First Contact Polymer Cleaner Question

[Benm]

It is pretty expensive stuff, but you don't need to clean that much of the window surface really.

People sometimes worry about contaminants right at the edge between the window and the laser diode case, but there is no need. No light actually passes there, all of it typically goes through a small part in the middle of the window.

The main advantage of the polymer material is that it mechanically catches pieces of dust and such, and so is able to remove things that would not dissolve in isopropanol or similar solvents. It's not intended for, or good at, removing grease and and such.

For expensive diodes it could be a good precaution though, as dust will probably bake onto the window when the laser is turned on, and cannot be removed by any means short of removing the window afterwards.

 

[Pman]

Yeah I understand. I should be getting those pointy q-tips today from Amazon. For now I'm going to wait on the cleaner unless I can find a smaller amount. I keep all of my lasers in cases with those farm blocks and don't use them like most others do so it's not as likely that anything will get on the can window. More likely I would get something on a lens and I could use some for a few of those.

 

[Ricker]

Yeah I understand. I should be getting those pointy q-tips today from Amazon. For now I'm going to wait on the cleaner unless I can find a smaller amount. I keep all of my lasers in cases with those farm blocks and don't use them like most others do so it's not as likely that anything will get on the can window. More likely I would get something on a lens and I could use some for a few of those.

Yeah, exactly, I honestly wouldn't have bought the 50 dollar bottle if I didn't use a cutting disk to get the diodes out of the block, so I needed something.