Heres what I've come down to...

[bobobob121]

[quote author=L4sers link=1211925366/36#42 date=1211969756]the IR is more than the regular ouput? So if I had a 50mW, and it leaked a little bit, (say I shoot it at a wall 10ft away), how much IR do you think will be in the air?

Probably anywhere from 10-40+ mw. It varies depending on the laser's crystal alignment, design and other factors.[/quote]


you would still get that much IR from 10 feet?

 

[styropyro]

Chad- How do you know that your eyes got damaged by IR?

 

[Chad]

Styro - 'cause I had a headache and a blind spot for a week, and I didn't catch anything visible in my eye.   I was using a filterless laser at the time.

Bob - No. the IR diverges much faster than the green... usually more than 5mRad, as opposed to the green's less than 2mRad. If you get hit in the eye from 10 feet, you won't get 10mWs in your eye.

 

[bobobob121]

yea, thats what i figured. But i heard someone say 10mW and i was confused. I figured it would be like 2-5mW

 

[styropyro]

Bob - No. the IR diverges much faster than the green... usually more than 5mRad, as opposed to the green's less than 2mRad. If you get hit in the eye from 10 feet, you won't get 10mWs in your eye.

I'm not sure this is the case with all greenies these days. That 10mW greenie I won in that contest at Spectra holds a pretty tight IR beam along with the green. The aperture "cap" blocks most of the IR coming from it, but the IR that escapes stays in a pretty tight beam with the green.

 

[bobobob121]

i guess ill have to test the IR leakage with my digital camera when my laser comes. Which btw, should be about 7 days because thats how long it took for my first half of the order to arrive after DX said it was shipped.

 

[Razako]

Just buy on of these and glue it to the front of your laser if you are truly concerned about the IR.
http://www.novalasers.com/NOVAstore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=6&idproduct=68

 

[bobobob121]

i posted in the other topic..read that one for me concerning my laser

 

[L4sers]

Thanks guys. So if Im like 15ft+ away, IR is perfectly safe, and even if im 5ft away, IR can be safe. Im not gonna be an idiot, shoot a laser, and stand right infront of where I shot and let my eyes burn..

If I shoot a laser, anywhere, even at a match, id let the IR stay there for a min or two, than go get whatever I lit, popped, burnt, or was pointing at, etc..

 

[bobobob121]

umm, IR doesent exactly float around after the laser is turned off. As soon as the laser is turned off, BOTH green and IR rays stop. So its safe as soon as you turn if off to go up and get what you lit on fire

 

[Razako]

umm, IR doesent exactly float around after the laser is turned off. As soon as the laser is turned off, BOTH green and IR rays stop. So its safe as soon as you turn if off to go up and get what you lit on fire

^quote for truth

 

[bobobob121]

haha, thanks man I think some people believe IR is like a gas emitted from a laser or something. lol

 

[L4sers]

so why do ppl freak out about IR if it goes away when you turn the laser off? Am I missing something? How does the IR actually get to your eyes??

 

[bobobob121]

well, IR spreads in a cone pattern instead of a strait line like the green lase. Also, you cannot see IR because it is too high in the color spectrum "i believe". Therefore, you wont be able to tell when it is reflecting off of something and going into your eyes.

 

[L4sers]

well, IR spreads in a cone pattern instead of a strait line like the green lase. Also, you cannot see IR because it is too high in the color spectrum "i believe". Therefore, you wont be able to tell when it is reflecting off of something and going into your eyes.

So it goes left/right instead of straight like a laser?

  ^^^^^^^^^
[=========]-----------------------------------
handle   beam           ^^^^^^^^^
        IR light spreading left/right


Does it go as fast a laser? So if there is a window to the right of me, could it get to the window in a split second like a beam?

 

[Chad]

I'll let someone else do a clever ASCII thing to better describe it.

But yes, it goes as fast as the other light. It's still a laser, it's just lasing at a few different wavelengths. 532 and 808/1064nm.