If You've Actually Received Your Spyder III Arctic - Post Here

[electron]

Hello, congrats on receiving your G2 that was one long wait for sure. When you say packaging material are you referring to how the Laser was actually packaged-up I suppose, or the construction of the Laser itself?

 

[ICU]

I think I've figured out the secret to getting your arctic, according to the shipping schedule they posted, mine was to be shipped late September, but it shipped out on 8/30, the same day I made a ticket to cancel the order..... makes ya wonder don't it.


I requested the G1 in three different emails, I received the G2:yabbmad:
I requested the extra pair of goggles and lens pen.... not received:scowl:
I added to my order the expanded lens kit.... not received:cryyy:


WL:gun:

ETA: It seems to be in working order, no excessive thermal paste, I wont have time to really do anything with it till I get back from vacation next week.

 

[aryntha]

Both of mine said in the packing slip that they contained the lens pen; there was, of course, no lens pens to be found in either package.

 

[jbtm]

Guess I was one of the few that got a non-rushed arctic...I got mine almost a month ago now, and used it almost every day, sometimes 2 min runs (the laser was still cold to touch), and it works good...No paint damage, Threads are greased and smooth, No cracks on the lens, no overkill thermal grease, battery charged about 4 times, I have 1.328 mRad divergence, and nothing shifts/rattles, like when pointing up/down.

I have burned a hole fully through 3mm thick black plastic at 20ft in maybe 2-3 minutes. Smelled, but was cool

 

[aryntha]

Guess I was one of the few that got a non-rushed arctic...I got mine almost a month ago now, and used it almost every day, sometimes 2 min runs (the laser was still cold to touch), and it works good...No paint damage, Threads are greased and smooth, No cracks on the lens, no overkill thermal grease, battery charged about 4 times, I have 1.328 mRad divergence, and nothing shifts/rattles, like when pointing up/down.

I have burned a hole fully through 3mm thick black plastic at 20ft in maybe 2-3 minutes. Smelled, but was cool

Do you use any of the "lenses" on yours? Just wondering, as I'm still wondering if I should be concerned about back-reflections.

 

[jbtm]

Do you use any of the "lenses" on yours? Just wondering, as I'm still wondering if I should be concerned about back-reflections.

Never been concerned about any of that. I always use the main lens, The training lens is rather useless to me, and I keep my main lens on to prevent dust issues, and keep the looks of the lens crown.

 

[ZapU]

Guess I was one of the few that got a non-rushed arctic...I got mine almost a month ago now, and used it almost every day, sometimes 2 min runs (the laser was still cold to touch), and it works good...No paint damage, Threads are greased and smooth, No cracks on the lens, no overkill thermal grease, battery charged about 4 times, I have 1.328 mRad divergence, and nothing shifts/rattles, like when pointing up/down.

I have burned a hole fully through 3mm thick black plastic at 20ft in maybe 2-3 minutes. Smelled, but was cool

Is yours a G1 or G2?

 

[W4NX]

Obviously he's got a G1 if it's been in his hands for a month. My G1 is still working fine. I haven't used it in a couple days because I'm waiting on my new batteries.

I also stopped using the main dust cover. I use the training lens without the NDF in place. Quick question, how many other people have lenses that are glued on top? Any quick way to get the glue off?

 

[jbtm]

Is yours a G1 or G2?

G1 series. Maybe the line of "quality" no rush. Nothing is wrong, this is by far the best quality laser I own...

What 'lens' glued on top??

Also, what batteries? They need to be flat tops..Mine sharing?

 

[W4NX]

The lens assembly has two spots of glue on top keeping it from moving in the module. The lens retaining nut is also on top in mine instead of facing the diode like the first batch of G1s out the door.

I ordered a 4pack of Tenergy 2600mAh 18650s from Amazon. I wanted to go with AW but they appear to be too long. These Tenergy batteries were the closest I could find to the length of the cell provided by WL. I'm prepared for some longer charge times, that's why I ordered 4 and a new charger with 2 slots.

Did we ever figure out what the little black metal "top hat" was for?

 

[brando132]

I just got an email saying my laser shipped out on the second, so I should get by Tuesday, yay! Took for-frikkin-ever...

 

[ZapU]

G1 series. Maybe the line of "quality" no rush. Nothing is wrong, this is by far the best quality laser I own...

What 'lens' glued on top??

Also, what batteries? They need to be flat tops..Mine sharing?

Click on my sig for a compilation of Arctic info!

 

[jbtm]

Click on my sig for a compilation of Arctic info!

The only thing there for help is the battery exploding. All that "Removing the lens" crap is waste of my time for me. Why do all that? Did your laser have a loose lens? Mine is nailed in TIHGHT. NOTHING moves around, and the beam stays the same width no matter what angle it's at. So I see no point, I rather just leave my black plastic cap over the lens assembly, and not mess with it. The divergence is already more than I can ask, 1.3 some mRad. at 20ft it's just about 1CM wide, and burns through 3mm thick plastic in 2-3 minutes.

So thanks anyways, I will leave my laser as-is =D Also I charged the battery over 8 times by now, never exploded. I wish my batteries were flat top...2800mAh. But the Positive sticks out. It can fit into my arctic, but it cant close with more than 3mm of space (barely threaded on)

You said yours was 0.5" wide at 20', mine was about 1/4" maybe 0.3", with unmodified laser.

 

[ZapU]

The only thing there for help is the battery exploding. All that "Removing the lens" crap is waste of my time for me. Why do all that? Did your laser have a loose lens? Mine is nailed in TIHGHT. NOTHING moves around, and the beam stays the same width no matter what angle it's at. So I see no point, I rather just leave my black plastic cap over the lens assembly, and not mess with it. The divergence is already more than I can ask, 1.3 some mRad. at 20ft it's just about 1CM wide, and burns through 3mm thick plastic in 2-3 minutes.

So thanks anyways, I will leave my laser as-is =D Also I charged the battery over 8 times by now, never exploded. I wish my batteries were flat top...2800mAh. But the Positive sticks out. It can fit into my arctic, but it cant close with more than 3mm of space (barely threaded on)

You said yours was 0.5" wide at 20', mine was about 1/4" maybe 0.3", with unmodified laser.

I'm glad yours is working well.
Sounds like you have a well focused Arctic. Yours is the shortest bar reported so far. G2's may even have another lens assembly to focus that tight.

There is concern that the Casio diode is sensitive to reflected light. Several Arctics had their diodes go LED on them shortly after they arrived. The full power cap reduces the output by about 100mW and the glass is not AR coated. Removing the glass reflection just raises the power and reduces the chance of diode failure.

Only one battery has exploded that has been posted on this forum. Since it is so low powered anyway, replacement is a no brainer.

Also, I wanted to be able to focus the lens, and to determine which lens the Arctic had shipped with, but as I said in my post, you don't have to do that.

Also curious if your training lens is glued into the cap.

 

[electron]

My Arctic G1 was received in pristine condition, I don't think it was rushed because it took 2 months to actually get here. I'm satisfied with the build of it, it had a little too much thermal grease down in there, but a few felt tips swished around there took care of all of that w/o taking anything apart. I have not removed that large "hat" over the lens as I don't want to mess with it and I have no reason to. The G2 that took 3 months to arrive, didn't have any thermal grease that needed to be removed and everything works as it should.

Yes I did have a battery explode in the charger. I'm using an AW IMR (65.05mm) battery now, it has a different chemistry that is very safe and shouldn't have any issues even while in the Arctic itself, as one other user reported with his WL supplied battery. All the LED's work correctly with the AW IMR battery, so I'm very satisfied the way the Arctic is working with that safe battery. You can get those batteries from lighthound, oveready, etc.

After following the threads for awhile about possible reflections, I did take lens out of the training lens and I use that now on the Arctic, I had no worries about the diode getting dirty because you still have the optics over it, and a little can of air can easy get rid of any dust; just put the Arctic back in its case when your finished and it shouldn't really be an issue.

I've read about the epoxy being on that retainer ring and a person couldn't remove it. Here's an idea, I haven't tried it so be careful, but since that ring is only made out of plastic I would think it would be fairly easy to take a moto tool or similar and drill out the epoxy OR make yourself 2 new indents and then use your snap ring pliers to remove that ring.

 

[jbtm]

ZapU, Ya, I'm very happy with its results. For as long as I had it, I ALWAYS used the training lens. Just recently (last night at 2AM) I started to use the training lens with the glass lens removed. I shined the laser at the lens, and noted the nice amount that reflects back onto my wall.

I just didnt want to because I always stand my arctic up tail-cap on table. I know you can do it the otherway...But this allows dust to freefall onto the lens.


Mmmm..Arctic looks prity under blue light in acrylic box... =D