Apparently most lasers don't have polarity protection *SOLVED*

[Marco Polo]

I think that if I got any unprotected lasers I would store them in a separate box from the protected lasers, in addition to marking the correct polarity on the units themselves.

All my units comprise a messy hodgepodge of case positive and case negative; most of my 301's are positive (532's, 450) but two out of the three 405's are negative. I think all my Skylasers are positive, except for the LP-450 pen which is negative. My C6's are all negative so far, but I'm going to do a 532nm C6 which will probably have to be positive. Bleh.

I'm scatterbrained anyway, which is no help. If my lasers weren't protected I'd have a bunch of dead ones. Little did I know how lucky I was.

I'm glad this thread was posted and appreciate the advice and points that were made; I still don't *like* the idea of an unprotected driver but I can see that my criticisms were due to ignorance on my part. It definitely taught me a thing or two and I have no doubt it will save me trouble/money when I get around to expanding my collection, so thanks

 

[Blarg King]

I agree with you joker, I personally don't care to have stickers on the outside of my lasers, especially the custom ones.

I do make polarity stickers for my lasers, but I always attach them to the inside of the battery tube.
It's always the first thing you see when you remove the tailcap!

This is brilliant. Im getting a cheap label maker and doing this to all my lasers.

 

[BowtieGuy]

This is brilliant. Im getting a cheap label maker and doing this to all my lasers.

Thanks Blarg King!
It's a simple, fairly cheap, permanent, and IMHO, a pretty professional looking solution.
Hopefully it'll save your expensive toys when that inevitable brain fart occurs!

 

[hakzaw1]

Re: Apparently th Sci-Fi Lasers 501B doesn't have polarity protection

Lol thats kind of depressing

sorry for the misconception, it looks like you are paying for it...

the thing is, we are sorry for your loss, really. But blaming it on the driver and not yourself is where you went wrong, for most of these people...

I think reverse polarity protection is needed, but only as a backup, TO PROTECT THE DIODE.

The drivers i used, forget which ones, will DIE if you put in the battery backwards, but will protect the diode.

Maybe test your diode first?

IDK, just thinking here...

I could muliti-quote a bunch of posts here but wont--

SInce they FIRST came out we saw almsot ALL green laser pointers with reverve direction from the 99% of the flashlights in the world--

BUt not all- (< THERE IS YOUR CLUE ABOUT WHO TO BLAME)


some makers like JETLASERS make all of thierS with neg to the front WHEN I get a new one with the reverse I PUT a mark With fine tip sharpie (inside the barrel or tailcap or BOTH)
or make a lable with '+' and '-' and I STILL have forgotten and messed up
but never tried to place blame elsewhere

Accroding to Jordan (DTR) some of his builds have reverse polarity protection that protects the DIODE not the driver & he said if you keep trying you can harm the doide too-- he said if i EVER try to turn any laser on and it does not start its very important that we DO NOT keep trying and if its a very quick on/off with no lase you have most likely put the battery in backwords-


when in doubt NEVER try the worst possible way- I dont pull the trigger to see if a gun is loaded or not...

IF building and have the room a Pangolin Lasorb wil protect the diode for every electrical harm it goes close to the die BEFORE the driver-

IF CNI has now put Lasorbs in all thier labbies there is another sign for you..

I really like the builds done by members here that are not CONUS- BUT I consider the possible need to ship them again so avoid those builders in other countires--

so there are more tha one way to protect from damage due to wrong polarity but the best is still the owners efforts to keep from making this silly basic mistake--

"when in doubt leave the batt OUT"
(even if you expect the laser to protect you)

good luck to all

hak

 

[EnergyCoherence]

 

[hakzaw1]

FYI

ALL Jetlasers lasers are fully reverse polarity protected and all take the battery with neg to the front..


I reaaly like those tiny lables I use a fine tip and place them in the same spots but the lable is much nicer +6 for that great pic and i hope we hear no more about killing lasers -

to answer the Q in the OP title BY FAR unprotected--if you include all battery lasers 'our kind' must be less than 1% of the total market with many millions of pointers made and sold-- and none with protection..

any company worth a damn has the best protection- it would be very foolish to do otherwise- warranty work kills a lot of profits- that is why the best only sell the best-
QC belongs BEFORE the seller- not so with many(cough wl cough) others.
drop shippers almost NEVER test or in some cases even see the lasers they are selling.

I asked one of the bigger sellers(coughfocalpricecough) about 'duty cycles'- reply- 'we no sell bicycles only lasers'


hk

 

[szhwatch]

This is why years ago with flashlights I started using a very fine tip permanent marker to mark the inside of the battry compartment with the polarity and I have continued this practice with my laser hobby.

 

[firelaser]

with me at least most all of my lasers have negative going towards the spring and positive away.. ive always liked that cause i figured it was cause it would have more connection issues if the tip of the spring had to match up with the positive bump on the battery.. though if i suddenly got another c-6 or similar laser but was the opposite i could see it going bad..