Need help troubleshooting my laser

Hi fellow men from LPF,

I came across this forum while trying to find a solution for my first laser pointer. As I am not very knowledgeable in lasers, I am here to ask for and seek help before my itchy hands destroy my laser pointer.

PROBLEM
When I purchased the laser, it was working fine and all, I saw the green laser line shining through, wow, impressed and purchased it from a street market. It comes with the stars effect lens, 18650 extender, the key lock and the laser pointer body itself. I left the laser pointer alone for quite awhile without the battery inside. Now, when I charge the battery, the charger will always show green light and not red despite how I charge it and today, miraculously, it charged for a bit, I took it out to see if it worked, and yes, it did worked. I tested it for awhile and put the battery back to charge. After I got off from work (yes, I was charging it in the office), I tried the laser again, this time, the laser did not work.

Is there any way that I can solve this issue? :bowdown:

Appreciate the help from the mentors here! :thanks:

Thanks! :thanks:

*** I DID NOT DO ANY CLEANING OR ANYTHING TO THE LENS OR ANYTHING INSIDE.

With Warmest Regards,
Zayden

First welcome, you need to give a little more info. How long did the laser and especially the battery sit before you retried. Do you know for sure the battery holds the charge? Doyou have a volt meter, and are you sure you put the battery in the right way. I hate to tell you but that laser looks like the mass produced 301 or 303 models that arnt known for qualitly and durability, but before anyone can help you, you need to answer these basic questions. Also are you sure you didnt do any damage to it buy taking the the lens apart?

GSS said:

First welcome, you need to give a little more info. How long did the laser and especially the battery sit before you retried. Do you know for sure the battery holds the charge? Doyou have a volt meter, and are you sure you put the battery in the right way. I hate to tell you but that laser looks like the mass produced 301 or 303 models that arnt known for qualitly and durability, but before anyone can help you, you need to answer these basic questions. Also are you sure you didnt do any damage to it buy taking the the lens apart?

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Hi GSS,

Today, I charged my battery for about 2 - 3 hours (?) before trying on the laser and it worked. After which, I put the battery back to charge for another 2 hours? Nope, I have yet to test the battery by using a volt-meter. I'll try it tomorrow when I have the time! I do hope that my laser pointer definitely not one of those mass produced! For the placement of the battery, I did a check on youtube and affirmed that I've inserted it the correct way (The battery with the point is facing the laser and the flat side is the key cover, is that correct?). Yes, I did not touch the lens at all. I've seen one of the threads whereby one of the members used the contact cleaner (?), said that he will be assembling back to normal and call the shop owner to see if he is able to ask for a change or refund and another member had mentioned that the contact cleaner would destroy the UV chemicals and lens. Therefore, I do not dare to touch the lens at all as I do not know what is inside.

With Regards,
Zayden

Zayden said:

Hi GSS,

Today, I charged my battery for about 2 - 3 hours (?) before trying on the laser and it worked. After which, I put the battery back to charge for another 2 hours? Nope, I have yet to test the battery by using a volt-meter. I'll try it tomorrow when I have the time! I do hope that my laser pointer definitely not one of those mass produced! For the placement of the battery, I did a check on youtube and affirmed that I've inserted it the correct way (The battery with the point is facing the laser and the flat side is the key cover, is that correct?). Yes, I did not touch the lens at all. I've seen one of the threads whereby one of the members used the contact cleaner (?), said that he will be assembling back to normal and call the shop owner to see if he is able to ask for a change or refund and another member had mentioned that the contact cleaner would destroy the UV chemicals and lens. Therefore, I do not dare to touch the lens at all as I do not know what is inside.

With Regards,
Zayden

Click to expand...

Oh boy Zaydon, didnt mean to depress you by saying it was a mass produced lower quality, yes its true but they are kinda hit an miss and you can get one that will last a good long time, and one not so true but they are cheap to purchase so are affordable. This is the problem though green DPSS lasers are case positive and it seems you put the battery in the wrong way. The postitive (pointy) goes towards the tail with the key and most likely you burnt out laser. Switch the battery around and you might see a faint light but Dont look into it no matter how dim it is, as it could still be putting out IR light that you cant see but is very dangerous to the eyes. I should have mentioned first that yes you do need saftey glasses no matter what strength this laser is rated at and since you made no mention I dont even know if your aware These lasers are usually rated at 5mw witch is the legal limit for a company to sell. But being mass produced in china and not much quality control they are most often alot stronger and dangerous and again thats why I mention the saftey glasses. I think though you are dealing with an unreversable issue if you put the battery back in backwards. These laser types arnt really made for repairing. The good thing, they are cheap and you can buy another or listen to the suggestions of others here and pay a little more for a better one. Check the battery issue and go from there

Your laser is without a doubt mass produced in China. Although there might possibly be a fix to make it work again, I'd suggest you spend a couple bucks and buy a new one here.

I usually don't recommend these kind of lasers at all, but I figured you might not want to spend 50-100$ on a laser. I do recommend you getting a better charger though. That charger you have right there isn't exactly safe. If you're not getting yourself a new charger, then I suggest you to not leave it charging when you're away.

GSS said:

Oh boy Zaydon, didnt mean to depress you by saying it was a mass produced lower quality, yes its true but they are kinda hit an miss and you can get one that will last a good long time, and one not so true but they are cheap to purchase so are affordable. This is the problem though green DPSS lasers are case positive and it seems you put the battery in the wrong way. The postitive (pointy) goes towards the tail with the key and most likely you burnt out laser. Switch the battery around and you might see a faint light but Dont look into it no matter how dim it is, as it could still be putting out IR light that you cant see but is very dangerous to the eyes. I should have mentioned first that yes you do need saftey glasses no matter what strength this laser is rated at and since you made no mention I dont even know if your aware These lasers are usually rated at 5mw witch is the legal limit for a company to sell. But being mass produced in china and not much quality control they are most often alot stronger and dangerous and again thats why I mention the saftey glasses. I think though you are dealing with an unreversable issue if you put the battery back in backwards. These laser types arnt really made for repairing. The good thing, they are cheap and you can buy another or listen to the suggestions of others here and pay a little more for a better one. Check the battery issue and go from there

Click to expand...

Yes as my man said battery in backwards not good with these units i have one green unit also was a gift. negative end in first button facing you. if you don't mind how much did you pay for it?? Anyway welcome to the forum We would like to know more about yourself as an introduction would be in order here. Were are you from, are you in school, or whatever you like to add. Hope you didn't come here just to solve your problem then split the forum. This is the best there is period buddy. Well again welcome ..

Rich

GSS said:

Oh boy Zaydon, didnt mean to depress you by saying it was a mass produced lower quality, yes its true but they are kinda hit an miss and you can get one that will last a good long time, and one not so true but they are cheap to purchase so are affordable. This is the problem though green DPSS lasers are case positive and it seems you put the battery in the wrong way. The postitive (pointy) goes towards the tail with the key and most likely you burnt out laser. Switch the battery around and you might see a faint light but Dont look into it no matter how dim it is, as it could still be putting out IR light that you cant see but is very dangerous to the eyes. I should have mentioned first that yes you do need saftey glasses no matter what strength this laser is rated at and since you made no mention I dont even know if your aware These lasers are usually rated at 5mw witch is the legal limit for a company to sell. But being mass produced in china and not much quality control they are most often alot stronger and dangerous and again thats why I mention the saftey glasses. I think though you are dealing with an unreversable issue if you put the battery back in backwards. These laser types arnt really made for repairing. The good thing, they are cheap and you can buy another or listen to the suggestions of others here and pay a little more for a better one. Check the battery issue and go from there

Click to expand...

Haha, no worries. But this is quite costly! I purchased this at around $50SGD. Thinking it was kind of expensive, so I thought the laser would be of a better grade. However, by seeing most of the replies on this thread, seems like I've just gotten myself a joke. I've tried both sections... damn.. it may be what you said... Perhaps a burnt out laser... :yabbem:

gozert said:

Your laser is without a doubt mass produced in China. Although there might possibly be a fix to make it work again, I'd suggest you spend a couple bucks and buy a new one here.

I usually don't recommend these kind of lasers at all, but I figured you might not want to spend 50-100$ on a laser. I do recommend you getting a better charger though. That charger you have right there isn't exactly safe. If you're not getting yourself a new charger, then I suggest you to not leave it charging when you're away.

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Hi Gozert,

Yeah, I was told that the laser was indeed from China. However, the salesman managed to convince me that the laser is of a high grade and durability, (and all the salesman speech comes in). I spent $50SGD on that piece of "high grade and durable" laser pointer and it's broken without at least 1hour of usage.. That's like sad..

And yes, I figured out that the battery and charger might not be safe, thus, I don't charge it when I'm not around. I'm afraid that it would burn or even explode. I'll check that web out!

Thanks!:thanks:

Lifetime17 said:

Yes as my man said battery in backwards not good with these units i have one green unit also was a gift. negative end in first button facing you. if you don't mind how much did you pay for it?? Anyway welcome to the forum We would like to know more about yourself as an introduction would be in order here. Were are you from, are you in school, or whatever you like to add. Hope you didn't come here just to solve your problem then split the forum. This is the best there is period buddy. Well again welcome ..

Rich

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Hi Lifetime17/Rich,

I tried both ways, the laser pointer just don't beam its laser like yesterday, I was so happy that it beamed but now, it doesn't even beam anything out. I purchased the laser pointer at $50SGD.

Sorry for the about the self-introductory part as I was kind of worried for my laser pointer.

Here's a brief self-introductory of me,

I am Zayden, 21, staying in Singapore and currently a student pursuing diploma in one of the polytechnics. I also work for short term jobs as companies do not want students who can only work for 1 - 2 months or weekends only during schooling time.

I pretty suck at self-introductions, hopefully this one would help... I've posted one at the Welcome section as well! :crackup:

With Regards,
Zayden

Hi Z,
Well good start on the forum part of it welcome again. Sounds like you might have installed the cells + end in first the Chinese like case + for some reason. Sorry about your loss, if you weren't in China i would send you a Chinese greenie that i don't use. Most likely it would be taken by customs here in the states going over. I bought it a long time ago. Burns a little but the WL is nice. Best of luck..
Rich

Oh buy the way check out Blord he makes lasers he's in Europe he's here on LPF great builder also great prices for a hand made units. Check him out and see what he has for sale or what he can make in you price range..

Lifetime17 said:

Hi Z,
Well good start on the forum part of it welcome again. Sounds like you might have installed the cells + end in first the Chinese like case + for some reason. Sorry about your loss, if you weren't in China i would send you a Chinese greenie that i don't use. Most likely it would be taken by customs here in the states going over. I bought it a long time ago. Burns a little but the WL is nice. Best of luck..
Rich

Oh buy the way check out Blord he makes lasers he's in Europe he's here on LPF great builder also great prices for a hand made units. Check him out and see what he has for sale or what he can make in you price range..

Click to expand...

Hi Rich,

It's okay, perhaps I'll just check the forum to see if anyone had home-built lasers that they had shared in this website and maybe I can follow their tutorial to build one..

Sorry but Singapore is not in China...
Singaporeans I would say, we are more friendly compared to China people.

Zayden

Lifetime17 said:

Hi Z,
Well good start on the forum part of it welcome again. Sounds like you might have installed the cells + end in first the Chinese like case + for some reason. Sorry about your loss, if you weren't in China i would send you a Chinese greenie that i don't use. Most likely it would be taken by customs here in the states going over. I bought it a long time ago. Burns a little but the WL is nice. Best of luck..
Rich

Oh buy the way check out Blord he makes lasers he's in Europe he's here on LPF great builder also great prices for a hand made units. Check him out and see what he has for sale or what he can make in you price range..

Click to expand...

I hear a lot of "I connected the battery backwards and now my laser is dead". Why isn't reverse polarity protection more common if all it takes is PFET or even just a diode? I guess cheap Chinese lasers don't care about this but I hear this from other people too.

Another question... A good 18650 battery should have what volt? My battery shows 0.570V... sometimes 0.600V, sometimes 0.400V....

Zayden said:

Another question... A good 18650 battery should have what volt? My battery shows 0.570V... sometimes 0.600V, sometimes 0.400V....

Click to expand...

Hi Zayden that was a real nice intro welcome again. You will like this thresd like liftime17 said good people good info. I allways do a quick log in first thing in the morning. I have 2 of the 301s that you have and they arnt that bad. I bought them together and yes 1 is alot stronger than the other but the weaker 1 still puts out a nice beam. Also being that they are focusable they can give you more fun than beam pointing, you can get them to light a match with the right situation and pop balloons! This is my suggestion, read up a little on green DPSS lasers in general, from thier dangers, and as what to expect from a 301 style in terms of power. Since your a begginner I would go to the sight that gozert gave you and buy 2 as this will give you a better chance that you will get a nice one(chances are they both will be fine) but you can put 1 through its paces and learn and keep the other healthly in the meen time. Get some glasses also because If you want to try any burning or popping they are a must and you should have them anyway as good practice and protection. You can find the better than nothing cheap ones for now. just get the ones rated for those green lasers. (532nm) Please do some reading as you said you have already All this should be $30 dollars or less to learn and have fun. The 18650 batterys should be charged to 3.7v to 4.2v. If it drained to lower than 2v there might be an issue with it. Im curious to how much in US $ is $50SGD. This is just my suggestion so think about it, its a good bang for the buck

Zayden said:

Hi Rich,

It's okay, perhaps I'll just check the forum to see if anyone had home-built lasers that they had shared in this website and maybe I can follow their tutorial to build one..

Sorry but Singapore is not in China...
Singaporeans I would say, we are more friendly compared to China people.

Zayden

Click to expand...

You should edit your profile and add your location as Singapore so it shows under your name, otherwise no one will remember that's where you're from.

Zayden said:

Another question... A good 18650 battery should have what volt? My battery shows 0.570V... sometimes 0.600V, sometimes 0.400V....

Click to expand...

If you're sure of that then throw that battery away, it would be dangerous to even try to charge it. They charge to 4.2V even though on the battery it says 3.7V, if i remember right they can only be discharged down to 2.5V. Always be sure to charge new ones before use, they normally ship uncharged.

Alan

Zayden said:

Hi Rich,

It's okay, perhaps I'll just check the forum to see if anyone had home-built lasers that they had shared in this website and maybe I can follow their tutorial to build one..

Sorry but Singapore is not in China...
Singaporeans I would say, we are more friendly compared to China people.

Zayden

Click to expand...

Sorry about my geography your in Malay, next to Queens land in southern Malaysia had to think my Geography is better than that LOL..

Lifetime17 said:

Sorry about my geography your in Malay, next to Queens land in southern Malaysia had to think my Geography is better than that LOL..

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Ok just in case you didn't know it, Singapore is an independent country, here is the history of its existence:

- Kingdom of Singapura 1299
- Malacca Sultanate 1400
- Johor Sultanate 1528
- British colonisation 6 February 1819
- Self-government 3 June 1959
- Independence from the United Kingdom 31 August 1963
- Merger with Malaysia 16 September 1963
- Expulsion from Malaysia 9 August 1965

So they have been independent for 50 years now.

Alan

GSS said:

Im curious to how much in US $ is $50SGD.

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It's around $35 usd

Zayden said:

Another question... A good 18650 battery should have what volt? My battery shows 0.570V... sometimes 0.600V, sometimes 0.400V....

Click to expand...

Are you sure you are measuring it correctly? Like what Pi said, if you are, that battery is dead. You can get new batteries from genuine 18650 batteries from Fstoplight. It's near nex