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FrozenGate by Avery

Can my laser pen be fixed?

Joined
Jul 4, 2008
Messages
15
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Hi all

I've got (hangs head in shame) a WL Nexus 95mW that I got 2 years ago.  At the time it was there or eBay or a load of US sites that looked exactly the same and were selling the same at the same prices (and presumably were the same person). I must say that the laser has been good until now, but now it's bust and WL have been unhelpful with any suggestions as to what's up with it.

The laser hasn't been used that much. Certainly less than 10 hrs duty cycle.  It's not been abused, it's kept in a drawer usually and never used for more than 30secs, usually about 5-10. it's never been taken to pieces, nor has it been 'overpowered' - it's only ever had the Duracall Ultra 2xAAA batteries.  I'm in the UK where temperatures are always fine, above 32F/0C and below 75F/25C.

I used it one day in daylight last week, and it seemed a bt dim.  I took it home, and replaced the batteries as they were only about 50% power (I use duracell ultra with the tester on the side).  The new batteries were 100%.  It fired up fine, was back to full brightness - but after about 10 seconds it dropped back to dim again.  It's brightness is comparable to a 5mW green laser.

Since then it's only worked at the much lower power. I've tried shaking it a bit (as someone on the WL/LC forum suggested), and tried wiggling the 'on' switch but again to no avail.

I'd have thought if the diode had fried it would have just stopped working, but as I said it's still working, but at a massively lower output. Beam is barely visible at night whereas it was like a light sabre and you can look at the spot which you never used to be able to do.

Has anyone any suggestions as to what I can do to see what's wrong?

WL (Jessica) could only suggest that I buy a new one (and of course she would give me a discount) - I think not.  

I haven't looked inside regrding dissembling it and fixing it, but since it's well out of warranty I'm happy to have a go, I'm resigned to having to get an RPL165 instead and it would be fun to have 2 light sabres  :)  though the local feline population and police may not agree :(

As an aside, I've never been to the WL/LC site before.  I've been posting around the web for 10 years, and it's the second worst I ever came across for the mods kicking people about.  The worst I ever saw had 5 moderators who edited/deleted anything they didn't like and after a year everyone left and now the only people who post there are the 5 moderators :) I wonder if they moderate each other?

Anyway, there's lots of balanced discussion here, I'm glad I found it (I've had a good nose around) and it's a relief to find that owning a green laser doesn't make a you a halfwit like the people on LC seemed to be.
 





Interesting story :)

Well, in my honest opinion, 2 years is pretty good for a pen laser. It's not like it was a total waste, you got good life out of it :)

Sounds like either the IR diode popped, and is now sitting at low energy. Or some crystals came loose, or something. Could be a lot of things really, but I'm no expert, lol

Either way, it would be really difficult to fix, and it's an old laser. Just go back to all the good times you've had with it, and think about purchasing an even more powerful laser! ;D

As for this laser, people are generally looking to buy dead lasers for the case and parts, and WL always have nice cases. Here's a few threads to check out:

http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1214763879
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1214974248
 
Oh well, if it's toast I will take it to bits and see if I can do something else with it involving a blue diode.

2 years is good? I've an Sp3 which is 3-4 years old and still going strong.

You just reminded me. Some years back, my very old HeNe tube laser bit the dust after a night illuminating the tower blocks several miles away in east London - 10mins before the police turned up after a number of complaints. They'd followed the beam back to my window, but by the time they came up to the flat it was just a faint fizzle. When they told me of the people who'd complained, I replied the people were overreacting; 'Look' I said, showing them the dying remains of a faint dot, 'that's not going to hurt anything' and they agreed and went away. Lucky! Some bloke just got 4 years in jail for zapping a police helicopter with a high-powered green laser (idiot)
 
Well, 2 years sounds good. I guess it depends on the usage really.

But really, greenies are pretty complicated, and the laser is old. I don't think you'd be able to repair it. It's had a good run.
 
Don't rip it apart yet, there may be a fix. Does the laser flicker at all? Try putting a little wad of aluminum foil in the endcap and see if it makes things better.
 
It might just be ther switch thats broken, or the PCB could be damaged
 
I'll try the alu foil, that's worked in other lasers but this isn't stuttering.

Got a reply from 'Jessica' at WL this am, they're offering a very generous discount... 10%. I will get 7½% from Opto by mentioning here so I think WL can go and jump in the sea.
 


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