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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

405nm laser pen wattage

Joined
Nov 24, 2011
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Hello, I recently purchased this violet laser pen from amazon. It claims to be <=5mw. After it arrived today I found a review (link) for a similar, if not the same, laser on this site from a different seller that also claimed to be 5mw but turned out to be near 50. I care about my eyesight. I bought this just to mess around with and have my animals chase. I dont have any glasses. So, does anyone have this laser that can determine the actual wattage? Thank you.

Here are a couple of pics and a video, the video also shows my green one, which i now suspect may not really be <5mw.
laser1y.jpg

laser2b.jpg



(link)
 
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Joined
Mar 27, 2011
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There is really no way to tell.

The cheaper green pointers usually do tend to be somewhat overspec, and what you have there does look like at least 5mW of green. (There is no telling how much IR it does or doesn't put out, but generally since it's not collimated (focused) it's not a hazard.)

The 405nm laser is definitely way over 5mW... This is just a guess, but I'd say it's around ~50mW.

405nm is a lot less visible, so in order for it to be anywhere near as bright it has to be significantly more powerful.

Edit: IMO 10mW of 532nm(green) appears about as bright as 125mW of purple (405nm).
 
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daguin

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Mar 29, 2008
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I have bought dozens of these small violet pointers.

So far only ONE was <5mW
Most are between 30-50mW
Occasionally, one will measure >100mW
I think all of them I have on hand right now are >30mW

You can send it to one of the veterans here to be measured for you

Peace,
dave
 
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Joined
Nov 24, 2011
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Thanks for the replies. I have never owned a 'confirmed' >5mw laser, so I don't know how much heat they generate. I do see people on youtube lighting matches with lasers they claim to be 50mw, which must take a decent amount of heat. Wouldn't it burn somewhat if i were to hold it point black on my hand for a few minutes if it was indeed a high wattage? But with all this info ill probably shelve the new blue one and stick to the green one that I have been using for about a year with no ill effect.
 




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