? about my green laser.

Hi everyone. I recently bought a green laser to mount on my rifle, this is my first green laser I ever bought and was pretty surprised on how bright and visible the beam is. The laser says its a class IIIa 5 mw. I bought green laser pointer (a cheap one) off of ebay and it barely comes close to the one I have mounted on my rifle as far as brightness of spot or beam visability.

Im starting to wonder if the one I have on my rifle is a lot more than 5mw, I can clearly see a solid beam indoors with some lights on though when in my kitchen where the lighting is brightest I cant, and can actually feel a little warmth on my skin on sensitive parts of my arm and hand when I shine it on them.

Is this normal to be able to see a solid beam in a partially lit room and feel warmth from the beam?
I'm a little worried since I've been toying around with it without any eye protection though I haven't been shining it near my eyes I do have white walls and it almost hurts to look at the spot when a few feet away from them.

I did look at the green laser comparison on this page and it looks nearly identical to the 50 mw

What you have there good sir is a few more than 5mW. If you are complaining of warmth on your skin then I would be inclined to say it is atleast double 50mWs if not more. Correct me if I am wrong, however my 200mW red is only able to procure pain if focused quite well, whereas my 50mW Green will do nothing to anything but a balloon.

wannaburnstuff said:

What you have there good sir is a few more than 5mW. If you are complaining of warmth on your skin then I would be inclined to say it is atleast double 50mWs if not more. Correct me if I am wrong, however my 200mW red is only able to procure pain if focused quite well, whereas my 50mW Green will do nothing to anything but a balloon.

Click to expand...

So by double 50mw are you saying that it could be 100 from feeling warmth on my skin? I can't imagine the warmth I feel would be enough to pop a balloon though I know coloring a balloon black makes it easier to pop from what I have seen and read. I would be pretty terrified if it did indeed put out that much power as I would wonder what kind of damage I have done to my eyes using it unprotected in doors. I already have a cornea disease that makes my vision pretty messed up as it is.

If you can feel it, its probably in the neighborhood of at least 60-100mW. Seeing reflections off of walls at that power isn't going to hurt you though. You're probably OK, just avoid a direct hit into your eyes or a reflected specular hit (like off of silver, mirrors, etc) - at all costs.

The nonspecular reflections off of your white walls at 60-100mW probably is not an issue for your eyes.

A lot of these Chinese green lasers come in far overspec, they label them 5mW to get them into the country.

Same with me..I have 100mw Green and 30mw Green both are Pen Style..And with 30mw Laser I can burn but with 100mw i cannot...At first I think that is because of the focus but 30mw-(2xAAA 1.2 Rech) is more visible and brighter than 100mw-(2xAAA 1.5V)..Dont know WHY ???

It could be because NiMH batteries hold their voltage better under high drain applications, or it could be because the power ratings are off.