Dirt INSIDE the lens!?

[lazerguy]

Today I put some fresh batteries in my x-85 to play a lil with it. Although when I saw the dot, I was completely shocked, it was so dirty I have never seen anything like that! I even put a piece of tape over the aperture when I am not using it. I stayed cool though, I thought that I just had to bring up some microfiber cloth and clean the lens. But no: when I cleaned the lens, no dirt came off! It didn't get worse, nothing  happened at all.
I later noticed that something is wobbly inside the laser head; it rattles when I shake it gently. But that's not enough: when I shaked it a couple of times, the lens got EVEN worse! My theory of what happened is this: the rattling thing inside spreads out dust or something when I shake the laser, and that hits the lens! To my real question: does anybody here know how to clean the inside of the lens or is it even possible without disassembling the entire laser? I am dying about this, the power is probably decreased to below 5mw, and the "dot" is just a blurry mess! :'( :'( :'( I will get a pic up later when I have found my camera.
EDIT: pic added, sorry couldn't find out how to resize it. The dot looks just like that in real life.  :'(

 

[GooeyGus]

It seems to me as if the lens itself could be what is "rattling around", causing it to look bad.

I believe there are two lenses inside, so one could be loose causing the bad dot pattern.

I doubt it is any sort of foreign debris, as once you're 'inside' of the final lens, it's basically a sealed system. So if something got in there and is shaking around, it would be on the top side of the final lens, not inside the laser itself.

If you are comfortable enough doing it, I would take it apart and check out that inner lens. My guess is the glue came loose.

If not, e-mail nova and they'll get ya straightened out.

 

[lazerguy]

Well, since it is way out of warranty, I could probably takeit apart. I noted that the laser "head" itself could be screwed apart, and there I could see another, very small lens. The laser is not focused when the head os off, so the dot is very big when I shine the laser on a wall. But it's very clean, so it can't be that lens either.

When I look at the main front lens from the side with the laser on, it seems to be that lens that diffuses the beam, but I can't take the whole thing apart to check. could you somehow change the lens?
I'll email nova for some support, though, but let me know if anyone here has any ideas of what to do.

 

[GooeyGus]

Unfortunately I'm not 100% familiar with the cni pen-style lasers. If all else fails, nova will fix it for a cost (I think about $60). Yes, you can change the lens out, but I would recommend getting the replacement from nova. That way you know the focus and everything wont be off due to a different lens.

But like I said the only thing I can imagine coming loose inside, with the laser still putting out green light, would be a lens. I think those CNI pens are a bit easier to take apart than a DX pen is, so just take it slow and remember where everything goes and you should be fine. Just don't mess with the crystals or the diode orientation.

 

[lazerguy]

Well, I would be happy to pay only the $60, but all the wait + shipping costs + customs fees makes me pretty mad! I wish I lived next to Novalasers...
It seems to be pretty easy to take apart, but I will be careful - don't wanna destroy anything.