Maglite laser durability and safety?

cyber06wolf · Nov 14, 2008

Okay. Complete noob. I wanna make a laser. But I dont wanna burn my eyes out. And I dont want to spend money and have the laser burn out in 3 seconds, so.... How long do the little mini maglite lasers last w/o a driver? Should I build one anyways? And, I know looking into the laser directly is a huge mistake. But will it hurt to just look at the beam itself(like if im using it will looking at the beam from eyelevel down when its aimed straight in front of me hurt me?)

ndrew2505 · Nov 14, 2008

cyber06wolf said:
Okay. Complete noob. I wanna make a laser. But I dont wanna burn my eyes out. And I dont want to spend money and have the laser burn out in 3 seconds, so.... How long do the little mini maglite lasers last w/o a driver? Should I build one anyways? And, I know looking into the laser directly is a huge mistake. But will it hurt to just look at the beam itself(like if im using it will looking at the beam from eyelevel down when its aimed straight in front of me hurt me?)

DO NOT HOOK A LASER DIODE UP WITH OUT A DRIVER!! the most you may get out of it is a few minutes of runtime. i see that your probably going off the kipkay hack as well as i did when i started but alkaline batts have no internal resistance and laser diodes need a strictly regulated current for any kind of optimum results. look in the buy,sell,trade section for the lavadrive or the rckstr drivers. both are top notch drivers and will power a blu-ray or red diode. really just depends on the batts you want to use. you can get 3.6v aaa and aa size batts from dealextreme.com that work with both drivers. if you want to build your own driver from components you can check out the experiments and modifications section for daedals schematic on how to build your own but the voltage required is higher that the lavadrive and rckstr drivers. sorry if i missed anything but i been drinking but feel free to ask any questions. theres a lot of experienced builders here that are more than willing to help you on your quest to coherent goodness.

lamborgini8 · Nov 14, 2008

Really you answered your own question there, they will probally last about 3 seconds. Simple answer, don't use a maglite.

I am building a pocket pal from one of the tutorials over in the tutorial forum and so far it has only cost me around £30 to build, maybe less. All you need is a diode, aixiz module, host, driver, heat sink (if you make the pocket pal) and batteries.

ndrew2505 · Nov 14, 2008

p.s. welcome to the forums. dont forget to use the search feature as it can be your best friend in times of need....

cyber06wolf · Nov 14, 2008

lol, okay, ill look into a driver.....so... what about the burning my eyes out? Im pretty sure its harmless...unless i point it at my eyes, but i wanna be very sure....

lamborgini8 · Nov 14, 2008

cyber06wolf said:
lol, okay, ill look into a driver.....so... what about the burning my eyes out? Im pretty sure its harmless...unless i point it at my eyes, but i wanna be very sure....

Depends on the diode you choose to use, if its a DVD RW diode or blue ray diode or anything like that then eye protection is highly recommended.

You can get eye protection from quite a few places, they cost around $40 - $80 but if you value your eyes I would suggest you invest.

cyber06wolf · Nov 14, 2008

so....it's bad for my eyes, even to just look at the beam? or i should just get some on the offchance that it might reflect off something? it'll be a dvd-rw diode.

lamborgini8 · Nov 14, 2008

cyber06wolf said:
so....it's bad for my eyes, even to just look at the beam? or i should just get some on the offchance that it might reflect off something? it'll be a dvd-rw diode.

Well even a 5mW green will leave spots in your eye for a few mins from just looking at the dot on the wall.

I have heard of DVD-RW diodes going up to 300mW, thats enough to chop CD cases in half with ease. I dread to think the damage that would cause to your eyes...

I would play it safe and use eye protection.

randomlugia · Nov 14, 2008

I'm guessing 16x? Looking at the dot WILL harm your eye, looking at the beam will not. But you will probably barely be able to see the beam unless it's foggy. So if you are planning on looking at the dot from less than 20', you can get good goggles for a low price at dragonlasers.com. A maglite has no room for a driver. You can use a 6$ LED flashlight host from DX, or a Dorcy Jr. flashlight. Spyderz20x6 explains it very nicely: http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1218324818

ElektroFreak · Nov 14, 2008

This assumes you are using a visible laser (not IR or UV), and that the beam itself is directly entering the eye. With the exception of class IV lasers, looking at the beam from the sides, or looking at the spot on an unpolished surface is not dangerous at all.

As far as safety, lasers under 5mW (class IIIa) output will not permanently damage your retina even if you look directly into the beam for several seconds.

From 10mW to 40mW will permanently damage your retina in a matter of milliseconds, but your blink reflex will usually protect you.

Class IIIb lasers starting at around 50mW or more will permanently damage your retina almost instantaneously. Above that, and your blink reflex is not even fast enough to protect you.

For class IV lasers even scattered back reflection from an unpolished surface (like a white wall) can be dangerous.

More can be found on this by looking up Laser Safety on Wikipedia.

So, if your output is over 5mW, eye protection is a must.

Liberty1992 · Nov 14, 2008

ElektroFreak said:
This assumes you are using a visible laser (not IR or UV), and that the beam itself is directly entering the eye. With the exception of class IV lasers, looking at the beam from the sides, or looking at the spot on an unpolished surface is not dangerous at all.

As far as safety, lasers under 5mW (class IIIa) output will not permanently damage your retina even if you look directly into the beam for several seconds.

From 10mW to 40mW will permanently damage your retina in a matter of milliseconds, but your blink reflex will usually protect you.

Class IIIb lasers starting at around 50mW or more will permanently damage your retina almost instantaneously. Above that, and your blink reflex is not even fast enough to protect you.

For class IV lasers even scattered back reflection from an unpolished surface (like a white wall) can be dangerous.

More can be found on this by looking up Laser Safety on Wikipedia.

So, if your output is over 5mW, eye protection is a must.

thats not really true, i still don't recommend looking into any laser for any reason, but <5mW can permanently damage your retinas, you would have to hold the light for several minutes but it is possible. 10mW-40mW cant damage your eyesight in milliseconds or there would be many half blind laser enthusiasts wandering around the forums. and 50mW wont almost instantaneously blind you. and if used properly you shouldn't need goggles until over 50mW, some under rated 50mW should be used with eye protection but other than that you should be ok if you use it out doors and don't point it at a wall a few feet from your face.

and you have to remember about wikipedia is its written by people just like you or me, no one with any credibility really. some things are true, but there are other things when you just gotta wonder if its BS

ElektroFreak · Nov 14, 2008

I'm just trying to provide some VERY basic guidelines in order to help answer this guy's question. Given the fact that we each only get two eyes (both of mine I'd like to keep in perfect working order), I've found that it's better to not take chances.

I'm not sure that there are any perfectly exact numbers on this, and for the purposes here the wikipedia article will do.

But I'll tell ya what, Liberty1992... if you want to do some experimentation to find out a more accurate set of numbers, I'll sit on a chair and watch you shine different lasers into your eyes and we'll use a stopwatch to time how long it takes you to develop permanent damage. Sounds like a plan to me...

RA_pierce · Nov 14, 2008

Honestly, I don't think it's that dangerous if you know how to be safe. It already seems that you have enough common sense to not look directly into the beam of a laser so that's an extra point for you.

A lot of people disagree with me because I don't use safety goggles and I don't think IR leakage is dangerous, but I personally think the dangers of these lasers are exaggerated.

I won't tell you not to be safe, but I will say you don't need goggles with a laser below 400mW if you have common sense to protect you.
Looking at a laser's dot may give you after images after a few minutes, but hell, after watching TV in the dark I get after images. As long as you are careful not to get a reflection or direct exposure, you should be fine.

If you think about it, when you go outside during the day your eyes are taking in MUCH MUCH more light from diffused reflections than your little laser can possibly hope to output. People don't go blind from looking at the ground on a sunny day, unless the ground happens to be a polished or mirrored surface. Even a 2 inch diameter magnifying glass used to focus sunlight to burn ants, roaches, what have you, will focus at least a WATT of the full visible spectrum. I'm sure you've done this. Did you use goggles? Are you blind? (I wouldn't recommend staring at the dot of 2 watts of focused sunlight for an extended period though...)

Short exposure to diffused reflections will not hurt you. Looking at the beam will not hurt you.

Get goggles if you want to be safe or have no natural sense of safety.
If you can't afford them, just play safe until you can.

I've played with a few lasers from 400-5mW (the only one I still have is my +100mW green) with no goggles and I still have 20/20 vision. I even removed the IR filter in my greens (OH NO!!!) and I haven't been killed by IR leakage... yet.
:

daguin · Nov 14, 2008

As RA_piece stated, there are many of us who disagree with his assessment of the danger.

Retaining 20/20 vision is NOT saying that there has not been significant damage done to his eyesight. Many small blind spots, caused by burns on the retina, will not reduce the cornea's ability to focus (which is what 20/20 measures). It does degrade the quality of the image. That degradation is very slow and only evident over a long time. Unless the burn is directly over the optic nerve, the damage usually goes unnoticed until it is significant. The brain "fills in" any small blind spots so one is not aware that they are there until they are so large that the brain can no longer fill in the information.

Peace,
dave

Liberty1992 · Nov 14, 2008

not that im disagreeing with you RA_pierce but do you already wear glasses? also since i cant afford goggles i use mirrored Aviators, they do a good job of reflecting most of the green laser if i ever accidentally hit myself in the eyes.

ElektroFreak · Nov 14, 2008

RA_pierce said:
Honestly, I don't think it's that dangerous if you know how to be safe. It already seems that you have enough common sense to not look directly into the beam of a laser so that's an extra point for you.

A lot of people disagree with me because I don't use safety goggles and I don't think IR leakage is dangerous, but I personally think the dangers of these lasers are exaggerated.

I won't tell you not to be safe, but I will say you don't need goggles with a laser below 400mW if you have common sense to protect you.
Looking at a laser's dot may give you after images after a few minutes, but hell, after watching TV in the dark I get after images. As long as you are careful not to get a reflection or direct exposure, you should be fine.

If you think about it, when you go outside during the day your eyes are taking in MUCH MUCH more light from diffused reflections than your little laser can possibly hope to output. People don't go blind from looking at the ground on a sunny day, unless the ground happens to be a polished or mirrored surface. Even a 2 inch diameter magnifying glass used to focus sunlight to burn ants, roaches, what have you, will focus at least a WATT of the full visible spectrum. I'm sure you've done this. Did you use goggles? Are you blind? (I wouldn't recommend staring at the dot of 2 watts of focused sunlight for an extended period though...)

Short exposure to diffused reflections will not hurt you. Looking at the beam will not hurt you.

Get goggles if you want to be safe or have no natural sense of safety.
If you can't afford them, just play safe until you can.

I've played with a few lasers from 400-5mW (the only one I still have is my +100mW green) with no goggles and I still have 20/20 vision. I even removed the IR filter in my greens (OH NO!!!) and I haven't been killed by IR leakage... yet.
:

The only thing I have to say about this is that many people fail to take into account the fact that the lenses of your eyes focus the beam tightly on your retina. If you've ever played with burning lasers, you know what a huge difference it makes if you focus the beam down to a tiny spot before you burn. Things burn ten times better than leaving the beam focused to infinity.

Plus, there's the fact that lasers typically don't blind you, they just burn out tiny sections of your retina each time you're hit directly with a powerful enough beam.

Also, if you do develop permanent retinal damage, you won't know for some time, possibly years, due to the fact that your brain automatically compensates for it at first. This effect will fade away with time, however, leaving you with nasty blind spots.

The bottom line:

DON'T TAKE CHANCES.. you might think you're alright at first, but later..........................who knows..

EDIT: I wrote this while Daguin posted pretty much the same thing........I'm not trying to be redundant.

Maglite laser durability and safety?

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