Disappointed

[Sta]

Never, ever buy any laser that has one of those 301 hosts. They are ALWAYS 40-120mW, never anything else. Made by the same Chinese junk factory. Don't buy them.

 

[Faker]

Does the spot look bigger when it's shined across the room at a wall? If that laser is a 302 (looks exactly like a 302 I have) I tried on mine and the focus point was about 3-4" away. Try a piece of black electrical tape to find out where the focus point is. If you can't smoke electrical tape it's not going to light a match. If you get lots of smoke it should at least light a black colored match head.

Thanks for the tips Pman. I will them try on my next one as I'm giving it away as a Xmas gift to my brother, who by the way was going to get nothing.:na:

 

[mortuus]

you bought a mass produced made in china laser its probably anything between 50-100mW or so.. but the quality either way sucks be happy u paid only 20$ for that crap. and u gotta laugh how it says laser diode everyone should know that 532nm lasers are dpss and not diode, 520nm for that matter is diode and nothing else just like red blue and violet.

 

[Faker]

you bought a mass produced made in china laser its probably anything between 50-100mW or so.. but the quality either way sucks be happy u paid only 20$ for that crap. and u gotta laugh how it says laser diode everyone should know that 532nm lasers are dpss and not diode, 520nm for that matter is diode and nothing else just like red blue and violet.

It has a Class IIIa rating:
Lasers in this class are mostly dangerous in combination with optical instruments which change the beam diameter or power density, though even without optical instrument enhancement direct contact with the eye for over two minutes may cause serious damage to the retina. Output power does not exceed 5 mW. Beam power density may not exceed 2.5 mW/cm2 if the device is not labeled with a "caution" warning label, otherwise a "danger" warning label is required. Many laser sights for firearms and laser pointers are in this category.

The 1000mW I bought has a Class IIIB rating:
Lasers in this class may cause damage if the beam enters the eye directly. This generally applies to lasers powered from 5–500 mW. Lasers in this category can cause permanent eye damage with exposures of 1/100th of a second or less depending on the strength of the laser. A diffuse reflection is generally not hazardous but specular reflections can be just as dangerous as direct exposures. Protective eyewear is recommended when direct beam viewing of Class IIIb lasers may occur. Lasers at the high power end of this class may also present a fire hazard and can lightly burn skin.

I have more of a chance lighting a match or poping a black ballon with this one.:undecided:

 

[Marco Polo]

Faker, you did not get ripped off. Or rather, you did, but not in the way you're thinking. People newer to these lasers run into this sometimes. Let me explain.

The laser you have there is generically called a 301. There may be some letters in the name as well (SD-301, Laser 301, etc.). You also see 302 and 303, which are variants. They typically cost from 10 dollars (bad quality, sloppy assembly) to 50 dollars (better quality, maybe glass lenses, but it depends). Other than Lazerer's 1W 445, there are pretty much none of these above ~300mW. If there are, it was a custom build and I haven't seen any.

Your laser is probably putting out 50mW to 100mW green and some IR as well. IR can be as low as 5% of the total output to more than 50% in the case of bad factory-reject DPSS modules. For 20 dollars, you generally get something that works and will be reasonably hard to kill through overuse. Individual units may vary however, and some do die immediately.

You "got ripped off" in the sense that you thought you were buying a 500mW (or is it 5000mW) laser. However, you have to understand that most of these Chinese drop-shippers grossly overstate the capabilities of their lasers. They flat-out lie. You just have to expect it and know that when you see a green, 532nm 301-type laser, that unless it's custom-made, hand-built, you're probably getting 50 to 100mW green and some IR. They are not IR-filtered.

Avoid the green beam and you avoid the IR as well EXCEPT if wearing anti-green safety glasses; unless specially rated for IR, the IR will pass those glasses as if you didn't even have them on.

As to the safety label, Class IIIa, >500mW – everything on that safety label is totally irrelevant and means nothing. Learn this now. The only useful things on there are "Danger" and "Avoid exposure" to the laser radiation. Other than that, the label is basically cosmetic.

The Ultrafire battery is probably crap, if not dangerous. See link in my sig. You should get some LG's, Sanyo's, or Panasonics.

Although you're a bit upset, redefine what you have there as par for the course as to what you should expect when buying from Chinese drop shippers. Then realize that you can build better, brighter, prettier lasers yourself. These budget lasers are good for taking around and whatnot but it's no big deal if it dies or gets lost because it's only 20 bucks. Don't feel stupid because of this, either; lots of us made the same mistake when we were new too. Now you know.

Hope that helps. Welcome to LPF.

 

[Alaskan]

The the money those lasers aren't so bad, they can make a nice beam in the night sky if over 50mw, 100mw and they seem to go on forever. There was a time a few years ago those cost over 100 dollars each, I know a guy who paid a lot more than that for one of the first ones.

 

[Marco Polo]

The the money those lasers aren't so bad, they can make a nice beam in the night sky if over 50mw, 100mw and they seem to go on forever. There was a time a few years ago those cost over 100 dollars each, I know a guy who paid a lot more than that for one of the first ones.

I agree, 301's are great. There are members here who can make you a custom host that does the exact same thing i.e. momentary side button and a tail on/off clicky instead of a key. (the key switch is gimmicky and stupid, and quickly becomes a PITA if you want to turn it off quickly.)

Lazerer's LZCS are the same thing and cost up to 100 dollars, but when I bought mine the company was still quite good, and in fact all of them work just fine to this day. I haven't seen anyone else selling a 450nm in this host. Unfortunately, consensus these days is that Lazerer may no longer be trustworthy.

 

[Faker]

Thanks for the input guys. The reason I joined this fine site was to educate myself.
I am a member of quite a few private torrrent sites and was quite shocked to see the amount of people online here. Lasers are quite popular.

As newbie knowing nothing about lasers then seeing a add for a $20.00US laser lighting matches and poping ballons got my interest. I had total confidence that the laser I purchased would do what it said. I knew it would be dollar store cheap and probably break and fall apart as most cheap China crap does.

When I recieved the laser and it didn't do what it said, I did a little research. One thing is for sure, a classIIIa rated laser won't light matches or pop ballons.
Which has me confused with the bullshit rating sticker.
I don't see why the fake (thus my name) rating didn't say classIIIb

I have a lot to learn and appreciate everyones comments.:bowdown:

 

[Marco Polo]

Thanks for the input guys. The reason I joined this fine site was to educate myself.

As newbie knowing nothing about lasers then seeing a add for a $20.00US laser lighting matches and poping ballons got my interest. I had total confidence that the laser I purchased would do what it said. I knew it would be dollar store cheap and probably break and fall apart as most cheap China crap does.

The laser will probably pop balloons if you focus the beam to a point. The balloon would have to be black or otherwise strongly absorb green light.

As far as breaking apart, I have never had a 301 break. Sometimes the doubler crystals come off, though. They are more durable than I had expected and tolerate long on-time well enough.

When I recieved the laser and it didn't do what it said, I did a little research. One thing is for sure, a classIIIa rated laser won't light matches or pop ballons.
Which has me confused with the bullshit rating sticker.
I don't see why the fake (thus my name) rating didn't say classIIIb

The seller lied. Simple as that. Yep, they do.

The true rating of that laser is IIIb, in any case. It is mislabelled. Even my weakest green 301 puts out 50+ mW, the rest are 85 to 120 mW. Whatever power rating the seller stated on the website (500mW, 100000MW, etc.) is likewise a lie.

I have a lot to learn and appreciate everyones comments.:bowdown:

 

[Sta]

The laser will probably pop balloons if you focus the beam to a point. The balloon would have to be black or otherwise strongly absorb green light.

As far as breaking apart, I have never had a 301 break. Sometimes the doubler crystals come off, though. They are more durable than I had expected and tolerate long on-time well enough.



The seller lied. Simple as that. Yep, they do.

Regarding 301s breaking, every single 301 that I've ever bought has broken within 1-2 months. They are not good quality. Or maybe I just have terrible luck.

 

[Marco Polo]

Regarding 301s breaking, every single 301 that I've ever bought has broken within 1-2 months. They are not good quality. Or maybe I just have terrible luck.

I'm convinced the modules are factory rejects. I have no idea what sort of product would use this type of DPSS module other than a pointer. Small projector, maybe?

 

[Sta]

I'm convinced the modules are factory rejects. I have no idea what sort of product would use this type of DPSS module other than a pointer. Small projector, maybe?

I don't think they would have a need for that many small projectors. Think about how many 301s there are!

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

Have you tried turning the focusing knob on
the end?

 

[Faker]

Have you tried turning the focusing knob on
the end?

The focus on this laser was terrible.
I no longer have this laser.:thanks:

 

[hakzaw1]

@ OP

you are reading the 'label' incorrectly-- <500mW could mean 499mW or 1mW

btw
.5 W and above is IIRC class IIII-

did you look around the forums before you made these buys??

going now to read your 'intro' thread in the welcome section....

hak

 

[Faker]

@ OP

you are reading the 'label' incorrectly-- <500mW could mean 499mW or 1mW

btw
.5 W and above is IIRC class IIII-

did you look around the forums before you made these buys??

going now to read your 'intro' thread in the welcome section....

hak

Hey thanks for your input. If you read the entire thread you will get your answer.

The fake label is well...fake. I fully understand what information the "label' is trying to make you believe.

The label could have said <3W, but it was advertised as 500mW, so that would have been too far fetched.

Also in this thread are the definitions of classes IIIa and IIIb

Once again thanks for your input.:thanks: