CNI 532nm Turning Off when Turned.

So I need help troubleshooting my PGL-III-C 532nm 800mW laser from CNI. When the button is pointing up the laser turns on fine. However when the button is rotated counterclockwise 225 degrees such that the button is facing down and to the right when viewed from behind, the laser dims and cuts out. When I continue to to rotate it counterclockise, it kicks back in around where the button is pointing straight to the right, another 45 degrees.

For those 45 degrees or so though, however, the laser is either extremely dim or turned off. I need to know if this is a problem we as a community know of. I also need to know how to either fix it or have it repaired or something. I like this laser a lot, so I am loathe to give up on it. Expecially considering the 400 dollar price tag.

Im not 100% sure but it may seem that the button isn't making proper contact with the *driver* or whatever you guys call it
Maybe the button is bent on one side which causes it to not properly connect to the *driver*?

That's the only thing that comes to mind.

Nevertheless, the important part is that the laser still works!

I've had this happen with a green laser pen before. I never found a fix so I always just used that one for star pointing because when pointed up it worked best. Also, I moved the sticker to where is worked best so I didn't have to rotate it to find the "sweet spot" if you will.

My thoughts so far are that either the crystal is loose slightly, putting it out of alignment at that spot or that there is a switch or button malfunction at that particular angle.

With mine (a cheap pen) I took out the module and connected it to a battery pack and pushed the button myself to ensure that it's pressed down and it still got dim when pointed slightly down and sometimes just stopped working when pointed down.

Photonz said:

With mine (a cheap pen) I took out the module and connected it to a battery pack and pushed the button myself to ensure that it's pressed down and it still got dim when pointed slightly down and sometimes just stopped working when pointed down.

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I don't think he is willing to do that to a $400 CNI PGL unit :undecided:

Tha Greenlander said:

I don't think he is willing to do that to a $400 CNI PGL unit :undecided:

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I'm telling him that in my case it wasn't the button that was the problem. Essentially, I was telling him not to take out the module because it might not be the button.

My first thing to try is to connect just the tailcap up to a circuit and turn it to see if there are changes in the flow through the circuit. But I can't do that tonight :/

Indeed, it sounds like a tailcap issue, I've had to work on my aries before so I'd be happy to help If you need pics/instructions, the insides of the tail caps are not made very securely. I had to do a bit of a hot fix in mine.

does the battery(s) fit tight? or you might try bypassing the tail cap and measuring the amp draw with a dmm while you rotate the laser. that may tell you if the problem is electrical contact or not.

cheech226 said:

does the battery(s) fit tight? or you might try bypassing the tail cap and measuring the amp draw with a dmm while you rotate the laser. that may tell you if the problem is electrical contact or not.

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this is an excellent suggestion! +1

There are two things in my mind, one is something that wasn't as troublesome for me, but was notable on my aries that I had to fix, the other is theory.

try bypassing the cap as cheech said and/or try this for me. put in the battery and insert the plug and key and turn it on like normal, then gently grab the plug in interlock and wiggle it around and even press inward on it with a steady but not to hard amount of pressure, sometimes after lots of use the interlock jack likes to wiggle loose, as well as the center wire. I had a crappy connection with mine I had to fix a while back.

If you look in the tailcap it has a plastic retainer with a brass metal piece in the middle, the electrical connection goes from the cathode of the battery through the laser to the case, and down through the case to the tailcap, where it jumps from the case across the internal points in the interlock jack (which are bridged closing the circuit by putting the interlock in) to one terminal of the key lock, through the key lock, and out the other terminal and through a wire bridging it to the brass piece in the middle and back to the anode of the battery. this terminal wire moving up through the center is very precise and soldered to the key terminal and ran straight up to the brass piece and soldered into the center as the retainer is screwed on. if you unscrew the plastic retainer, you will have to fix this connection as well. I re-soldered both of these and my laser works like new again.

UPDATE: The tailcap is fine. I then tested the side button and that is the problem. When I kept the side button depressed with slight pressure, the beam does not cut out. when I release said pressure, the beam cuts out.

Now I have to figure out how to fix the side button.

cold solder joint perhaps. the blue button can be pulled off. it has a soft adheisive holding it on. you can take a peek inside.