Burnt out lens Spartan 1W Advice. (Big Images)

[Paddy]

Ok so i've had my spartan for about 2 years now i think and i've looked after it as if it was a baby, making sure it stays clean dry and out of dust etc.
But randomly yesterday i noticed the "dot" was starting to distort and make a weird wavy mess on the wall, i took the cap off donned my torch and this is the mess i was confronted with;

Now i assumed i had a glass lens in it but i'm guessing not.
I was just curious if this would have been caused by the beam not coming straight out (you can see from the burn it's been hitting the side of the lens) and was wondering if anyone would have a viable way of getting it fixed as dragon lasers want me to pay to ship it there and back and charge me something stupid like $20 for a new lens. (total of about $100 probably)
Cheers.

 

[Paddy]

Still need help with this

 

[RA_pierce]

Take a couple pictures of the dot that the laser projects.
It's hard to tell what is going on in the pictures especially since I don't know what it should look like.

I thought the Spartan uses a glass lens. If that's the case I don't see how it could "burn out."
Could one of the brass rings be loose?

Also, for future reference, take your pictures in a well lit area and turn off the flash. It really overexposes the image and makes it difficult to see what is happening.

 

[Smeerworst]

There has bin allot of discussion in the past about this..

Does the spartan carry a plastic or glas lens.

Well it looks like it's plastic afterall ?

i got two spartan 1W lasers and one has a crooked beam aswell.
The other one wich has a perfect beam is combined with the beam expander.

I almost (well it passed my mind) to ship you one of my spartans for free ^^
Just becouse i think this is the whole reason DL didn't bring out the new beam expander. (not to mention my frustration with the Hulk ultra i had) '' yes i'm still pritty pissed at them''
You're not the only one with a crooked beam out of the spartan.


Cheers, Sm.

 

[Paddy]

In regards to taking a better pic, the lens is deep down inside the host, that isn't flash that's a flashlight used to see it.
The burnt spot is the black blob on the lens. (slightly to the side where the beam isn't straight out)
I haven't turned it on since it started burning because the dot on the wall isn't even a dot any more it's just blurry and keeps "moving" about on the wall where it's still burning the lens.
Don't do that smeers! i did't mind the crooked beam that much, i'm just a bit gutted that my first ever laser self destructed basically
I've tried to get the lens out but it seems stuck in with some sort of glue, and i don't have the tools or the know how to risk forcing it loose.
I'm at a loss with what to do really, one thing that did pass my mind was that could the lens getting burnt be caused by the fast that the beam isn't hitting the lens dead in the middle? If so then i'd assume DL should sort this out.
Cheers.

 

[laserhead2112]

Yeah I too have this laser and the beam is also crooked. I've had this laser almost two years now no problems so far but would like to know if there is a way to replace it.

 

[Paddy]

Still haven't been able to sort this, managed to get the module out from the host but as far as getting the lens out it looks like they made it pretty hard. Stuck with some sort of glue.
quite tempted to see if i can send it to someone and see if anyone can salvage it for me. (when money permits that is!)

Edit; Turns out the glue they use doesn't work well after almost 3 years
Managed to break the glue up with a cocktail skewer and pulled the lens out, and yes it's plastic! :yabbmad:

 

[laserhead2112]

Hey could you take some pics, of all the parts and tell how you got it all apart. I to would like to replace the lens in my laser now. Oh had mine about two years now.

 

[Paddy]

It isn't too hard, i just unscrewed the gold ring inside the business end (pretty stiff) then the module pops out.
You should see the lens inside and be able to get to it a bit easier, i just hacked away at the glue (my lens is already broken beyond use so i didn't take much care) and unscrewed the lens.
Just a little tip, when unscrewing the lens hold the laser pointing downwards, just so any bits of glue fall out and not onto the diode.

I'll just warn you so far Frank at dragonlasers has told me they wont send me a lens because " Unfortunately with the Spartan lasers, we don’t provide lens and only replace them in our workshops. This is due to the design/construction of the Spartan lasers and the danger involved in removing and replacing lens."

i emailed back saying i took the lens out easily and i just want to pay for a new lens to be shipped instead of sending them my laser (£50 each way with tracking) and he hasn't replied since.

(just some more info, don't bother unscrewing the spring end of the module because it's just access to the back of the diode)

 

[RA_pierce]

Hm. Strange that they would use a crappy plastic lens for a high power laser...
Cheapos.

It looks like the glue they used is silicone adhesive. Not super strong but enough to keep the lens from moving around.

I would gut the laser and use the host for something else.
Or you could re-build the module so you can use an aixiz type lens... or just glue one on.

It's difficult to tell from the pictures... is the "lens tube" threaded?

 

[Paddy]

Belive me it's hard to get a decent pic of the insides with enough light.
It's threaded some of the way yes, the module is just dropped in and held in place with that round ring though.
I would modify it but tbh i wouldn't even know where to start.
And seems this is the first laser i acquired (apart from cheap 1mw reds on holidays) i really wouldn't want to break it.
I'll try and get some decent pics of it all taken apart once my desk is tidy and camera is charged.

Tbh out of all this i'm really suprised frank wont just ship out a replacement lens, there's a huge difference in paying like $5-10 for a lens and shipped in a envelope than $81 shipping the laser there and how ever much they can get tracked shipping for back.
Only thing i can think is that he'd try and tell me the crooked beam needs fixing and charge me for it for some extra $ (i hope this isn't the case)

 

[Paddy]

Update: Frank recommends this: 405/450nm laser coated collimation lens /glass [OL-405L] - $7.39 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce Not sure if it'll fit as there's no specs but he said someone who had problems uses this fine.

I think i'm going to see if i can find it elsewhere due to o-like not accepting paypal anymore IIRC.

 

[RA_pierce]

Update: Frank recommends this: 405/450nm laser coated collimation lens /glass [OL-405L] - $7.39 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce Not sure if it'll fit as there's no specs but he said someone who had problems uses this fine.

I think i'm going to see if i can find it elsewhere due to o-like not accepting paypal anymore IIRC.

That is just a 3-element "aixiz" lens.
You can get those from many of the laser parts suppliers on the forum.

DTR is the first that comes to mind... There are others but I'm not familiar with the newer shops.

 

[Doomie]

I weighed both Wicked Lasers and Dragonlasers offereings, and decided to go with the Spartan. What a fool I was. I had a crooked beam which also led to a self destructing lens. Frank also said that my warranty had expired. Not good, I'd only had it for 8 months - and I wasn't getting any more responses about a fix. I paid pretty decent money for this thing and right now it's a paperweight. Very dissapointed.

 

[Shakenawake]

It's normal for the beam to not be perfectly parallel with the host, and it should not contribute to any problem with the laser. when I was a noob I messed up my spartan as well. those lenses screw out, but are held in place in three places by glue. you will need to break the glues hold but once you do it will unscrew. replace it with a new one that should work, it will take some adjusting to set it to infinity. a flat head screw driver just the right size should work and it will not matter if you scratch the old burnt out lens. installing a new one may take a different tool, as you don't want to scratch the surface of a new lens. Not sure if your old one is acrylic, but make sure the replacement is glass.

you made a good choice buying the spartan over the arctic IMO, but a better choice would have been to buy from the member here known as Blord, he sells 1W 445nm lasers for $110.

oops, I see I kinda repeated the advice of others shoulda read it all first. Frank will always recommend sending these back, which is what I did. I could have saved a lot by doing what I just suggested. Paddy had good input as well, especially holding it upside down while you remove it to avoid dirtying the diode.