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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

5000mw(5 watt) green laser emitting dim red light

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So, a while back I bought this shitty Chinese 5Watt laser(it claims itself as a class IIIb laser) but what I didn't know is that it didn't ship with batteries. It needed an 3.7 volt UltraFire li-ion battery(the ones you find in power banks). So, I bought a random power bank, in my case a 2300MAh cylindrical bank. Charged it, and then ripped out the battery. Shoved the battery in the laser but all I got was a brief green weak light and then a red glow. I have seen that before and now I finally know it's IR(eyes are probably dead, stared at those red glows numerous times in my life) but why is the laser not firing up? I can provide pics and videos.
 





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You laser is more than likely <500mW. It might be a bit more powerful than that, but it's certainly not 5W.

It seems that you have quite an obvious disregard for laser safety as well. I strongly advise that you get an adequate pair of safety goggles before continuing with this project.

Now, as for the laser itself, does it flash green every time you turn it on, or did it flash green once and is now permanently emitting just IR?

Also, is your laser 532nm or 520nm?
 
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CurtisOliver

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Whilst the laser is definitely not 5W, the IR output is probably 1W based on the low efficiency of these lasers. Please do not look into the IR light. 808nm will appear as a very weak red glow when in fact it is more powerful than your 532nm output by at least 5x.

Also, is your laser 532nm or 520nm?
The laser is 532nm as it is clearly a DPSS.

I can't stress enough how dangerous IR is. You won't even know that you are damaging your eyes until it is too late.
 

BowtieGuy

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As mentioned, your 532nm is nowhere near 5W, also many 532 dpss units require the battery to be inserted with (-) in first towards the diode module, with the (+) towards the tailcap.
If you only saw one green flash, and then no more, you probably have a very dead laser. :(
 
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Now, as for the laser itself, does it flash green every time you turn it on, or did it flash green once and is now permanently emitting just IR?

It always makes a quick dim green dot, every time i press the button. And it's 532nm.

and i know IR is dangerous, but i didn't remember correctly: Back in the day i had these shitty chinese 0,5mw red lasers from the fair, and always i was looking down the barrel and wondering why it was so weak, i've looked into this barrel less then a second and only twice(rip), and the whole day i haven't seen anything happen to my sight. I've also ordered safety glasses just now, they should be here tomorrow.
 
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it's still alive, and yes i've figured out how the battery needed to go lol, i always wondered why it didn't work at all.
 

diachi

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Definitely not 5W - do you have a picture of the laser? It's not the one in your avatar is it? Did you get safety glasses that cover both IR and 532nm?

Whilst the laser is definitely not 5W, the IR output is probably 1W based on the low efficiency of these lasers. Please do not look into the IR light. 808nm will appear as a very weak red glow when in fact it is more powerful than your 532nm output by at least 5x.

The laser is 532nm as it is clearly a DPSS.

I can't stress enough how dangerous IR is. You won't even know that you are damaging your eyes until it is too late.

IR output is impossible to determine from this information, for all we know it could be one of those 303 lasers being sold as 5W, in which case the IR output would be much less than 1W. That's into the crystals, much less will make it past them.

The red glow is a secondary emission of 808nm IR LDs from what I've been able to determine, that's why it'll pass through the crystals. I'll need to get a low power 808nm laser to prove my findings ... I'm not doing it with 15W... :p

If he's getting a green flash and then a red glow every time it could be that the batteries are no good or the driver is just about dead. I'd place my bets on that more than something optical.

FYI a dead LD (Depending on the failure mode) will still emit that red glow, but we know that's not the issue due to the green flash.

Even if it is dead, I'm going to reiterate, NEVER look into the aperture of a laser with the power source connected. For all you know it's a faulty connection and all it takes is one bump for the laser to start emitting at full power.
 
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The laser is 532nm as it is clearly a DPSS.

Wow, I can't believe I missed that. I really need to stop posting at 12 in the morning lol. :tired:

It always makes a quick dim green dot, every time i press the button. And it's 532nm.

The problem with your laser sounds like it might be temperature related. Try exposing it to different environments (e.g. warming it up with your hands or placing it over an air conditioner) and see if that makes any difference.

It could also be your battery, so definitely replace that too.
 

BowtieGuy

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Good to see that it is alive. Is it working normally now, or are you still having the same dimming issues?
 
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Definitely not 5W - do you have a picture of the laser? It's not the one in your avatar is it?
If it's the one in his avatar it's a laser 303 and I've never heard of a laser 303 emitting close to 500mw.:umbrella::friend::cool::horse:

Troy, your laser isn't 5000mw, these cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars for this power in DPSS.

Could you post an image or video of your watercooled 80mw system? I'm very interested. ;) I'm guessing the designers created a very inefficient laser, seeing it's only 80mw output and requires serious cooling. :D

And also, it may seem casual to play with lasers without goggles. I'll admit I do it myself sometimes in a controlled environment. The problem is what seems like a controlled environment can quickly became a dangerous situation, say if a laser rolls off a table. You might get hit in the eye, and not even feel immediate damage. That might cause you to refrain from seeing a specialist. That's people why here stress wearing goggles and a real, very real understanding of the permanent issues these fun devices can cause, possibly long after you are done with the hobby. I know I will want my sight when I'm 65. Just get something, preferably eagle pair but at the least ebay. And don't act nonchalant about safety here.
 
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diachi

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If it's the one in his avatar it's a laser 303 and I've never heard of a laser 303 emitting close to 500mw.

Troy, your laser isn't 5000mw, these cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars for this power in DPSS.

Could you post an image or video of your watercooled 80mw system? I'm very interested. ;)


Yep, that's why I asked. Those 303s will do around ~100mW at best usually. There's also a 5mW green listed in the signature though, so I was thinking perhaps that's the one pictured?

Yes, 5W of DPSS green will cost several thousand dollars. None currently exist in a handheld form factor either.
 

CurtisOliver

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I have a 303 laser indoors and mine does 5.5W so is overspec :na: :crackup:
:D No where near. 150-200mW max if you are lucky and your batteries are fresh.
 
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yes it's one of those cheap SDlaser 301 copies. I've replaced the battery with a fresh one from a fully charged up powerbank, it's 3.7 volts when i use my multimeter, but still dimming. I have noticed though, only once though, the laser fired up for a split second at full power, and that dot it gave(or flash, as i suppose i should call it) was extremely bright, which looked like something around 500mw to 800mw of power in my experience. But it stopped dimming now, it doesnt show anything at all. No red light(through camera, cam did pick it up before) no laser. The dimming stopped after the flash, but right after the flash, it kept on dimming but died a couple hours later.
 
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yes it's one of those cheap SDlaser 301 copies. I've replaced the battery with a fresh one from a fully charged up powerbank, it's 3.7 volts when i use my multimeter, but still dimming. I have noticed though, only once though, the laser fired up for a split second at full power, and that dot it gave(or flash, as i suppose i should call it) was extremely bright, which looked like something around 500mw to 800mw of power in my experience. But it stopped dimming now, it doesnt show anything at all. No red light(through camera, cam did pick it up before) no laser. The dimming stopped after the flash, but right after the flash, it kept on dimming but died a couple hours later.
We just said it's impossible for a 303 to put out 500mw.
 
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the one in my avatar is the laser in question. The 80mw station isnt here atm, it's at my dad's place and im not willing to cycle 29 kilometers and possibly even damage it.
 

diachi

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yes it's one of those cheap SDlaser 301 copies. I've replaced the battery with a fresh one from a fully charged up powerbank, it's 3.7 volts when i use my multimeter, but still dimming. I have noticed though, only once though, the laser fired up for a split second at full power, and that dot it gave(or flash, as i suppose i should call it) was extremely bright, which looked like something around 500mw to 800mw of power in my experience. But it stopped dimming now, it doesnt show anything at all. No red light(through camera, cam did pick it up before) no laser. The dimming stopped after the flash, but right after the flash, it kept on dimming but died a couple hours later.


Most those lasers will typically do is 100mW or so, that's including whatever IR they're throwing out too. They're also not known for being all that reliable, although neither of the ones I've bought have had issues.

Would you mind telling us how much you paid for it...?
 




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