How well do laser goggles work?

[Kaaklph]

Look I love you guys but when we're all finished touching each other...

Anyway, I think I'll settle on these Laser Glasses - UV to Green Lasers Protection 190-548nm :: Laser Safety :: Dragon Lasers - obviously DL have a good reputation so I trust these

As soon as these arrive an my otpto, I'll do an extensive review for the boards an such. Unfortunately I only have a Core to compare it with but yeah

 

[Bluefan]

These glasses are quite nice for their price, a decent rating and an optical density chart. It's not like those unrated supercheap goggles sometimes sold very expensive, but it's not certified to any standard either. I'd use it up to ~300mW max, good enough for many purposes.
Note that it doesn't cover any IR coming out of a laser.

 

[survivor]

I'm freaking out about how I can kill my eyes very, very easily.

So let's just say I am wearing goggles, and a reflected beam hits me (with the goggles on) - say 150mW (an opto)

Is there any real danger?

Also what's the deal with the IR, optotronics doesn't filter it out.

Also does it matter which goggles I buy or are goggles just goggles?

As far asi know, optotronics yes do filter IR, you can check it out on their website

 

[Benm]

Well, why trust the filter

I think any gogges fit for protection against 532 should also block 808 and 1064 very well. Those bands are commonly leaked from such lasers, by bad design or by failure. Since both are nearly invisible and can be present in dangerous power levels, it just stands to reason to get anti-green goggles that also block NIR.

If you are concerned about your safety, you should not assume that any ir filter in the laser has been fitted properly, nor that it was not dislodged in shipping or something similar.

 

[HIMNL9]

I think any gogges fit for protection against 532 should also block 808 and 1064 very well

It was very good, if it was so ..... unfortunately, 90% of green goggles are red, and this don't filter any 808nm, usually ..... may be found some that filter 1064, but usually for a casualty due to the composition of the lenses, not on purpose (except, ofcourse, the dichroic ones, but they cost so much that an hobbyst usually don't have a possibility )

 

[LSRFAQ]

Make sure you get at least Optical Density 5 or OD 6 if your working with high power, OD 5 attenuates the beam by 100,000 times, and OD6, 10x times more then OD5.

OD3 or OD4 goggles are used for alignment purposes, and are not rated for protection, ie OD3 knocks the beam down by 1000 times, and OD4 10,000 times.

So 1 watt at OD3 becomes 1 mW etc
But usually the dyes used in Od3 or OD4 are a joke when you aim real power at them, and bleach. That is the danger with cheap goggles, how long before the dyes bleach...

You get what you pay for , and for work with say a quarter watt and up, certainly buy a professional tested goggle.

Steve

 

[Bluefan]

For visible green, the alignment goggles usually are OD2 for up to 100mW, and OD3 up to 1W. Please note that goggles need to be certified according to EN208 to guarantee that this OD is sustained at least 10 seconds during a direct hit. EN207 is for complete protection and is more complex.

But I think up to about 200mW some cheap goggles with the right OD will do, just make sure they are rated, or you don't know anything about their protection anyway. Somebody willing to sacrifice a cheap nonrated goggles to see how bad this really is?

Note that IR protection is a completely different subject. I'd say 99% of all goggles for green don't cover IR. Those that do are more expensive. I disagree that goggles covering 532 should also cover 808nm and 1064, if any of that is coming out of your laser, you have a cheap laser and should replace/repair it. Goggles covering both the 532 and 808+1064 cover bad lasers, but are less in VLT. So get some proper lasers or IR filters for them.

And if you wear goggles against green but have even more IR leaking out of your laser, you have about just as much risk and protection as not wearing goggles at all.

 

[HIMNL9]

..... Somebody willing to sacrifice a cheap nonrated goggles to see how bad this really is?.....

..... already done (almost) .....

as you can see, they can last at least a pair of seconds against a focused to burn 150mW (that, hopefully, is not the hit that you can get from an accidental reflex) ..... as i've repeatedly said, they are not the better choice for long alignment work with high power lasers, but for reflections, also from specular surfaces, they seem ok

 

[Benm]

We should seperate cases on intended purpose though.

People who want to look right -into- green dpss lasers should be extra aware of the IR hazards and use protective eyeware accordingly.

In reality, some accidental hit is very unlikely to focus both IR and green light onto your eye - which would mean that the guaranteed OD at 532 should suffice in most cases.

If you do plan on working with dpss laser innards, i would still strongly advise using goggles that block both green and ir. In the field you can encounter lasers where the IR power far exceeds the green power, often due to malfunction. Even on a properly working dpss the ir is 10x more powerful than the desired green output, which is a factor to consider in appropriate safety measures!