broken laser, who can help :(

[ReaperZ]

hey guys , i purchased this laser


http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1210988492

now by accident i left the key in the laser, it rolled over while i was not in the vicinity (it was on my garage bench) and may have run for up to an hour.

the lasers power does not seem to be affected, however the beam is NOWHERE near as tight as it used to be, it is now in "orb mode" - lol thats what my friends and i call our lasers dot visiblity once it has passed its focal point with a lens ..however the laser does not have an adjustable focusing lens, so its as if the lens has become dislodged, or the crystals have expanded ?

not sure how much sense that makes.

would someone be willing to look at this laser for me ? im happy to cover shipping costs both ways of course, and some form of payment for the help

i will provide pictures tomorrow of the laser if required, and also the size of the dot at various distances, its definately not as dazzling at night with its large divergence

Thanks guys !

 

[maxkillz]

sounds like my alpha when really cold or very low on battery and about to die


when my alpha is cold or so low on battery it's about to shut off on it's own the beam is about 3x it's normal size and big blob shape. I think you need to let it cool off and put some fresh batteries in. if that doesn't work then...idk maybe someone else can be more helpful :-[

 

[ReaperZ]

ive placed fresh batteries into it, and let it cool down over 24-48 hours

same spec batteries that worked well before the overheating.. so im tempted to think a lens has come dislodged or expanded crystals

it hasnt mode changed, just looks like its unfocused

 

[Liberty1992]

if its just unfocused cant you just refocus it?

 

[Switch]

Can you get some pictures of the laser itself and of the beam so we can better see what's wrong?

 

[Kenom]

It sounds like to me you've cooked the crystals inside.  The coatings are no longer "clear" and distort your beam so that it is unfocused.  I honestly don't know that there is any way to fix it.  My recommendation to you would be to contact Frothychimp and inquire about an out of warranty repair.  It will most likely be less expensive than trying to fix it yourself or sending it to someone else who will only tell you that there is nothing they can do to fix it.  These lasers have a c-mount laser diode pumping a crystal set.  The Pump can be anywhere from 1-5Watts of 808nm and is a lot of power to be pumping for a long period of time.  Although it's never been my experience that 1 hour has cooked the crystals on one of these larger style lasers.  It is not however out of the bounds of possibility. It is also possible that you've cooked the AR coating on one of the lenses or as a result of heating up the lens has caused the glue holding it to come undone and move. There are a lot of different factors involved.  I will be more than happy to look at it and tell you for sure and won't even charge you anything to do so.

I would also like to see what the dot looks like with a lens put in to change it's focal length.  This may cause it to expand far enough to see if it is mode hopping or not.

 

[ReaperZ]

It sounds like to me you've cooked the crystals inside.  The coatings are no longer "clear" and distort your beam so that it is unfocused.  I honestly don't know that there is any way to fix it.  My recommendation to you would be to contact Frothychimp and inquire about an out of warranty repair.  It will most likely be less expensive than trying to fix it yourself or sending it to someone else who will only tell you that there is nothing they can do to fix it.  These lasers have a c-mount laser diode pumping a crystal set.  The Pump can be anywhere from 1-5Watts of 808nm and is a lot of power to be pumping for a long period of time.  Although it's never been my experience that 1 hour has cooked the crystals on one of these larger style lasers.  It is not however out of the bounds of possibility. It is also possible that you've cooked the AR coating on one of the lenses or as a result of heating up the lens has caused the glue holding it to come undone and move. There are a lot of different factors involved.  I will be more than happy to look at it and tell you for sure and won't even charge you anything to do so.

I would also like to see what the dot looks like with a lens put in to change it's focal length.  This may cause it to expand far enough to see if it is mode hopping or not.

thanks mate

im getting an external lens sent to me currently, im going home tonight so ill get some pictures of the laser itself and the current output.

the only other external lens i have is some cheap $2 magnifying glass now lol, i misplaced my lens on a road trip.

where abouts do you live ? id be happy to send you the laser, i live in new zealand

 

[thesk8nmidget]

thats to bad! are you sure there is no way to focus the beam inside the laser?

usually there is some sort of lens inside to focus. i mean really there has to be otherwise you wouldnt have a small dot to start out with.

but i would say your best bet is to send it to the maker for a repair. that way they would for sure be able to fix it for you on the first try


i would be willing to check it out for you at no charge but i really couldnt promise a repair if its the crystal at fault.

i have played around with quite a few green lasers of my own and have realigned the crystals for a much stronger beam.

its possible that something just got way to hot and came out of alignment.

if you would like you can pm me and we could talk more.

 

[Kenom]

I live in Montana USA
kind of a long transit for this. Like mr. midget up there and I said, I'd recommend the original manufacturer.

 

[GooeyGus]

It's a lens.

If it were a crystal issue, no green would be coming out. These crystals take a LOT to damage. They do lose efficiency when they get hot, but the pump diode (probably a 1-1.5W) wont be strong enough to burn them up unless the crystal got a piece of debris on it and then the pump 'burned' the debris into the optical surface of the crystal. If the crystals became dislodged/misalgined and you still had green coming out, it would still be focused but you would no longer have a 'round' dot. It would look more like an elongated dot. So if you have a big blob of green, it's a lens. If you have a focused point but it has become slightly elongated it could be a crystal issue.

 

[ReaperZ]

thanks for the help guys

im sending the laser to thesk8nmidget to check out for me, for free

what a champion !!!! had a good detailed chat with him on MSN who confirmed a few things for me

he has also offered to meter the laser before/after modification, and take me some photos of the internals as im trying to learn about lasers as many of you may know

 

[thesk8nmidget]

no problem and as gooey has said above i really do think its just a lens problem!

but of course you will be the first to know!

 

[adsfasdf]

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