Laser newbie, question about batteries

whitewhidow · Aug 5, 2011

Hi all, sorry to be a noob, as this might be a stupid question...

I bought a green laser recently (2 days ago), wich is supposed to be a 200mw unit

The unit looks just like those DS Laser 303 ones, but (if im not mistaking, its in the car right now so i cant check), it just sais, Laser 303, nothing in front of it.

Anyways, heres my real question, i know it takes a 18650 battery, BUT, can it also take a 123a battery? (screwing part of the housing off, so it is shorter) or even 2 x 123a's ?

PS, i cant even seem to light a match with it (havent fully charged battery and havent measured volt output of battery), so im guessing its an under-spec rip-off?

Thanks in advance for the help

Sam

whitewhidow · Aug 5, 2011

anyone??

Paul0759 · Aug 5, 2011

Yeah CR batterys should be fine, if it can't light a match then yeah it can't be 200mw but maybe that's a good thing... These things are always fun until someones eye gets put out... where did you order it from?

regalis · Aug 5, 2011

You have to wear appropriate goggles!
And when the batteries aren't fully loaded you can't get the full power...easy, isn't it?

Btw.: Welcome to the forum

..o0(Buy goggles for your laser!)0o...

piferal · Aug 5, 2011

whitewhidow said:
Hi all, sorry to be a noob, as this might be a stupid question...

I bought a green laser recently (2 days ago), wich is supposed to be a 200mw unit

The unit looks just like those DS Laser 303 ones, but (if im not mistaking, its in the car right now so i cant check), it just sais, Laser 303, nothing in front of it.

Anyways, heres my real question, i know it takes a 18650 battery, BUT, can it also take a 123a battery? (screwing part of the housing off, so it is shorter) or even 2 x 123a's ?

PS, i cant even seem to light a match with it (havent fully charged battery and havent measured volt output of battery), so im guessing its an under-spec rip-off?

Thanks in advance for the help

Sam

If your laser driver is designed to use one 18650 battery you must not use 2 x CR123A
battery because likely it will damage the driver (for excess voltage) and quite possibly the diode.

If you can use one rechargeable CR123 of 3.6V removing a segment of laser body, no problem, but have less autonomy.

Link to your laser?

whitewhidow · Aug 6, 2011

THX for the reply's so far.

Cant link to the laser, i bought it from some local guy.

But like i said, it looks JUST like a SDLaser 303, but it just sayes, Laser 303

U think maybe it cant light a match cause the battery isnt full?

I have a 18650 battery in the charger right now, an unprotected one(i think)

How long should it take to fully charge this ?

Will one cr123 give me less strength, last less longer, etc ?

Anyone know a shop in the netherlands, where i can buy proterctive glasses, i dont wanna order from hongkong and wait 6 weeks till it gets here in Belgium..

Thanks again..

S

Fenzir · Aug 6, 2011

CR123s have less mAh than 18650s, so if you use a CR123, it won't last for nearly as long. With my cells, CR123s have 900mAh and my 18650s have 2400mAh.

Also, here is a nice pair of safety glasses from a US and also a member of this forum!

Eagle Pair® 190-540nm Standard Laser Safety Goggles

I have a pair, get a lot of use.

whitewhidow · Aug 6, 2011

The only cr123 i can seem to find around here are :

Capaciteit: 500 mAh | Output voltage: 3 V

Will the 3 volt not damage the unit either, as it is made for 3,7v?

So if im correct, these would NOT last as long as the 18650, and they would also NOT be as powerfull, producing a dimmer beam?

Correct?

Anyone that has some spare 18650's that they are willing to send dirt-cheap

PS, im a web developer, and am willing to make a trade if anyone is in need of a website, webapp, whatever.

Ill take some pics of the laser later on today, so i can post them here.

Thanxs again.

honeyx · Aug 6, 2011

whitewhidow said:
Will the 3 volt not damage the unit either, as it is made for 3,7v?

No. A lower voltage won´t damage your unit, but a higher one like using two cr123s

whitewhidow said:
So if im correct, these would NOT last as long as the 18650, and they would also NOT be as powerfull, producing a dimmer beam?

They would not last as long as a 18650, but not necassary be not as powerfull as with a 18650. It´s all to the driver. They all use the same driver but some drivers already are operating at its full power with just 2.7V and others need 3.5V. So a Li-Ion CR123 like battery (a 16340 to be exact) will be the best for your needs. You can get one with a charger for just a few $$.

Jacob32123 · Aug 6, 2011

whitewhidow said:
The only cr123 i can seem to find around here are :

Capaciteit: 500 mAh | Output voltage: 3 V

Will the 3 volt not damage the unit either, as it is made for 3,7v?

So if im correct, these would NOT last as long as the 18650, and they would also NOT be as powerfull, producing a dimmer beam?

Correct?

Anyone that has some spare 18650's that they are willing to send dirt-cheap

PS, im a web developer, and am willing to make a trade if anyone is in need of a website, webapp, whatever.

Ill take some pics of the laser later on today, so i can post them here.

Thanxs again.

I have some unprotected Sony 18650s that are laptop cell pulls that I would be willing to sell cheap. I have 6 of them. Send me a PM if you are interested

http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/18650s-65223.html

whitewhidow · Aug 7, 2011

OK thanks for the info,

How much could u ship the 18650's to belgium for?

I've charged my batt, and i does manage to pop a blue ballon,

Also, the beam IS visible in my room with 2 windows and the lights switched on (not when looking at it close to 90 degrees, from about 45 degrees u can see the beem in a fully lit room)

Also, if keeping my hand in front of it, u do HAVE to move your hand after about 2-3 seconds, if u dont want to burn yourself,

but i still HAVENT managed to light a match, perhaps the matches i have here are just really hard to light ? think this is possible,

So it pops a ballon, burns my fingers, melts plastic(balloon leftovers), yet doesnt light a match..?

Sam

honeyx · Aug 7, 2011

You laser is somewhat between 50 and 150mW. Nobody can´t tell without measuring the power.

Check this out: ‪Green Lasers: What Can Certain mW Do?‬‏ - YouTube

But keep in mind european matches are harder to light than american matches. My 200mW did lit matches but a 150mW didn´t when focused to infinity. I also have some spare 18650s from a laptop battery.

whitewhidow · Aug 8, 2011

So how much to ship some 18650's to belgium?

focused to infinity, means making the beam the thickest, right?

honeyx · Aug 9, 2011

So from germany to belgium the cheapest i can find is 3.50 Euro. Focused to infinity means not making the beam the thickest but straight like a line. So not focused to one point at just a specific distance. There are beam expanders to make beams thicker with a much better divergence. But focused to infinity simply means a straight line as it´s supposed to be.

whitewhidow · Aug 10, 2011

Just to let u ppl know,

my green laser DOES light a (european) match,

I just had to play with the focus a bit.

So there is a chance that im not stuck with a piece of cr*p chines laser..?

Think it is anywhere close to specs? 200mw?

weeba2kv · Aug 10, 2011

probably 120 mW

Laser newbie, question about batteries

whitewhidow

0

whitewhidow

0

Paul0759

0

regalis

0

piferal

0

whitewhidow

0

Fenzir

0

whitewhidow

0

honeyx

0

Jacob32123

0

whitewhidow

0

honeyx

0

whitewhidow

0

honeyx

0

whitewhidow

0

weeba2kv

0

Online statistics

Forum statistics

Share this page