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FrozenGate by Avery

473nm Blue Pointer in Pen Style Case!

Yes laser checks can be fooled if you set it to a shorter wavelength than the one measured. They also read a bit off when shorter than 420nm or so in they falsely report power a bit lower than it really is. Btw if you are measuring a ml argon laser, set it to 476nm, it's dead nuts on at that wavelength setting according to the digital read out on my uniphase power supplies. IMHO a laser check is more of a go/no go tool or geeks toy than a serious power meter
 





I do keep my lasercheck around. Its a lot handier than my all out thermal meters - it'll even fit in my pocket. When it comes to quoting power specs for people though, there's no way a lasercheck will do. Its just so damn expensive to get a name brand thermal though!
 
What sort of power meter can i get that's half decent, for say a couple of hundred quid? Nothing i bet !!?
 
A couple of hundred Quid will get you a pretty decent thermal unit on Ebay... Stay focused, and check references - stay away from ancient Coherent stuff though - like the 201 series, etc....more trouble than they are worth ! SOME thermal units on eBay are for CO2 type...and unless you only want to measure in tens of watts, they won't work well for your purpose.
 
Coherent actually told us specifically that the Lasercheck is not a good choice for measuring average output power of pulsed lasers.

Also, it is possible (but a terrible idea) to pot-mod the Aquarius and this may be what you've bought, a modded 0.6-2mW blue laser that is overdriven to produce some higher output power. That may explain the amperage draw. Our Aquarius draw about 0.7 Amps on average and yours is doing almost double this! Enjoy that laser while it lasts, for at this high amperage that thing is surely cooking itself to death.
 
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