250mw S-ky Broken

I just got my 250mw s-ky laser from bluefusion, which i had been waiting on for a long time and anxious to try out. I popped in some batteries, and there was definitely something noticeably wrong with the laser. The dot is about 18 inches wide at 60 inches from the aperture. I then measured the laser with my meter, and it rated at about 28mw, and then after a minute is was down to 8mw. So this was supposed to be peaking at 351mw, but its now doing 8mw, and the divergence is like 287mRad.



And I know its not just the manual focusing on the head of the laser. That does absolutely nothing:




I talked to bluefusion about it for a while on xchat and we determined that a likely cause for this problem was a lens inside of the laser had become out of place during shipping, and now most of the power is being reflected into the side of the laser barrel, and only a few mW's are getting out. The laser gets super hot after a while, about as hot as i would imagine a laser of that power to be, so its drawing full current, but where the power is going we dont know. There could be something wrong with the circuit or diode that is causing this as well, and those would be harder to fix.

Im gonna try and open it up and see if i can fix it with the help of bluefusion. I was going to send it back to him, but with customs in australia it would get seized for sure. Another option would be for me to send it directly back to s-ky and hope theyll fix it. Bluefusion said that its still under the warranty.

Any suggestions?

Demand a refund and have it shipped back at his cost. Sorry for the harshness, but I've sold S-KY products too as well as products from many other companies. I always charge a markup - not necessarily always making a profit. Issues like this happen, and as a seller you must be prepared to handle them. This is one reason why buying a laser from a trusted distributor, while perhaps more expensive, is generally a better idea than buying direct - there's just too many variables involved with your purchase otherwise. If blue isn't gunna do his part as a seller and eliminate those variables, you deserve a full refund.

The problem with that is when you demand a refund, you have to send the broken laser back, which will just get confiscated by australian customs or hawaii customs.

laserterd said:

The problem with that is when you demand a refund, you have to send the broken laser back, which will just get confiscated by australian customs or hawaii customs.

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My point is that's blue's responsibility. You should demand a refund. If he asks you to send it back, then you send it back. If it gets confiscated, then it gets confiscated. It isn't your fault after all, is it? The only right thing for him to do is refund you anyway. Doesn't mean that is what he'll do, but that's what he should very well be required to IMO.

Actually this might be fixable. I remember when I got my laserglow vega it had horrible divergence because the collimating plate had been improperly glued and was rattling around in the laser. Lucky I was able to fix it myself and now I have a fully functioning laser with around 1.5mrad divergence. I would start by trying to open up the head of the laser and see what's going on. You might break it, but it's better than just sending it back and getting it confiscated by Au customs.

I wouldn't try getting a refund from BlueFusion. He seems to be officially broke.

Didn’t Blue sell a green Laser with the same divergence problems to usakicksass? :-/

Usakicksass sent it back to him for refund.

TheMonk said:

Didn’t Blue sell a green Laser with the same divergence problems to usakicksass? :-/

Usakicksass sent it back to him for refund.

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I think it never got sent to usakicksass and BF refunded the money after a paypal dispute. There was a thread about it in BST a long time ago.

TheMonk said:

Didn’t Blue sell a green Laser with the same divergence problems to usakicksass? :-/

Usakicksass sent it back to him for refund.

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EXACTLY what I was thinking. He told usakicksass AFTER he paid for it that it had a horrible divergence problem, so usa didn't want it anymore. That really would be a shame if it's the same laser and he just decided to blame it on shipping, knowing that customs would be a great excuse to prevent a return.

Anyway, since the focusing head does nothing, its probably that lens in the head thats out of whack.

Thats what i thought too, but wouldnt there be a slight rattle? Its as solid as a rock and makes no noise. Is it still possible that a lens is loose with that info?

GooeyGus said:

[quote author=TheMonk link=1216350357/0#5 date=1216354827]Didn’t Blue sell a green Laser with the same divergence problems to usakicksass? :-/

Usakicksass sent it back to him for refund.

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EXACTLY what I was thinking. He told usakicksass AFTER he paid for it that it had a horrible divergence problem, so usa didn't want it anymore. That really would be a shame if it's the same laser and he just decided to blame it on shipping, knowing that customs would be a great excuse to prevent a return.

Anyway, since the focusing head does nothing, its probably that lens in the head thats out of whack. [/quote]

Just reading that...

Damn. Selling crap lasers from Australia knowing they can't be returned and replaced... that's a devilishly clever scheme. I hope it isn't abused

laserterd said:

Thats what i thought too, but wouldnt there be a slight rattle? Its as solid as a rock and makes no noise. Is it still possible that a lens is loose with that info?

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maybe maybe not. It could be 'lodged' in there in a messed up position, causing your divergence and power problems, but still not moving when shaken.

The good news is, is that even the bare beam from the crystal shouldn't be that big on the wall, so I'm pretty sure it's just a lens problem.

yeah thats what led me to that as well. Theres no way its mode hopping either, unless its mode hopping AND a lens is out of place, causing it to be worse.

Anyway, does anyone want to tell me how to open one of these? There arent any screws or anything on the outside, and i dont wanna break it even more...

anyone know how to open it?

laserterd said:

anyone know how to open it?

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You can try asking bluefusion. I'm not sure if you'll get a swift reply though :-/

yeah ive asked him to PM me on how to do it, but he wont reply yet. Possibly hes making a super long step by step tutorial on how to take it apart ;D or not.

maybe asky SK-Y