Death of a "Waterproof" red DX 200mW laser

Hey,

I went diving few weeks ago, and took for the first time a "200mW" (it's actually around 170mW) DX laser, which is supposed to be waterproof down to 10 meters deep. (This is its page: DealExtreme: $59.31 HLP18130 Focusable 200mW Red Laser Pointer (2*123A Included))

I knew there's a good chance it would die but it's not my favorite red laser anyway so I took the risk.

I lubricated all the o-rings before going down.

At 3 meters or less it actually performed pretty well, the dot was very visible though less than up on land. The pictures don't show it well at all. It scared the fish away it was pretty funny (I didn't aim at their eyes if you were wondering).

Below 3 meters the button began to "sink" into the laser due to the pressure (since the laser kept its seal).

When I got to about 6 meters the button was barely usable - I had to push very strongly to turn it on/off, but it was working.

Then going deeper the sealing was breached and water started to enter the laser, that was the beginning of the end. For some time it worked while holding upside down (beam towards the skies).

At 10 meters it was completely dead, bloated with water - the button bulged out of the body.

My conclusion - These lasers are not built for diving (last time I try this) but they're pretty good for swimming pools or bath tubs.

Some pics:


What appears in the water as bright red dot, looks in photos to be a pale white area...

That sucks about your laser, but cool pics. Like you said, these "waterproof" lasers are good for pools and general swimming, but I wouldn't trust any cheap laser for diving. I'm sure a true diving laser is very expensive compared to what we buy.

Sorry to hear your laser died :cryyy:

@styropyro, you're correct, there was some talk about diving lasers a while back, Z-Bolt sells a 300 foot waterproof 5mW green for $110.

Underwater Green Laser for Scuba Diving & Marine Use, Waterproof to 300 ft

Here's the original thread:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f45/looking-scuba-diving-laser-under-100-a-50832.html

@ohada, sorry for the offtopic.

trying to attract sharks with red? wonder if that would work, or do they smell blood?

NoBama said:

trying to attract sharks with red? wonder if that would work, or do they smell blood?

Click to expand...

Probably won't work, I think they're attracted to blood smell or taste.

Thats a bit of a bummer, but i bet it was pretty cool while it lasted