NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Please help! I have a 20 mW green laser I use for astronomy. I was out tonight and it started having this glow off to the side and made a rattling sound when moved. Then the beam completely disappeared and it looked like a green flashlight! For a few minutes no light came out except a very weak dim flickering inside, After a while, the beam was visible again, but only when held straight up in the air (even then it was dimmer and instead of coming out straight it was angled of to the side), when angled down, it goes all flashlight-y wile making these weird green rings on the ground. Please help! I am not much of a laser whiz, I only have it for astronomy (and, ok, sometimes I pop balloons with it ) I don't have another $150 to spend on a laser, but I need this one. Thanks for any help!

It sounds like the crystal has broken loose. Unless you're very good with micro-mini repairs (less than 1mm^2 surface area) You're going to have a very difficult time of this at all. You might want to consider investing in a cheap, low-end DealExtreme greenie to replace it.

I say replace it with one from www.dealextreme.com if it's mostly used for astronomy. I have the True 5mW and True 30mW and both would work GREAT for astronomy and the True 30mW can pop balloons and usually light matches easily with a lens. Or get both like me and it will cost <$50!

What kind of battery life do you get with the 30mW? I read on the site that some people have heir batteries die in a few minutes. I am usually out using it for a few hours and do not have enough money to be replacing batteries every few min. In my 20mW the batteries lasted for a long time, and I usually only replace them every few weeks, which probably adds up to at least 5 hours of use. Thanks for the quick replies!

Mine goes strong for a long time. I don't use it much but I haven't changed the batteries because they're dead yet. Just invest in 4 AAA rechargeables and keep them with you so you have a back up pair and don't have to keep buying batteries.

Thanks!

I'm not sure it's the crystal set.. I think you've knocked a collimating lens loose in there. If you're lucky it will be accessible and you can just epoxy it back in place, if you're not lucky it will be buried in there and your laser is now a very nice green flashlight. If you're sticking it back in place, make sure it's nicely centered in the beam or you'll get a crooked or distorted beam coming out. Oh, and don't forget safety goggles when aligning the lens, 30mW doesn't feel good in the eyeball.

It honestly sounds to me like the diode got knocked out of place... you could try opening it or sending it to someone who can help you

--DDL

If it's still green, it would seem that the diode/yag/ktp is still intact.. I agree with the loose lens theory..

about the batteries: My DX 30 gives me a nice green beam at night (and day, too), that dims after a few minutes on-air. If you have a humid night, you might have a beam for ten, fifteen minutes continuously, decreasing visibility.

As mine kind of drains my batteries, I use rechargeables, that I put into the charger everytime I have used my laser so it's always nice and fresh.
So I'd suggest invest some of the money you are saving into AAA rechargeables, they have those at DX, too, and you might not need batteries at all anymore.