30mW Fading

I just received my new 30mW green laser.

I've been using it constantly for about 6 hours, when it started to fade. Like it the dot would get really dim, and then if i let it sit for about 3 minutes it would go on again to it's brightness.

Is this a normal thing, of like overheating?

If i let it sit over night, and used it in the morning, would it not do this?

I'm a noobie to lasers and don't know anything.

I can return it if this is a defect, because I know it's not the batteries, because they work on the 20mW perfectly.

Thanks!

I think it's either overheating, or maybe the voltage of the batteries is dropping so much that it does not supply enough power long enough to make it run full power.

ElectricMan5 said:

I just received my new 30mW green laser.

I've been using it constantly for about 6 hours, when it started to fade. Like it the dot would get really dim, and then if i let it sit for about 3 minutes it would go on again to it's brightness.

Is this a normal thing, of like overheating?

If i let it sit over night, and used it in the morning, would it not do this?

I'm a noobie to lasers and don't know anything.

I can return it if this is a defect, because I know it's not the batteries, because they work on the 20mW perfectly.

Thanks!

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Yup your laser is probably either overheating or the batteries are dying. With these pen size greens you should stick to a duty cycle of 1 minute on and 30 seconds off approximately so it can cool down.

My 40mw green tends to drop in output power if I use it a lot without letting it cool.

What kind of batteries are you using to power your laser? If it's a real 30 mW output, it should be pumped by a IR diode at least 150mW, so expect a current draw on your batteries at least 250mA. If you're using AAA rechargeables, expecting a 30% duty cycle on a 6-hour total runtime, it's approx two hours of laser work, your batteries may start to be a little less well charged.

Any solid state light source will drop its efficiency when overheated, so, your laser may also dim out after some prolongated work time due to overheating.

If you're running it off alcaline cells, go pick up some Ni-MH serious batteries and you'll get far better results

Thanks guys, the laser returned to normal to normal after letting it sit.

Also, one more thing. Can i use the rechargeable Ni-MH AAA batteries that Duracell has?

ElectricMan5 said:

Thanks guys, the laser returned to normal to normal after letting it sit.

Also, one more thing. Can i use the rechargeable Ni-MH AAA batteries that Duracell has?

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Nicads tend to start dropping off exponentially whereas if you get sanyo enloops (do a search) they hold on pretty much till the end then they go dead.