How do I look after my laser pointer?

I recently bought a 250mw laser pointer and as I have not made such a purchase before, I need some tips on how to look after the laser. Just simple things like how to store it, what temperature it works best in, how do I clean the lens and stuff. Basically, what the experts on these forums were to do with their lasers.
Many thanks in advance.

A little more info would help, not all lasers are the same. A 532nm green or any other DPSS laser is more fragile and will break easily and is temperature sensitive, not so with direct diode lasers. I keep a rubber lens cap on my lasers so the lens doesn't get dirty, often when you get a lens dirty it will be ruined and not cleanable. If you do clean a lens, only use alcohol, if it's an acrylic lens just through it away and buy a new one. If the laser won't be used for many weeks or months at a time it's not a bad idea to remove the batteries. At first I left my lasers on a table and in a cardboard box but I eventualy had enough lasers I decided I needed a case to keep them in so I got one of these:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/pelican-storm-case-im2200-pic-heavy-90406.html

Alan

Pi R Squared said:

A little more info would help, not all lasers are the same. A 532nm green or any other DPSS laser is more fragile and will break easily and is temperature sensitive, not so with direct diode lasers. I keep a rubber lens cap on my lasers so the lens doesn't get dirty, often when you get a lens dirty it will be ruined and not cleanable. If you do clean a lens, only use alcohol, if it's an acrylic lens just through it away and b2dc1e2341duy a new one. If the laser won't be used for many weeks or months at a time it's not a bad idea to remove the batteries. At first I left my lasers on a table and in a cardboard box but I eventualy had enough lasers I decided I needed a case to keep them in so I got one of these:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/pelican-storm-case-im2200-pic-heavy-90406.html

Alan

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The one I have is a 532nm. I'm not sure what temperature sensitive is.... But I keep mine in the box it came in. By the way if I keep my laser on for more than 30 seconds the laser starts to shut down. The dot gets smaller until it disappears. Then I leave it for a bit and it's back to normal. Is this something to do with overheating? Also I've noticed it has come with a diffraction grating thingy. Would that help stop dust from getting to the original lens?
Thanks

Lookyp said:

The one I have is a 532nm. I'm not sure what temperature sensitive is.... But I keep mine in the box it came in. By the way if I keep my laser on for more than 30 seconds the laser starts to shut down. The dot gets smaller until it disappears. Then I leave it for a bit and it's back to normal. Is this something to do with overheating? Also I've noticed it has come with a diffraction grating thingy. Would that help stop dust from getting to the original lens?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Yes that will probably protect the lens. The 30 seconds thing doesn't sound good, that sounds like it may fail in the near future, many 532nm can take 30 seconds to warm up. If it's really 250mW it could be an overheating issue. If you buy a 532nm its a good idea to buy a really expensive one of high quality, the cheap ones are always a gamble. Your better off with a 520nm, there's not much difference and you avoid the problems and instability of DPSS lasers.

Alan

Hi,
Well your on your way to a great hobby, buying your first laser is always exciting. After some time you should start building them yourself.
Im not going to comment on you shutting down problem but as Pi R said it all don't look good for such a short firing . Well he said it all,, Start reading in the forum and soon you'll be building your own . saftey glasses first buy second to none , i see your new so start off the right way. Theres a forum search drop down on the bottom of the page use this to find your answers. Tons of information here pal read,read,read...pics and tutorials also and how to do's
hope you make out buddy and be careful )

I would definitely second Pi R's advice about removing batteries for long term storage, especially alkaline cells. I've had expensive electrical equipment messed up with corrosion in the past from leaking alkaline cells.

Ed

CoherentRays said:

I would definitely second Pi R's advice about removing batteries for long term storage, especially alkaline cells. I've had expensive electrical equipment messed up with corrosion in the past from leaking alkaline cells.

Ed

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About a little more than a year ago I bought a 32 pack of duracells and half of them leaked in the package and when I looked at 2 of my remotes that I hadent used in a while same thing. Now I have a duracell phobia. So members gave good advice plus good for accidently pushing the button. Curious are duracells known for this?

GSS said:

About a little more than a year ago I bought a 32 pack of duracells and half of them leaked in the package and when I looked at 2 of my remotes that I hadent used in a while same thing. Now I have a duracell phobia. So members gave good advice plus good for accidently pushing the button. Curious are duracells known for this?

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Many years ago I had a bad experience with Ray-O-Vac batteries leaking so I switched to Duracell. After that I found that the Duracells would leak too.

I think that any alkaline battery has the potential to leak. It seems to be mainly related to battery age and discharge state. The older and more discharged the battery is, the greater the possibility of leaking.

I worked for most of my life as a professional photographer and used a lot of batteries in cameras and flash units. I tended to use alkaline cells in the cameras because of their low discharge rate when not being used, and I used rechargeables in the flash units. NiCads were the batteries of choice until NiMH became available. I switched to the NiMH because of their better shelf life and lack of "memory" when recharging a partially discharged cell.

I still use nickel metal hydrides and lithium ions today and haven't seen or read about any leaking problems with them, but I haven't been using them long enough to say with authority that they don't leak.

Ed

Lithium ions don't leak, they only explode or catch fire, fortunately that's a very rare event.

Alan