100mw green laser advice

I want to buy a green laser that can pop balloons, I looked around and it seams my best bet is a 100mw laser.

I am thinking about buying this one: PL 520nm 532nm 100-1000
The 532nm 100mW one for $134.48.

Is this a good price? Is there any where else I could get a 100mw green laser for cheaper?

Also is this site any good? http://www.lucklaser.com/ I could not find any info on them.

:thanks:

Buy from sflasers.com
Eitan (sorry if I spelled your name wrong) sells a laser that is rated at 80mw-120mw for $54.99
Although the one you showed has a lot of safety features, sflasers is cheaper; by a lot.
But the choice is yours.

Am I missing out on all the fun? I've never popped a balloon with a laser yet.

Wait you haven't popped a balloon? What lasers do you own?

Alaskan said:

Am I missing out on all the fun?

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Nah. It's just like popping a balloon with a pin. Different method, same result :tired:

USAbro said:

Buy from sflasers.com
Eitan (sorry if I spelled your name wrong) sells a laser that is rated at 80mw-120mw for $54.99
Although the one you showed has a lot of safety features, sflasers is cheaper; by a lot.
But the choice is yours.

Click to expand...

Thanks, the product is out of stock right now so Ill have to wait.

Have you ever bought this laser?

Alaskan said:

Am I missing out on all the fun? I've never popped a balloon with a laser yet.

Click to expand...

ARG said:

Nah. It's just like popping a balloon with a pin. Different method, same result :tired:

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Have a look at this if you haven't seen it. There are some other videos to with only 100 balloons done with blue or violet lasers.

I wanted a green laser because apparently their beams are more visible, but they also seem more expensive.

How much of a difference is there between the beam colours?

Eliminator said:

I wanted a green laser because apparently their beams are more visible, but they also seem more expensive.

How much of a difference is there between the beam colours?

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There is a very big difference but yes if you want a visible beam in a low to medium power laser then you must go with green. Violet or 405nm is at the limit of the visible spectrum so isn't very visible and that also makes it more dangerous, blue 445nm or 450nm will get you the most power for your money and are still very bright, a 462nm is brighter but expensive, red lasers need lots of power to get a visible beam, I think about 300mW if the light is dim but a 635nm or 638nm are much brighter than a 650nm and slightly orange red but a 650nm is very red.

Remember you will need safety glasses, batteries, and a charger too so figure that into your budget too.

Alan

Pi R Squared said:

There is a very big difference but yes if you want a visible beam in a low to medium power laser then you must go with green. Violet or 405nm is at the limit of the visible spectrum so isn't very visible and that also makes it more dangerous, blue 445nm or 450nm will get you the most power for your money and are still very bright, a 462nm is brighter but expensive, red lasers need lots of power to get a visible beam, I think about 300mW if the light is dim but a 635nm or 638nm are much brighter than a 650nm and slightly orange red but a 650nm is very red.

Remember you will need safety glasses, batteries, and a charger too so figure that into your budget too.

Alan

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Just to let you know, my 25mw 650nm laser makes a beam in complete darkness.

USAbro said:

Wait you haven't popped a balloon? What lasers do you own?

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Just have had no interest in popping balloons, I'm more interested in how far I can get the beam to go without spreading. I'm outside this morning in the dark before daylight playing around with different lenses trying to see if they work for me as a beam expander setup. I have a 6 inch diameter 1000mm FL lens which works very well, was putting a spot on a cloud layer and when putting my fingers in front of the lens, I could see a shadow finger in the sky on those clouds. No, it wasn't my middle finger but I was amazed, next I will try to match up the right expander lens with my 12 inch diameter PCX, now that will be fun making shadow figures with that.

Pi R Squared said:

There is a very big difference but yes if you want a visible beam in a low to medium power laser then you must go with green.

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Yes, I used RHD perceived brightness calculator comparing a 100mw 532nm laser with a 2000mw 455nm laser and found that the far lower power green laser produces a much brighter beam, I went outside with a 100mw laser and a 2 watt 455nm blue and checked for myself, it certainly is brighter, the 100mw green laser wins. I wish I knew this when I first started, I built a 16 laser monster out of 455nm diodes which were not cheap, I could have had better results with cheaper 532nm lasers.

Also what safety glasses should I get for a 100mw 532nm laser? I heard that glasses only work for one colour? So I don't want to buy it off ebay.

Eliminator said:

Also what safety glasses should I get for a 100mw 532nm laser? I heard that glasses only work for one colour? So I don't want to buy it off ebay.

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They work for more than one color, usually a wavelength range such as 190nm-540nm meaning they would work for violet, blue and green, but not yellow or red. Eagle Pair are the best.

How about these?
Portable Protection Goggles Laser Safety Glasses Green Blue With Velvet BOX H | eBay
I want to buy a bunch of pairs so friends can watch too.

These are very cheap so IDK if their bad quality and won't work?

Eliminator said:

How about these?
Portable Protection Goggles Laser Safety Glasses Green Blue With Velvet BOX H | eBay
I want to buy a bunch of pairs so friends can watch too.

These are very cheap so IDK if their bad quality and won't work?

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Even though that is what I use, I can't recommend them. Certain ones are more or less reliable than others and your better off saving up for these. Eagle Pair® 190-540nm Standard Laser Safety Goggles

Eliminator said:

How about these?
Portable Protection Goggles Laser Safety Glasses Green Blue With Velvet BOX H | eBay
I want to buy a bunch of pairs so friends can watch too.

These are very cheap so IDK if their bad quality and won't work?

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In all honesty, safety is of course something which should be at the very top of your mind when using lasers and it's mandatory to use safety goggles if at close range of the dot, burning or around reflective surfaces.

If you want to show your friend your laser without the need for them to use safety goggles just go outside and aim it at the sky(make sure there are no aircraft around, and be sure you and only you are in control of it)!!! That being said, getting goggles for such a laser should come before buying a tripod etc...

-Alex