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What is going on?

NightExplorer96

NightExplorer96

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Hello everyone,

In March of this year, I bought a 473 "5mW" pointer from an eBay seller. They were selling your typical GLP-473. Upon receiving it in March, I got a peak of 6mW's out of it. All good.

Fast forward to 2 months ago. While doing a photo shoot of all my lasers, I had all of my lasers turned on and mid-way in my shoot I noticed the 473 got pretty dim all of sudden. I had these on for about 30sec at that time. The 594 was barely starting to get warm, so the 473 was still well in it's duty cycle.

Anyway, yesterday. When measured on my LPM I got a peak of maybe, 2mW? If I got lucky. I tried new batteries and the dot looks just the same.

What gives? I've never ran it to the point of it ever getting warm at all like the 594's after 30 sec.

:(
-Alex
 





Emialias

Emialias

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maybe somehow a crystal got misaligned? idk ive never owned a glp before and havent taken one apart to look into one..
 
Last edited:
Rivem

Rivem

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The alignment could be getting loose which might cause a sudden drop in output if the crystals expanded a bit and got out of whack.
 
NightExplorer96

NightExplorer96

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Merpie101 said:
maybe somehow a crystal got misaligned? idk ive never owned a glp before and havent taken one apart to look into one..
Click to expand...

Rivem said:
The alignment could be getting loose which might cause a sudden drop in output if the crystals expanded a bit and got out of whack.
Click to expand...

Darn. I know these aren't worth taking apart to trying to fix, as they're pretty much all glue. Plus, I wouldn't even want to do that.

*sigh* :(

-Alex
 
Rivem

Rivem

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Yeah. You have to be really careful with the 473 crystals too. They're really delicate and susceptible to moisture.

Might want to ask Ultimatekaiser though. I think he's fixed a few of these.
 
NightExplorer96

NightExplorer96

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Rivem said:
Yeah. You have to be really careful with the 473 crystals too. They're really delicate and susceptible to moisture.

Might want to ask Ultimatekaiser though. I think he's fixed a few of these.
Click to expand...

I'll think about it. Very strange that it would suddenly get out of alignment like that, especially since it's never been dropped or anything like that. Oh well.

-Alex
 
Rivem

Rivem

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Unfortunately, anything optical or electronic can really suffer from thermal stress simply due to turning off and on. It's too bad none of the diodes are left. You could have a nice direct diode pen with more power instead.

Edit: If it breaks, let me know. I'd like to have a look inside.
 
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paul1598419

paul1598419

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Alex, I'm sitting on seven 473nm DPSSLs. Once I get through the spectrometer problems with it, I'll see about getting one of these lasing and maybe I'll be able to send you one. They aren't pointers, but nice looking labbys. Probably have a couple of good ones in there.
 
NightExplorer96

NightExplorer96

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paul1598419 said:
Alex, I'm sitting on seven 473nm DPSSLs. Once I get through the spectrometer problems with it, I'll see about getting one of these lasing and maybe I'll be able to send you one. They aren't pointers, but nice looking labbys. Probably have a couple of good ones in there.
Click to expand...

Hello Paul,

Thank you! What kind of labby's are they? :)

-Alex
 
paul1598419

paul1598419

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Have you looked at the B&W Tek 473nm laser thread? Several photos of them are on there. The heads are about the size of a dollar bill and ~3 inches tall. The drivers are on a separate circuit board and look very well made.
 
paul1598419

paul1598419

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I haven't done anything with any of the lasers yet, so it will depend on whether they are salvageable.
 
paul1598419

paul1598419

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On a lighter side, I finally got the damn software for the spectrometers loaded on my laptop and need to get back to that project. Got another RS232 adapter today. Have one more still on the way. Yahoo!
 
NightExplorer96

NightExplorer96

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I would like to try and test my laser while it's cold. Would it hurt it if I put it in a Ziploc bag and into the freezer for 10mins or such? I am worried about moisture forming. I've read that before with other members trying this :(

-Alex
 
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