it actually was a class IV laser.

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You need safety glasses with IIIb's, especially if working with powered beams. Class IIIb is plenty capable of doing damage if something goes wrong. I can see why some people are concerned here.

China laser tend to be on the under powered side.

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If it's advertised at 2 watts and what you get is "underpowered" at 1 watt, it's still going to blind you if you mess something up. Right?

duh!!

GreedBay wants NOTHING to do with sales of ANY laser really over 5 mW-- so GOOD LUCK on getting them to help you later-
you would be better off buying used from the forum as ARG SO kindly suggests

and lose the 'Tude' as it wont get you far- here.

TO ALL - combine your double posts or face getting 'HAKSAWED'.

IT may be a postive step to add your location in your proflie too.

hak

Are double posts no longer allowed? I used
to just add another post if more than like
a day has gone by.

Its not a matter of being 'not allowed' but has been considered to be good manners in all cases except when your FS thread has gotten buried (that is NOT double posting - its bumping and 'allowed;-) OR a very old thread where your post is the last one AND you have new valid nfo to add ... that way those interested will get note of a new post- you surely can see why quad posts are bad --right?- same for triple posts... thus a line must be drawn and ATM its at one -- another reason-- in a few --its newcomers posting purley to build a post count.

I have seen where a mod has combined double posts --so what does that tell you??

and red reps too ( I wont neg for that tho)

you have not seen much about this . I guess because it is ...after all, a very minor faux pas.
hak

I've already ordered a different laser. Check this thread to see which one.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/r...focusable-445nm-blue-laser-package-85099.html
I think it will do the trick. I'm not one to go around without glasses, even if their the crappy ones provided. Next thing I'll buy is a good Eagle pair for like $60 bucks.
Thanks everyone for the help, it's really good to have people to answer question because the closest person to me that probably knows anything about them is like 5 miles away imo.

In all honesty you can build a 445nm 1-2w laser for around $90 from quality parts and have much longer duty cycles. Check out :

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home

and

Survival Laser USA Home

Both are HIGHLY recommended!

Nute said:

In all honesty you can build a 445nm 1-2w laser for around $90 from quality parts and have much longer duty cycles. Check out :

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home

and

Survival Laser USA Home

Both are HIGHLY recommended!

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Thanks for the suggestion. For now however I think I'll buy my first fully assemble 445nm and then work from there.

Thanks!

op:op:op:
So interesting !!!!!

I just want to mention something.... YOU WANT A LASER BECAUSE ITS COOL ?! HU ? HU ?! GREAT !! me too !! ..... Thanks ...

Just kidding guys ! Great advice to this online user ! Safety first and remember that if you want a good laser .... I recommend BLORD XD CHEERS !!

Blord(1st name is Kot)
is a top rate builder===

see his reviews and rep page.

However lately we all have concerns about shipping completed lasers across borders=

Some changes may include seizure by Customs of any over 5 mW.

So I often steer USA buyers towards USA based sellers-( No Customs involved)

Likewise I suggest buyers close to Kot to buy from him--again no Customs involved or at least lessened chances of seizures.. Kot cannot afford to replace a buy that was seized-- we all know that this a real possibility and those NOT okay with all that should just buy locally. LEAVE THE KITCHEN IF YOU CAN"T STAND THE HEAT...

hk