Best way to clean laser/diode?

[Lolvo]

I addressed this in my other thread, but it got merely one reply.

I was able to burn some things quite easily with my Lazerer Rifle 1.5W as soon as it arrived, but now I am having a harder time burning since I adjusted the focus. I was wondering if anyone could share some knowledge on finding the right focus for burning, and any other information on focusing my laser.

Thanks!

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What is the best way to go about cleaning my laser? I was thinking q-tip and a small amount of rubbing alcohol would do the trick quite well, but there may be some better options and things I should avoid. Does anyone have some input?

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

1. - Put on goggles.

2. - Target your burn victim.

3. - Focus the dot as small as you possibly can.

Lather, rinse, repeat, get bored leaving burn marks all over the place

 

[Lolvo]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

1. - Put on goggles.

2. - Target your burn victim.

3. - Focus the dot as small as you possibly can.

Lather, rinse, repeat, get bored leaving burn marks all over the place

Focusing the dot as small as possible is the "infinity" setting, which would make sense to me. But I've seen videos and read some threads that use "infinity" and "burning" focus settings as different terms.

 

[ARG]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

How far away is the object you're trying to burn?

 

[Lolvo]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

How far away is the object you're trying to burn?

Anywhere from 9-10 inches to 24 inches. Before I focused, I was able to burn black polyester from 6 feet and I accidentally burnt a flag of mine that is green from 4 feet.

I'd like to keep my distance for burning, and longer-distance burning is of course more impressive.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

Put on goggles, adjust the focus of your laser to the smallest dot you can, at a distance. That's referred to as focused to infinity.

Focused to infinity a 1W+ laser will still burn quite well.

Focused for up close burning 12-24 inches away, you should be seeing smoke from black objects immediately.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

Focusing to infinity should imply that the beam size remains the same at all distances, not that it is necessarily small. If the output of the Rifle's beam at aperture is 3mm, then it should be 3mm or so at a great distance too (barring divergence problems).

If you want to focus to a spot for burning , choose the distance, and then you focus the beam to the smallest possible spot, which is hard to gauge without goggles. Think of it like using a magnifying lens.

As stated above, 1W lasers are usually powerful enough to burn without focusing to a spot. You might get more precision by focusing it down though.

 

[Hovermn]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

This is your first laser with any power, and it'll take you a little while to get the hang of things. What's nice about lasers with focus adjusters is that you can unfocus the beam a bit and not worry about burning objects while you play. With goggles on, it should be quite easy to focus the beam to its smallest point. When that happens, you should see smoke instantly. If you can't see smoke, you'll probably see a difference in the dot as you keep it in the same place. That's the laser burning through the object you're aiming at.

Enjoy it. Treat it with great respect and you'll have a long and enjoyable time with your laser!

 

[Lolvo]

Re: Burning Focus for Lazerer Rifle?

This is your first laser with any power, and it'll take you a little while to get the hang of things. What's nice about lasers with focus adjusters is that you can unfocus the beam a bit and not worry about burning objects while you play. With goggles on, it should be quite easy to focus the beam to its smallest point. When that happens, you should see smoke instantly. If you can't see smoke, you'll probably see a difference in the dot as you keep it in the same place. That's the laser burning through the object you're aiming at.

Enjoy it. Treat it with great respect and you'll have a long and enjoyable time with your laser!

I got it, thanks! Been popping things and burning stuff a lot

What is the best way to go about cleaning my laser? I was thinking q-tip and a small amount of rubbing alcohol would do the trick quite well, but there may be some better options and things I should avoid. Does anyone have some input?

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

A lens cleaning kit is best. A lint free microfiber towel would also work well, dabbed in 90% isopropyl alcohol.

Q-tip works just fine also, but can sometimes leave fibers and residue behind, depending on the qtip.

 

[LaserBuddy]

Is it possible also, if you focus the beam down to a fine point and it doesn't burn, that the batteries may be junk/need recharging? Might want to look into it

 

[Lolvo]

Thanks! Got it cleaned. A few spots showed up right after cleaning, but I made another pass with the q-tip and let the alcohol dry out and she shines bright now

A question though - duty cycle is 1:1 @60s. - I have not exceeded that, but are there any implications to turning the laser on and off repeatedly within a duty cycle? For example should I not consider turning it on, then off, then on again as a duty cycle and restart the count? I'm wondering how repeated on/off usage can effect the longevity of the diode. Would it be better to leave it on versus repeated on/off usage?