Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on eBay

Hello,

I am new on this forum. About a week ago, I have ordered 200 mW green laser from eBay. I know that almost all green laser pointers on eBay are pretty much scams (less powerful than advertised, without IR filter, etc.), but I have given it a try anyway. I would like to know your opinions on this laser.

Here is the link:
http:##cgi.ebay.com#ws#eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290247916452
(because I am new here, I can't post links yet, so please change all # to /)

I have won this auction for 105 GBP (about 209 USD). I admit that what have convinced me to try it is the professional look of this laser "pointer" - it has shutter on the head, security key, plug to control the laser from a computer, it should have IR filter and it should be actively cooled by Peltier cells. They claim it is the same laser as WICKED LASER SPIDER II GX (produced by the same factory), but I don't believe it. They also claim that they personally check the real power with Coherent LaserCheck (but again, I am skeptic).

What is your opinion on this laser? Did you see laser like this anywhere else? Do you know who is the manufacturer? Do you have some experiences with this laser?

They have been selling these lasers on eBay for some time (at least month or two) and are still selling them. I have checked feedback from other buyers of this laser and it is really good feedback, but there is one negative feedback where the buyer claims that it has much lower real power (only 20 mW!). I don't want to buy laser power meter, is it possible to build it? Are there some schematics? I have thought about simple photo diode and multimeter, but I don't know how to calibrate it.

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Yes, that is a scam, sorry. These lasers do not come in 200mW versions, and I've yet to see one that could put out that type of level. That seller has been pulling this scam for over a year now - they take what's actually a pretty decent laser, but then claim the output is something hillarious like 10x of what it actually is. Sorry for the bad news

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

pseudonomen137 said:

Yes, that is a scam, sorry. These lasers do not come in 200mW versions, and I've yet to see one that could put out that type of level. That seller has been pulling this scam for over a year now - they take what's actually a pretty decent laser, but then claim the output is something hillarious like 10x of what it actually is. Sorry for the bad news

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Oh, that is really bad :-( Are you sure that the output power is really that bad? Even if it would be only 100 mW, still it would be at least acceptable. But 20 mW is really bad.

Is there some way how I can measure laser power without laser power meter? What about my photo diode + multimeter idea? It doesn't have to be accurate.

Btw. do you have some link on original manufacturer (or at least another seller) of this laser? Do you think it is possible to get money back?

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Ok, I have found it. It looks like it is enVee laser from Lucent Optics:

lucentoptics.com

It looks like Lucent Optics are selling only two models - 100 mW and 120 mW. If this fake 200 mW laser from eBay is one of those, it isn't really that bad, the price of those is similar to what I have paid for that fake 200 mW one. Do you know if Lucent Optics make also some worse models?

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

We were just discussing one of these auctions not to long ago. Exactly the same, check out the thread here: http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1217081106

It's a legit model, an enVee, or Alpha, has a variety of names, depends where you buy it from. But because the seller lied about its output power, it could be anything, even a 15mW. We just don't know.

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

I have written email to Lucent Optics with question about this fake 200 mW laser from eBay (if it seems to be one of their models) and here is the answer:

It's the same thing, but it definitely won't put out 200mW. It looks to be from the same manufacturer which means it has a 500mW diode, thus putting out about 130mW of green max. There is no physical difference between the NV80 and NV100, just that one puts out more power. I'm betting yours puts out roughly 100mW. Thanks.

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I really hope he is right and it will be putting 100 mW.

Btw. I am asking again - is there some way how I can measure approximate power without laser power meter?

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Mikos said:

I really hope he is right and it will be putting 100 mW.
Btw. I am asking again - is there some way how I can measure approximate power without laser power meter?

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I hope it puts out 100mW as well.

To answer your question, NO!

Peace,
dave

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

see if it can light a match.Then its at lest 90mw.

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

jamilm9 said:

see if it can light a match.Then its at lest 90mw.

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No, that is just not true unfortunately. It'd be nice to pretend that we could get a rough estimate of power by trying to burn things - but its just pretend. Perhaps you can figure out what order of magnitude power you're dealing with, but thats about all the precision you'll get.


Sorry @ the OP though, I was kinda exaggerating at the 10x comment - didn't mean to be taken seriously. As for actual output though, there's no way for me to really say. My memory is a bit hazy, but last I checked the manufacturer made these from ~20-80mW. So if the seller was just being a total scammer, you may only be dealing with ~20mW. If he was trying to rip you off, but still offer you the top end he could you could perhaps be dealing with a 80-125mW laser.

Two things are for sure though unfortunately:
1. The laser will not meet the claimed 200mW spec.
2. The only way to really know what its putting out is to test it on a decent power meter.

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

I have one of these, and its build quality is the best i've seen in a small portable format but half of the ads on the page are lies.

The laser has no modulation through that "control port". It is just a port for a safety key.

The laser has no peltier cooling cells for a 100% duty cycle.. It just has a really huge heatsink inside.. lol..

It most definitely isnt the Spyder II either.. lol!

I hope you get a laser capable of burning and doing what you want it to do. The laser is a very nice quality model. Keep your fingers crossed that it has a decent output.

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Napalm_Fire said:

I have one of these, and its build quality is the best i've seen in a small portable format but half of the ads on the page are lies.

The laser has no modulation through that "control port". It is just a port for a safety key.

The laser has no peltier cooling cells for a 100% duty cycle.. It just has a really huge heatsink inside.. lol..

It most definitely isnt the Spyder II either.. lol!

I hope you get a laser capable of burning and doing what you want it to do. The laser is a very nice quality model. Keep your fingers crossed that it has a decent output.

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Yes, I have known it isn't Spyder II since the beginning. But I really hope it gives about 100 mW (fingers crossed), if it wouldn't be at least 100 mW, I would try to get my money back and alarm eBay about this scam.

Btw. maybe that safety mini-jack plug can be used for remote control - there is possibility you can use it instead of power button (if you make power button always pressed - e.g. by electrical tape). Only problem would be 3 seconds delay, but I have found that this delay can be eliminated by unsoldering one capacitor. Would it be possible or is there some problem I have overlooked?

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Laser has arrived yesterday. It came in sealed antistatic bag and there is label on it:

PGL-III-532-A
7111494
>100mW

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I have tried it with 2 AA Panasonic Digital Xtreme Power (Oxyride) batteries (I can't find Energizer E2 Lithium anywhere, these oxyride batteries should be also great for high current applications, but have lower capacity than E2). Beam quality is excellent. It is very powerful, I have tried burning black plastic CD case and it takes about 15 seconds to burn through. It burns through black plastic foil very quickly (about 1 - 2 seconds). On my skin it burns (stings) nearly instantly. I have been also able to burn through paper (if there was some ink on it). But I couldn't light a match (big match with brown head) with it.

Can anyone guess output power based on these observations? I will try my improvised laser power meter tomorrow.

But it definitely looks like 100 or 120 mW EnVee model from Lucent Optics (manufacturer is CNI).

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Well if it has 100mW written on it... I'd say that's what you've got Based on your burning, maybe a little more powerful than that, but since burning is so subjective you can't really take that as anything.

That's good though. This did turn out to be a scam, but in the end at least you've still got a decent laser. That's better that a piece of crap you can't do for anything that you normally get out of a scam

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Mikos said:

Is there some way how I can measure laser power without laser power meter? What about my photo diode + multimeter idea? It doesn't have to be accurate.

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That sounds like a good (cheap) way to compare two lasers, as to which is more powerful,

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

Give the guy negative feedback after you return it. Or if he hasnt sent it off yet just leave just ask for refund the neg him.

Re: Professionally looking 200 mW green laser on e

if you got a 100mW cni for 200usd I'd say you got a good deal. Not to mention it probably does well over 100 peak, probably between 125 or 150. But since you have no way to measure it, we'll never know