Ebay 593nm laser pointer

[Skittles]

Just recently bought one of the generic Chinese lasers on ebay, but in 593nm color. I always wanted a yellow laser and finally found a cheapy one!
Seller link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115940412471

Got it for a $51 offer which is a steal for a 593nm in my opinion.

The laser itself is pretty cheaply made with an exposed driver and a subpar heat sink. It uses a 18350 battery.


A cold start would reveal a very dim green dot (pink on camera) which these new DPSS yellows are famous for I guess, after turning it on again it turns into golden amber color



(Color adjusted the image to try to accurately portray the color of the dot)

After some use the laser would start turning off by itself even with fresh battery and proper duty cycles, my guess is poor heat dissipation, and that's what the seller says too. The laser would work fine again until it warms up. I messaged the seller about it and they offered me a partial refund or replacement which is very kind on their part.


(Added some fog)


Other than all the drawbacks the beam is a beauty and I hope it lasts for as long as it can.

 

[Unown (WILD)]

I might pick one of these up and see if I can either put it in another host or heat sink the current one.

 

[paul1598419]

I'd take them up on their offer to replace it. You really shouldn't be having these types of problems. Did you get a output power level or measure the power yourself?

 

[Skittles]

I'd take them up on their offer to replace it. You really shouldn't be having these types of problems. Did you get a output power level or measure the power yourself?

I said I'll buy another laser from them with the partial refund if they give me one, so I ended up getting a $40 660nm laser from them for $20.
It works fine once it warms up, I just can't have it on for too long.
They advertise it at 10mW. I have a cheap LPM that measured 40mW.

 

[paul1598419]

Those 660 nm lasers are direct diode lasers and should work fine cold. I have a few myself, but I built all of them.

 

[ajaym]

I purchased one from a vendor dy_laser on ebay and the host looks identical to the one in the OP's image.

It appears to be exactly as specified, the vendor claims 10mw which although I don't have a power meter, the brightness looks about right. I ran it continuously for over half an hour and the host barely got warm, so I haven't seen the issues that the OP raised at all.
As I haven't (yet) gotten an 18350 battery for it, I connected it to my lab power supply at 3.7V. It drew approximately 350mA which again is consistent with the vendor's specification.
It started immediately with a perfect yellow beam, I would guess the ambient temperature of the host was around 10 degrees C at that point, because the package had been sitting outside all day on a cold winter's day here, and it hadn't warmed up to room temp when I first powered it up. The vendor does indicate that it might need to be warmed up and indeed I've seen this behaviour with standard 532nm green DPSS lasers as well.
For £50 this is an absolute steal, I always dreamed of owning a yellow laser but the prices were eye-watering. Same vendor also offers a 555-561nm unit for the same price. I'm very tempted, I have to admit.
PS: the actual module appears to be held into the host by a small grubscrew and hence ought to be easily removable, I didn't check whether there's any glue as well mind you.

 

[Ricker]

Did you end up doing this, Unown? I'm going to try the same thing. The host isn't the prettiest thing ever, but can't complain for the price!

I might pick one of these up and see if I can either put it in another host or heat sink the current one.

 

[Unown (WILD)]

Na not yet. Kinda out of money for projects right now. But shouldn't be that hard to do if you plan on it.