Help With 5mW Laser

[Last One Left]

Hey guys i bought a green 5mW laser of ebay and it works very well..can see a visible line at night and im very impressed by it..so i decided to buy a few more..however i noticed that two of the new ones i bought are much much dimmer..im able to see the green dot, but no visible line at all!..some works well but some are alot weaker..is it because maybe the pot was turned down? can someone please help me fix them..it easier if i can fix them rather that having to send them back..any help will be greatly appreciated..Thanks..

 

[udanis]

Hey guys i bought a green 5mW laser of ebay and it works very well..can see a visible line at night and im very impressed by it..so i decided to buy a few more..however i noticed that two of the new ones i bought are much much dimmer..im able to see the green dot, but no visible line at all!..some works well but some are alot weaker..is it because maybe the pot was turned down? can someone please help me fix them..it easier if i can fix them rather that having to send them back..any help will be greatly appreciated..Thanks..

These lasers are made very cheap, I have ordered a few off of ebay. So far I am 1/6 in terms of nonworking to working. You have to consider shipping. Its usually around $2 to ship domestically. If they were shipped to you from out of the country it probably isn't worth it (depending how much you spent on them and if they will refund shipping) I'm am not a fan of pot modding, so I wont recommend it to you. (sure you going to get more power to the diode but that will also burn the laser out faster) If you ordered them from out of the country and they wont reimburse you for shipping I would say mod them then. There are plenty of topic's and youtube videos that can show you how to pot mod.

Hope this helps :beer:
Udanis

 

[Last One Left]

Ok kool..i guess i would pot mod..but i was thinking to bring it up to the brightness of my well working 5mw..so not to damage the diode or cystals..
Im i right? of is the result of the laser being dim is not because the pot was set lower than it should be..

 

[udanis]

Ok kool..i guess i would pot mod..but i was thinking to bring it up to the brightness of my well working 5mw..so not to damage the diode or cystals..
Im i right? of is the result of the laser being dim is not because the pot was set lower than it should be..

It could be a number of things.....the potentiometer, the diode, the crystals, or even the board. I would visibly compare the pots fist to see if they are set similarly.

 

[AdamCaudill]

Keep in mind that on these cheaper "5mW" greens that are common on eBay, the quality control is quite low and there is a huge variation in output power because of manufacturing defects. At one point pot-moding might have made sense, but now those lasers are often already pushed to their limit at the factory. It you try to adjust the pot to get more power, plan on it failing.

If you want more consistent results, I would advise you buy from a more reliable source. While o-like and rayfoss are more expensive then what you'll find on eBay, you also know what you are getting. In general, what you buy from them should meet the specs they listed.

 

[IsaacT]

Its highly likely that your first 5mW(the bright one) was way overspec....with ebay it can be hit and miss. I would say your "5mW" is probably somewhere closer to 30mW maybe more.

 

[sandidgepatrick]

yes like adamcaudill said ( reliable source) ......i perfer wlaser because they test before shipping (2/3 day shipping) and i know ive bought over 1000 5mw pens from them and all have been over spec...rayfoss,olike i good choice too for first lasers..sell the ones you got to friends dont bother tearing into them not worth it...

 

[Last One Left]

Well thats the thing, i bought these lasers for my friends, but after showing them my first laser they arent impressed with the ones i got for them since they are noticably dimmer..
Should i message the seller and ask about it? or do you guys think that my first was overspec and the others are actually 5mW?

 

[udanis]

Well thats the thing, i bought these lasers for my friends, but after showing them my first laser they arent impressed with the ones i got for them since they are noticably dimmer..
Should i message the seller and ask about it? or do you guys think that my first was overspec and the others are actually 5mW?

It couldn't hurt messaging the seller right?

 

[Last One Left]

Guess you right..will do that..

Hey guys whats the price on a tester to test the output mW off a laser? i have other lasers that im curious to know there strength..

 

[udanis]

Guess you right..will do that..

Hey guys whats the price on a tester to test the output mW off a laser? i have other lasers that im curious to know there strength..

For a low power tester they go for $70
Products

 

[qumefox]

If you can see the beam, it's way over 5mW, but I doubt it's 30mW from one of these cheap pens. The most I ever got out of one stock was 18mW of actual green, but these aren't IR filtered so on a meter it showed 37mW including the IR. Hold some green safety goggles in the beam though to subtract the green and it was still doing 19mW, which was just the IR.

 

[Last One Left]

Damn..so ur saying that even with green laser saftey glasses the IR could still fry your eye..thats some scary shit!!

Anyways..my green shows the beam at night even with street lights present..and in TOTAL darkness, the beam is alot brighter and solid..i always thought that that was really good for 5mW, but now im thinking that is overspec

 

[IsaacT]

Damn..so ur saying that even with green laser saftey glasses the IR could still fry your eye..thats some scary shit!!

That is why everyone really pushes getting IR filters in your lasers. No IR to slip past if you take care of that problem before it even becomes one.

And why the sad face? Overspec is nice IMO, just don't go pointing at people.

 

[qumefox]

That or get goggles that block IR and green.. which are fairly expensive

 

[Last One Left]

That is why everyone really pushes getting IR filters in your lasers. No IR to slip past if you take care of that problem before it even becomes one.

And why the sad face? Overspec is nice IMO, just don't go pointing at people.

Overspec is nice, but the reason for the sad face is because i was expecting all 5mW green to be as bright as my first lol..

That or get goggles that block IR and green.. which are fairly expensive

Ok kool i would look in to it..