Green ebay laser problem

Hislordship · Apr 24, 2014

So i bought a laser on ebay which i got a few days ago
It was working perfectly except that it didn't burn which they said it would.. it was a laser with safety key switch and focus lens.. it worked on 2 li-on 16340 batteries.

Now it worked really good and was pretty powerful too..
I just went to shine it at clouds and suddenly the beam became really bright for a second and then it stoped working as if the laser died...

I tried new batteries but it doesn't work..
It's not that big a deal since it was really cheap but it is a shame that it doesn't work anymore..

What could be the problem here? Did the diode die?

paul1598419 · Apr 24, 2014

Probably the two 16340 batteries. These 532nm lasers are diode pumped solid state lasers that are pumped with an 808nm infrared laser diode. The voltage that drives these diodes are around 2 volts. That's why all of them usually use a single 18650 battery. The output voltage of a single Li-ion battery is about 4 VDC fully charged, but the output voltage of two 16430s is 8 VDC. That's too high. Now the driver could possibly handle the extra input voltage if it is a buck driver, but a cheap eBay laser pointer doesn't have that kind of driver. The space for a single 18650 is the same as two 16430s, so, my guess is that you should have used an 18650.

Hislordship · Apr 24, 2014

Then i guess the laser is permanently dead now? ^^

Teej · Apr 24, 2014

16340 are not great for high amp draws...but, they supply ~ 3.7 v each. (Under load)

If in series, that's ~ 7.4 v to the driver.

If the light was designed with a working voltage below that, the added voltage can make it brighter, and/or burn it out if it can't handle it.

As mentioned, an 18650 is a much better choice in all regards unless the light NEEDS 7.4 v to work well. (Some do)

As you were able to get it on, at least for a little while, it could be the cells died/tripped (but you said other cells didn't work either) or something came loose (Broken solder, wire, etc...) or fried, etc.

Its hard to tell from here of course.

What does the light say it runs on?

paul1598419 · Apr 24, 2014

If you got it on eBay recently, you can contact the seller and tell them that you used it for a moment and it failed. You might be able to get them to send you a new one if you don't tell them about the choice of batteries you used. If they are in China, it costs more to send it back than the laser costs, so they may just send you another one free of charge. Choose your words carefully.

Hislordship · Apr 25, 2014

I contacted the seller now waiting for a reply
Thanks for the tip

paul1598419 · Apr 25, 2014

You're very welcome and good luck with the seller.

Pi R Squared · Apr 26, 2014

Just don't ever buy a cheap 532nm laser. Buy a very expensive one or don't buy one at all, the cheap ones are a gamble, you never know how long they will last. They are too sensitive to temperature and vibration etc. The only one I had worked for only 10 days, no big deal though, it was really cheap. Invest your money in a 520nm that's not likely to fail.

Alan

Hislordship · Apr 27, 2014

Pi R Squared said:
Just don't ever buy a cheap 532nm laser. Buy a very expensive one or don't buy one at all, the cheap ones are a gamble, you never know how long they will last. They are too sensitive to temperature and vibration etc. The only one I had worked for only 10 days, no big deal though, it was really cheap. Invest your money in a 520nm that's not likely to fail.

Alan

All my green lasers are cheap pen style lasers ^^ they work perfectly except for 1 of them just a small normal pen style laser sometimes the batteries don't connect properly and that makes the beam fade out a little bit sometimes..

I do really want to buy a powerfull green laser that is also reliable and build with good quality products.. it's just that a green laser often is very expensive if it's of good quality ^^''

This laser only cost me about 7 euro so it was worth the shot and in the end i can still use the focus lens which works on my blue laser which needed a new lens so it wasn't a total loss ^^

Pi R Squared · Apr 27, 2014

Hislordship said:
All my green lasers are cheap pen style lasers ^^ they work perfectly except for 1 of them just a small normal pen style laser sometimes the batteries don't connect properly and that makes the beam fade out a little bit sometimes..

I do really want to buy a powerfull green laser that is also reliable and build with good quality products.. it's just that a green laser often is very expensive if it's of good quality ^^''

This laser only cost me about 7 euro so it was worth the shot and in the end i can still use the focus lens which works on my blue laser which needed a new lens so it wasn't a total loss ^^

You have had good luck then, I've read a few threads here where people had cheap greens quit on them.

I really like my PL520 but it cost me about $150 to put it together and that is with the least powerful 520 diode, but its not sensitive to temperature and less likely to break if dropped. I hope the 520 diodes drop in price.

Good to hear you finally fixed that blue laser since the lens you bought didn't fit, it will work with some future laser you buy or build. Watch out for those Chinese lasers made from non standard parts, they're sometimes just not compatible with the common parts we use to build lasers.

Alan

Benm · Apr 28, 2014

Was this laser designed to take 2 cells in series, or just to take a single lithium battery?

If it was designed to run off 3.7 volts or so (not uncomommon for 808 nm pumped 532s) chances are you simply ran it a double intended voltage and ruined something by doing so.

That 'something' could be the pump diode, the control circuitry, or rarely the crystal assembly. The best way to find out would probably be to remove the existing driver and power up the pump diode from a current-limited adjustable source. If you blew out the driver board it should still work that way, if you blew the diode or crystal set it would not.

Then again, on a 7 euro laser it's probably not worthwhile to investigate much further and you'd be better off discarding it and getting something of better quality instead.

Hislordship · Apr 29, 2014

Benm said:
Was this laser designed to take 2 cells in series, or just to take a single lithium battery?

If it was designed to run off 3.7 volts or so (not uncomommon for 808 nm pumped 532s) chances are you simply ran it a double intended voltage and ruined something by doing so.

That 'something' could be the pump diode, the control circuitry, or rarely the crystal assembly. The best way to find out would probably be to remove the existing driver and power up the pump diode from a current-limited adjustable source. If you blew out the driver board it should still work that way, if you blew the diode or crystal set it would not.

Then again, on a 7 euro laser it's probably not worthwhile to investigate much further and you'd be better off discarding it and getting something of better quality instead.

This is what it says on ebay.
Power supply: 18650 Li Battery or 16340 li Battery (NOT INCLUDE BATTERY)

So that would mean 2 16340 should work since 1 is to small to fit.

This is the laser
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271414414038?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Hislordship · Apr 29, 2014

My blue laser is working with that lens of the green one yet it is not perfect.. it seems at a distance it doesn't quite look like a dot ^^

Could be that the lens isn't at perfect distance from the laser or maybe this lens isn't the best choise anyway i'm happy it does make a beam now ^^

I will try putting a glass 3 element lens in it someday to see if that makes a difference.

paul1598419 · Apr 29, 2014

Yeah. I checked into that eBay post for this item and it is a misprint, which is not uncommon with Chinese lasers. This laser takes a 18650 and only that battery. The 16340 battery could never work in this laser because it is double the voltage you should be using to power the driver. You could use this as a reason to open a case against the seller in the resolution center, or you could just open a case there for "item not as described". The second one is the way I would go on this. State that it worked for a short period of time and died, ask for a refund or replacement.

Hislordship · Apr 30, 2014

The seller offered to send me a new one free of charge

And after a closer look at my laser i figured out that the back part can be unscrewed to make the laser smaller so that one 16340 would fit in instead of two ^^'' i did know that part could be unscrewed but i didn't know that was meant to change the size so a single 16340 would fit.. kind of a stupid mistake of my part..

their page does say this
Working voltage: DC=3.0-3.7V. so that would mean a single 16340 would work i guess?

Pi R Squared · Apr 30, 2014

Lucky your getting a free replacement. That is a totally noob type of mistake, don't feel bad, we all make a mistake now and then. I recently put a battery in backwards! Fortunately it didn't fry anything.

Alan

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