Help opening up Nova Alpha series laser

I have a Nova Lasers Alpha 105mw. Somehow a small screw has worked itself loose in the shutter and I can hear it rattling around in the head of the laser. This has caused the shutter to loosen to the point where it must be pushed and held in for the laser to function.

I emailed Nova and they responded, telling me that it is possible to fix it myself using epoxy to secure the screw. The laser is no longer under warranty and I would rather not spend $60 minimum to send it in to Nova if it's not absolutely necessary. I just don’t want to break the thing.

Anyway, my biggest obstacle is removing the aperture assembly. Does anyone know if the head of this particular laser is threaded or if it is pressure-fitted? Any tips or suggestions on all of this would be very much appreciated.


Dark Star

I think the head of the laser might be somewhat like the aperture cap with the shutter in it on the RPL which screws right off.

Someone else would maybe have a better idea than me though, maybe Gooey Gus will know.

-Adam

Thanks for the reply Adam, you were right. The front aperture cap was unscrewed fairly easily with a pair of cushioned spark plug pliers. The displaced screw was then put back into place in the only possible way it could go in and tightened to the shutter. It seemed very simple at the time.

The end result was that the laser did not work at all afterward, with or without the front cap on. It worked just before the front cap was initially removed (with the shutter getting held in). Afterward... nothing. All that was done was the removal of the front cap and a screw replaced.

There are two short copper wire endings in the cap that may have some importance to the function of the laser, but I cannot figure out where they are supposed to go or what their purpose is.

I'm beginning to think that there were more serious problems with this laser than just the rattling screw that came loose in the shutter. Maybe the screw moving around in there caused the problem, who knows. The only positive right now is that the red led light still works... not good at all.

Any advice or info to save this laser is very much appreciated.


Dark Star

Any pics of the laser opened up, the wires or wht you may think is the problem?

I think the 2 copper wires have to make contact somehow to allow the laser to start. You know, kinda like the dongle at the end...
Could you accidently screwed ther placing/location up? :-[

ArRaY

If you give us pictures we'll be able to see how they connect up or if they should connect up at all.

Adam is right, if forgot to place some maybe s and perhaps in my post.
Get some pics, and we will see what we can find out...

I'll try to get some pictures up as soon as I can.

If I remember correctly, my two wires didn't touch anything in my alpha. I cant think of anything that would have broken from simply removing the aperture cap.... use a digital camera to look into the aperture while the laser is 'on'. Does it see anything? Green? "white'-ish looking light? (IR)

*DO NOT look into the aperture with bare eyes while the button is depressed. The laser could turn on at any moment, and even if green doesn't come out there could be IR coming out. Well... they are usually filtered pretty well but its a good idea to just not risk it... use a camera!*

This may sound like a really dumb question, since you've obviously had the laser working before, but are you sure you're holding it long enough for the emission delay to pass? Just had to ask.

Well, I took a few close-up pictures of the cap and inside the aperture. Afterward, I screwed the cap back on the laser and gave it another try and it's now working perfectly fine.

I would really like to know what caused it to not work for all that time and why it suddenly started working again now. I am worried that whatever was causing the problem will possibly happen again.

The lens also needs to be cleaned badly. There was a lot of dust that got in during the time the shutter was loose, but now I'm afraid to take the cap off again. I took that thing off and screwed it back on several times before it finally went on perfectly and started working again, so I really don't want to risk it.

Gus: yes I was pushing the button for up to 30-40 seconds when it wasn't working, so that was not the problem. I even put in a fresh set of batteries, tightened the cap, etc and nothing worked.

Here are the pictures if anyone wants to take a look. Thanks for the help.

The shutter cap:

Inside the laser:

Any time a laser starts and stops (especially with manipulation) it is a contact of some sort.  If it keeps working, no problem.  Say, "thank you"  If it stops again, go through it from front to back cleaning all the contacts and making sure everything is supported correctly.  I had a 100mW greenie that didn't have enough support under the button.  After awhile the driver would "flex" down when I pushed the button.  Needless to say the laser stopped working until I figured it out.

Sometimes all it takes is a piece of foil added to between the battery and the tail cap to make the connections tight enough.

Peace,
dave

Yeah those wires have nothing to do with operation. If anything, I think they are just there to secure the inner ring of the aperture cap. Mine had the same two wires. Like Dave said, it's a connection issue somewhere for sure!

Thanks alot for the info guys. The laser has been working perfectly since Sunday afternoon, when it magically came back to life.

If it stops working again, I will clean all of the contacts and try to finally resolve the problem. Hopefully it will just keep on working and I will never have to go there.  


Dark Star