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Laser did i waste money

Jeremyo

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Jan 23, 2019
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Hey guys I'm new to laser's. .I did some quick reviewing and on a wim I but a blue laser for 55$ on ebay from China. ..I think I'm having regrets cause I was inpatient. .I haven't received it yet but can't cancel it...any input would be great.. is it visible

Item Name: GDWLaser Pointer Laser Color: Blue Light Wavelength: 450nm Size: Ø34*215mm Weight: 350g Battery: 2*16340 Rechargeable Li batteries(NOT INCLUDING) Max Output Power: 5mW Switch: Momentary Switch Body Color: black Meterial: Aeronautical Aluminum Range: About 500-10000M Warranty: 1 years Working voltage:DC=6.0-7.4V. Preheat time: < 3seconds Working temperature: +15~+35 Storage temperature: -10~+40
 





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Sep 4, 2018
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I can't seem to find the listing, but it sounds like you paid a bit too much based on their listed specification - though saying that it will likely be a lot more powerful than 5mW because most sellers of lasers are required to mark theirs as 5mW to sidestep import and customs regulations.

If you could send the link - then we'd be able to tell better.
 

GSS

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I don't know much about that host or what might be in it??
Looking at this sellers other products the prices seem to be in between the rip off sights sights and the low price ones. His single diodes are very expensive and over priced.
 

Jeremyo

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Jan 23, 2019
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That's disappointing new's. ..any suggestion I'd like to spend roughly 100$ on a better one if this becomes a lemon
...something to get threw Canadian customs ..or labeled to get threw..class 4 and class 3b are illegal..
 

Jeremyo

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Jan 23, 2019
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I live on a lake nice and dark...something with a good visible beam colour prefer blue but green is fine to
 
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Sep 4, 2018
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Green is more visible per unit of power compared to blue due to our eyes being more sensitive to its colour - though there are some affordable high-quality lasers avaliable.

Good companies to buy from are Sanwu and JetLasers, and these usually have no issue getting through customs, and if you're unsure you can get in contact with them directly.
 
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DANG Jer-- do you EVER just make on post at a time?

each time in this thread you have posted 'doubles' rather than using 'edit' and making one less post.
It is NOT the quantity of your posts it IS the quality of them

As you look around the forum you will NOT find and here doing doubles except the newcomers. THIs has been a 'rule' since before I joined.. I think 'they' were saying we MUST draw a line somewhere and they choose that line at max 'ONE post in a row'. So I doubt you want one of our Mods to clean up your doubles so please do that yourself. edit/copy/dele.. edit /paste save---

Post count at LPF means nothing.

Going now, with hopes that you did the right thing in making a nice 'Intro' in the Newcomers /Welcome section
WHY? are you a newcomer? & we want to WELCOME you. I promise you will not regret.
WITH your location in the thread title like I did 9 years ago 'Hello from Texas' it also needs to be in your profile if not already..
I got greetz from a dozen other forum members in Texas!!

and since then I have been blessed in really meeting at 7 LEMs~100 forum members world wide in person. ( at LEMs)
Attend the next LEM you can and you will say

AHA!! that is what hak was talking about!!
Its all about safety AND enjoying LPF/Lasers.
later

hak
 
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Sep 20, 2013
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It looks like they are asking $59.00 for this laser now. My best guess is it uses a projector diode that could be driven to as much as 1.5 to 1.8 watts using a three element glass lens as these diodes are very inexpensive now. It is difficult to speculate how much current they are driving it with, so it is impossible to know how much power it will output until it is measured. Hopefully, they used a glass lens and not the much cheaper acrylic lens or the lens will not last very long if it puts out anywhere near 1 watt or more.
 
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Aug 14, 2018
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That's disappointing new's. ..any suggestion I'd like to spend roughly 100$ on a better one if this becomes a lemon
...something to get threw Canadian customs ..or labeled to get threw..class 4 and class 3b are illegal..
Class 3b and up is illegal almost everywhere...

I like those eBay ads. You can read from them whatever you want. Naming the Product 2WBW1 might hint you in the 2W direction, especially if they name the Diode „BW1“. In the tech spec they promise 2mW, later „max 5mW“. So if it turnes out to deliver 2mW you got what had been told. Not likely, but whatever you get you are not in a position to complain.

I still try to imagine how „burn matches“, „cigaret lighter“ and „pet amusement“ might go together. If it is what I think, your pets will not be amused. If you are not the kind of person who finds joy in setting their tail on fire, you should keep it far off your pets. Your conference partners might well be impressed if you burn your opinion into the presentation wall. Or maybe not, if you forgot to hand them safety goggles before.

o_O
 

Jeremyo

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Jan 23, 2019
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Hey guys I appreciate the input like I said I'm new to this. .I'll update you when I get it..hopefully it work's out..I'll do green next time...looking for a solid visible beam is all I wanted...
 
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I like that body style, would be nice with a 1/2 watt dpss 532 in it.

The laser diode slowly becomes less efficient outputting less energy but still making waste heat, many diodes are rated at specified drive current in MTTF and MTTHB which is mean time to failure and mean time to half brightness.

An old high hour laser diode may output 50, 60, 70 percent of what it once did for quite some time, so the answer is they typically wear down slowly unless overdriven in which case they can go " LED " or blow and may only emit a dim glow or nothing.
 
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It really depends on what type of diode you are using. Decanned blue diodes do tend to decrease in power over time, but others often just fail. I have lasers I built over 7 years ago that still output the same as they did new. Most of mine that failed did so all of a sudden. The driver is often still good, so I just end up replacing the diode.
 
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The older blues ( phosphor pumping projector blues ) would die suddenly especially when overdriven as we often do, but the newer blues tend to dim down over their lifespan which will be reduced when overdriven, if driven at spec and kept in the specified temp range they should almost always dim down over their lifespan.

One reason these blues can be overdriven so hard is they are designed so that the projector can increase the drive current over their service life to maintain projector output as they wear and lose some efficiency, this healthy headroom allows us to push them well over spec as much as 50% or more and they do hold up pretty well, much better than say....an IR industrial laser diode that may fail suddenly if overdriven by even 25%

My lasers get a lot of use and I have worn many down and seen lower output over a year and longer of daily use, almost always overdriven, some people may not use theirs as often or for as long but everything wears out in time and with these laser diodes it's the on time that causes wear, shelf time does not appear to cause any noticeable degradation.
 
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