Is my lense dirty or scratched?

Ricky · May 5, 2016

Girlfriend bought me back a 532nm 100mw laser from Singapore and it managed to dirty itself after a mere couple days. Picked up some lens cleaner wipes today but I think through my own stupidity might have scratched the lens. (Wrapped the wipes around a skewer and tried to run the lens).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6zsvygjdzkml90c/20160505_184750.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n7c9r1bmn681sx9/20160505_184753.jpg?dl=0

These are the clearest pictures I was able to take of the 'scratch'.

And here's what the beam looks like at the moment:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n034b9sbicnjrgh/20160505_191408.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/86er29xduujvbzz/20160505_191424.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3i51nve1f01wgs0/20160505_191514-3.jpg?dl=0

Does anyone know if I've damaged the lens or if I should just re-attempt cleaning it?

Lifetime17 · May 5, 2016

Hi ricky,
that lens is not dirty i have one with the same foot print it came new. sometimes quality control over there isn't so good. your has some splash but the dot seems to be ok from your pics. you can try to change the lens but for that if it were me if it didn't work out no biggie .

Rich

Pi R Squared · May 5, 2016

Ricky said:
Girlfriend bought me back a 532nm 100mw laser from Singapore and it managed to dirty itself after a mere couple days. Picked up some lens cleaner wipes today but I think through my own stupidity might have scratched the lens. (Wrapped the wipes around a skewer and tried to run the lens).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6zsvygjdzkml90c/20160505_184750.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n7c9r1bmn681sx9/20160505_184753.jpg?dl=0

These are the clearest pictures I was able to take of the 'scratch'.

And here's what the beam looks like at the moment:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n034b9sbicnjrgh/20160505_191408.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/86er29xduujvbzz/20160505_191424.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3i51nve1f01wgs0/20160505_191514-3.jpg?dl=0

Does anyone know if I've damaged the lens or if I should just re-attempt cleaning it?

It's too hard to tell from the photos but a 100mW 532nm would usually be a very cheaply made Chinese laser and would almost always have an acrylic lens and not a glass lens. You can clean a glass lens but should never attempt to clean an acrylic lens, many low cost lasers especially low power ones will have an acrylic lens. Is the laser focusable? Or fixed focus? Can you unscrew the lens barrel and remove it? If you can, be careful it may have a spring behind the lens, don't let it fly accross the room and loose it. If it's a standard size lens then you can replace it. Unfortunately many cheap Chinese lasers have nonstandard parts and are epoxied together such that they aren't meant to be repairable. A 532nm is also more fragile than most and break easy because they are a DPSS design and not a direct diode laser.

Alan

Ricky · May 5, 2016

Yes the laser is focusable. I'm not sure how to tell if it's DPSS or not (but here's a pic of the laser without the focusing lens housing - https://www.dropbox.com/s/zvlggyp6jq2cp7r/20160505_203156.jpg?dl=0).

This is the lens housing part too (extendible) - https://www.dropbox.com/s/3473zcetx2elzj7/20160505_203205.jpg?dl=0 / https://www.dropbox.com/s/6kz5gp6xs7bmqn6/20160505_203335.jpg?dl=0

I'm also not sure how to tell if it's acrylic or not. If it is acrylic does that mean I should just bin the laser? Or do you think it's repairable (how do I tell the lens size?)

Pi R Squared · May 5, 2016

Ricky said:
Yes the laser is focusable. I'm not sure how to tell if it's DPSS or not (but here's a pic of the laser without the focusing lens housing - https://www.dropbox.com/s/zvlggyp6jq2cp7r/20160505_203156.jpg?dl=0).

This is the lens housing part too (extendible) - https://www.dropbox.com/s/3473zcetx2elzj7/20160505_203205.jpg?dl=0 / https://www.dropbox.com/s/6kz5gp6xs7bmqn6/20160505_203335.jpg?dl=0

I'm also not sure how to tell if it's acrylic or not. If it is acrylic does that mean I should just bin the laser? Or do you think it's repairable (how do I tell the lens size?)

It is DPSS if it's 532nm no doubt about that, but that has nothing to do with if the lens is replaceable or not, I was just pointing out that they break easy, like if you drop it or something. Is the lens in there removable and does it look like one of these: https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/glass-lenses if it does, is it plastic or metal and is it 10mm long or 8mm long?

The laser isn't a 301 or 303 is it?

Alan

Ricky · May 5, 2016

Yeah the engraving on the side just says TYLaser 303. Also the part in the end (https://www.dropbox.com/s/44xm9mhucxhrfo1/20160505_210320.jpg?dl=0) would be identical to those on the store page, and yes it's made of steel. But if I try and untwist it it gets stuck on something. Do I just need to force it harder? (https://www.dropbox.com/s/i7h2381rzcml1f0/20160505_210325.jpg?dl=0 - that's how far it comes out).

Also I don't have a ruler with mm markings on it so not sure if its 8 or 10mm

Pi R Squared · May 5, 2016

Ricky said:
Yeah the engraving on the side just says TYLaser 303.

Well then I would recommend you just just forget it and buy a new one. Maybe someone more familiar with the 303 will comment here, but that is a disposable laser, not really one you fix. You can buy them online from less than $10 to $20.

Alan

Ricky · May 5, 2016

Damn, OK. As for the more reputable sites (saw laserbtb.com thrown around a lot) do you know if they can do discrete packaging? As fun as it would be to essentially donate $100 to customs, it'd be nice for it to slip through undetected.

Pi R Squared · May 5, 2016

Ricky said:
Damn, OK. As for the more reputable sites (saw laserbtb.com thrown around a lot) do you know if they can do discrete packaging? As fun as it would be to essentially donate $100 to customs, it'd be nice for it to slip through undetected.

Are you in the U.S. Or some other country? I myself have never purchased from Laserbtb but many here do all the time and they get their lasers without a problem. Most companies ship lasers labeled as flashlight or optical parts and with a low declared value. When you order from China or some other country just make sure no batteries ever ship with the laser, I think customs has battery detectors or something because this will increase the chances of it being examined by customs.

I myself prefer to just buy parts from in country and assemble a laser myself, but if you have no knowledge of electronics that might not be a good option.

Alan

Ricky · May 5, 2016

In Australia, laws are ridiculously strict but customs seems to rarely catch incoming lasers unless they have a label on the box.

Pi R Squared · May 5, 2016

Ricky said:
In Australia, laws are ridiculously strict but customs seems to rarely catch incoming lasers unless they have a label on the box.

Oh well then you are taking some risk then, how much I don't know, we have a few members in Australia and they do manage to get lasers, but if you can build one from parts then you are safe, the parts will make it through.

We have a member here SyKo in Australia who sells a few parts but I don't know if he will sell you a complete laser. Laser Pointer Forums - View Profile: SyKo

https://www.lasercomponents.com.au/index.php/

Alan

Ricky · May 5, 2016

Which parts do I need to buy to construct a 150mW 532nm laser?

Pi R Squared · May 5, 2016

Ricky said:
Which parts do I need to buy to construct a 150mW 532nm laser?

It's hard to find a true 150mW 532nm module. I strongly recommend a 150mW 520nm, it won't break if you drop it and won't be temprature sensitive like a 532nm. You can't tell the difference in color unless viewing side by side. It would cost more though and I don't know about shipping costs to Australia. The 520nm I built for myself cost me $150usd for parts, although something similar could be built for about $100usd. A 520nm 150mW+ would use the PLP520-B1 diode, that will be a little more but I think can be done for $150 or so. Does this need to be kept simple so you just solder two pairs of wires and screw together some parts or can it be a little more complicated?

Alan

Ricky · May 5, 2016

I'd like to keep it as simple as possible (less things I can screw up). But what is considered more complicated?

Pi R Squared · May 5, 2016

Ricky said:
I'd like to keep it as simple as possible (less things I can screw up). But what is considered more complicated?

That can cover a wide range and requires more explanation than I can do at the moment, things like pressing a diode into a module, or pressing a round driver into the pill and soldering it, soldering wires or a driver directly to a diode and wires to the driver or contact board. There are several places where people can screw it up if they don't know what they are doing.

I have to take a nap and then may be busy all day so I might not be online for quite a few hours. But I will check back here later. Meanwhile maybe someone else will get in on this too.

For some examples of the easiest ways to assemble a laser from off the shelf parts have a look at my build threads, some of the links will be out of date. This may help you become more familiar with parts and what they cost.

http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/assembled-m140-c6-pic-heavy-83543.html

http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/assembled-445nm-9mm-stainless-steel-host-pic-heavy-85997.html

http://laserpointerforums.com/f45/pl520-build-1-3-lasers-very-pic-heavy-88336.html#top

http://laserpointerforums.com/f38/s06j-12x-build-2-3-lasers-very-pic-heavy-89098.html#post1296670

And photos from my last build:
Blue450nm Story by Pi-R-Squared | Photobucket

I will come back later and if you need me too I can make you a list of parts to buy.

Alan

Pman · May 5, 2016

Cheap units almost always have acrylic lenses and I would never touch one. If it can't be cleaned by blowing a dry air or whatever on it forget trying to clean it as you will make the issue worse.
You can get a very nice bright 100mW 520nm beam from the cheaper 50mW diode being sold and if I remember correctly is has a nicer dot than the 120mW one. I just purchased one today to make one for a friend of mine here (he doesn't know it yet).
It is possible to be able to tell the difference between a 532nm and 520nm beam color if you build or mess around with them enough without a side by side but for most people I really doubt they would know which one I was shining off the cuff. You can get a bit more difference if you go with the 515nm though as sometimes you get lucky and it has a bit of blue in the color but I think that one costs closer to the 120mW 520nm one.
Alan has you covered on what you would need to build anything if you like to build your own.

Is my lense dirty or scratched?

Ricky

0

Lifetime17

0

Pi R Squared

0

Ricky

0

Pi R Squared

0

Ricky

0

Pi R Squared

0

Ricky

0

Pi R Squared

0

Ricky

0

Pi R Squared

0

Ricky

0

Pi R Squared

0

Ricky

0

Pi R Squared

0

Pman

0

Online statistics

Forum statistics

Share this page