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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Maximum wattage for a laser powered by 2 AAA's?

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Aug 13, 2014
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Hello, I am very new to the laser world as you will probably notice throughout my post. I am in the market for a green laser pointer that will be able to burn things mildly. After doing my research, it looks like 50-75mW will be about what I want. Now one thing I would like to know is if there are any lasers in that range that could be powered by 2 standard sized batteries(AA or AAA)? The reason for this is fairly obvious as I could easily have spare AAA's lying around; whereas a specialized cell that would require a special charger would be a bit more of a challenge. The fact that I posted this in the "Green laser" section should tell you that I would like the laser to be green and visible(duh). I thank you in advance for any help you all provide in this matter.
 





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Dec 11, 2011
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The total power of a primary cell depends on the cutoff voltage and the discharge current. You would need to pull up the datasheet for the battery brand you plan on using and find the discharge capacity chart and then use that to see the mAh rating of the cell at an appropriate current (perhaps 300mA) with a cutoff voltage of about 1.15V (most green drivers need 2.3V minimum).

The short answer is there's no really solid answer.

Yes there are 2x AA laser pens that output <200mW. The more output power, the less long the batteries will last.

1) make sure you get a laser that is IR filtered.
2) make sure you get a pair of quality laser goggles/glasses for 532nm.
3) 50-75mW isn't going to burn anything without a focusing lens. A lot of reports of this low power burning are because the laser in question wasn't IR filtered and there was another 50-100mW of IR leaking out that did the actual burning.
 
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Thank you for all the information and advice! as a follow up question, how much do you think a 2 AA 50mW laser along with a set of safety goggles would cost? If at all possible, could you recommend a company or even a specific laser?
 
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No problem. Unfortunately I can't recommend a company or laser model anymore. I've been out of the portable laser scene for too long now and most if not all of the companies I used back then are not reputable anymore.

Generally you can find cheap chinese pen 532nm lasers for about 2mW per dollar. They tend not to be IR filtered and are often way off from the claimed power (typically 5mW turns out to be 50-100mW, and 100mW turns out to be 80mW).
 
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Dec 6, 2013
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have a look on laserbtb.com they have cheap pens in that range you looking for.
 
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Laserbtb has some very attractive prices on 532nm pen lasers.

Although the build quality as many have reported is sub-par. A noticeable step-up in quality would be an optotronics 532nm laser pointer.
The host is very generic but the quality of the internal parts is far superior to any laser from laserbtb.

It ain't cheap but it would last you a very long time.
 
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Uhh i dont think there is anything wrong with them, i have ony myself, only i dont like is the metal button its a bit flimsy and not as sturdy but it looks like it will hold i guess.
 




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