Weird 473nm PGL behavior

[kingdave2357]

Alright, I noticed this happen a few times, but this last time scared me. My PGL has just randomly stopped laseing mid duty cycle and would stay off for a few secs then come back on. Well this last time it stayed off for a little longer and came back to life after moving it around, then it shut off AGAIN about 10 secs later, and 5secs later it came back on again. This hasnt happend more that maybe 4 times and this last one was the longest, and the first time it went out twice in one duty cycle. There are no power drops or problems in that matter. I did notice a sticky substance on the batt contact which I just cleaned. Any Ideas? I dont want to RMA such a great overspec laser for this unless it will get worse.:cryyy:

EDIT: Oops, should have put this in the turorial/help section, sorry about that...

 

[RA_pierce]

Sometimes this happens with my PGL 532.
It happens sometimes when the remote interlock is moved.
Sometimes if it is twisted or bumped just right, the electrical contact is broken for a split second. It then powers back on after the 5 second delay.

Check that your keys and interlocks are inserted properly.

Play around with them a bit and see if you can replicate this.

Hopefully your problem is what I described above.

 

[yobresal]

You may also be interested int simpy bypassing the interlock.

 

[Don't Laze Me Bro]

This happened to my PGL too! Sounds like the interlock contacts are dirty, get some alcohol pads and wipe the key and pin off and put them in the laser, move them in there a bit and remove and wipe them down a bit...Repeat this like 5 times and it should stop! Hope this helped!

 

[Eudaimonium]

Alright, I noticed this happen a few times, but this last time scared me. My PGL has just randomly stopped laseing mid duty cycle and would stay off for a few secs then come back on. Well this last time it stayed off for a little longer and came back to life after moving it around, then it shut off AGAIN about 10 secs later, and 5secs later it came back on again. This hasnt happend more that maybe 4 times and this last one was the longest, and the first time it went out twice in one duty cycle. There are no power drops or problems in that matter. I did notice a sticky substance on the batt contact which I just cleaned. Any Ideas? I dont want to RMA such a great overspec laser for this unless it will get worse.:cryyy:

EDIT: Oops, should have put this in the turorial/help section, sorry about that...

Uh Oh, I don't think this is a good sign.
Sticky substance, whatever it is, has sure got on contacts the batteries were touching, so that may cause the contact interruption, and triggering the 5 second delay.
Your laser has one, no?

BTW, PGL is the "Aries" style laser, is it not?
What is the mark for the "Aquarius" style on then?

 

[kingdave2357]

Cool thanks for all the advice guys! I was thinking as well that something may have caused interuption triggering the 5sec delay. Im hoping it is the interlock or a dirty contact. I will clean the remote interlock as well. Hasnt happened again since posting about it though.
@yobresal- How do you bypass the interlock?
@Eudaimonium- The PGL-III-C is the same as the Aries, and the PGL-III-A is the same as the aquarius pro...

 

[Eudaimonium]

Cool thanks for all the advice guys! I was thinking as well that something may have caused interuption triggering the 5sec delay. Im hoping it is the interlock or a dirty contact. I will clean the remote interlock as well. Hasnt happened again since posting about it though.
@yobresal- How do you bypass the interlock?
@Eudaimonium- The PGL-III-C is the same as the Aries, and the PGL-III-A is the same as the aquarius pro...

Oh right...
I never get used to those CNI marks.
I mean, PGL is supposed to mean - Portable Green Laser, and they make all colors in that host.

Interlock is bypassed by disassembling the entire tailcap and jumping the two contacts that the keyswitch touches.
I am not familiar with precise procedure, I think Yobresal explained it to another guy somewhere so I remembered that you need some hard tweezers or similar tool to unscrew the tailcap, you have those two holes in solid material in which you need to put tweezers or similar tool to unscrew it.

Yobresal will tell us more though.
I never owned such laser, so I am not exactly familiar.

 

[aryntha]

My PGL-III-A 473 does this; it's because the button is "easier off than on". Essentially it takes some pressure to turn it on, but not a lot of movement to have it blink off. I thought for a while it was the laser itself - but no, it's my button pressin' skills needing more press-fu.

 

[kingdave2357]

Good, im very glad to read the responses, I was hoping it was just something small, and that makes alot of sense, that the button breaks contact and triggers the 5sec delay. I didnt really think it was the laser itself because when it would come back on it would be just as bright if not brighter than when it went off, and there were no power drops whatsoever before or after it turned off.
Thanks guys, I feel ALOT better

 

[kingdave2357]

Okay, I think I figured out the exact problem, the key switch. This morning I was using the laser and it shut down including the saftey indicator light, so I messed with the key a little and the light came back on and the laser followed 5sec later. Then later on I set it up, turned the key and the indicator light did not come on, so again I fooled with the key and it came right back to life. Im thinking that something with the key switch is iffy. If it persists I can just use the tail cap from my yellow, though I could put up a WTB on PGL III C end cap and see if any are available...
Maybee CNI would sell a end cap seperately. I should ask Glenn.

 

[yobresal]

Hey there, is your key on the tail or in the middle of the laser? If you want a possibly easy fix to this problem Simply cut out some aluminum foil to fit into the bottom of the tail cap of youlaser. This will create a contact point for the battery and case and will bypass everything below. All you will need to do is press the button to turn on the laser. That is how I have my blue laser set up. It is an easy and non-permanent way to fix the problem and it doesn't cost a dime.

 

[kingdave2357]

Wow, dude that is so simple, I wouldnt have even thought of doing that, great idea:thanks:
Yes the key switch is on the tail cap, just like the 589nm.
So the foil has to be touching the batt contact and the case in order to work correct, and you are positive it cant harm the laser? I think I am just going to go for that, I would rather just be able to push the button without all the other stuff.

 

[Pontiacg5]

All that would do is bypass the key. The key works by switching the contact between the battery terminal and the laser case. If you connect the battery terminal directly to the case you have just bypassed that switch. It won't hurt your laser at all.

 

[kingdave2357]

cool, good thing to cause now its not even working, I have the cap from my yellow on my blue just so I can use it.

 

[Flaminpyro]

say why don't you switch the end caps and see what happens :crackup: actuly I thought I posted that yesterday but some how it didn't get up here, it would have been post #5 Huh ?

 

[kingdave2357]

Yeah I already have the cap from the yellow on the blue and it is working fine, but the yellow wont even come on with the cap from the blue, so I suppose that was the problem, I think Im going to try the foil next.