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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Laser drastically reducing power immediately

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I Have a 532nm, +350mW laser pointer and now when I turn it on the power starts at full and then looks like it's the brightness of a 50mW laser after 2 seconds of being on. Fully charged battery, and it's -5c outside. I don't think the weather has anything to do with it but I'm just curious if anyone has any input. It's snowing hard and it would be reaaaaaaally awesome to fire this bad boy into the snow tonight.
 





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I Have a 532nm, +350mW laser pointer and now when I turn it on the power starts at full and then looks like it's the brightness of a 50mW laser after 2 seconds of being on. Fully charged battery, and it's -5c outside. I don't think the weather has anything to do with it but I'm just curious if anyone has any input. It's snowing hard and it would be reaaaaaaally awesome to fire this bad boy into the snow tonight.

Check the batteries on a multimeter.
IME the problem you are having usually is accompanied by a mode shift.
If you expand the beam using another lens, look at the beam profile. If it changes shape after the power drops then your laser is mode shifting.

This can be caused by temperature extremes so you can try warming the laser up to body temperature or test it indoors.
Running it for a little while can also help it warm up and it may go back to normal.

But just with the info you posted here all I can offer is my best guess.
Good luck.
 
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Changed the battery, the same thing happened. I'm starting to get worried.
 
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Warmed it up, and I believe it's mode shifting because the shape of the dot is changing as well.
 
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Sounds like mode shifting. At first I thought it was just the batteries, because rechargeable batteries can have a bit of a weird power output where they peak and drop immediately after. Personal experience here.
RA_Pierce is right about the temperature thing. DPSS lasers are pretty sensitive, so the best thing to do with them is to hold them in hand or in your pocket so they stay warm, especially when it's -3 and snowing.
 

Zeebit

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Keep it on longer. It needs time to warm up to reach full power especially with the weather you have.
 
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It's been warm for hours now, the same thing is happening. It is just a point and click, there is only one mode and the dot looks like it's rotating, as if the diode were rotating. Is there any way to fix this?
 
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Not sure about "diode rotating" but it does sound like a mode shift issue. Are you sure you are operating the laser within the operating temperature? The laser crystals involved in 532nm are pretty temperature sensitive, you may damage your laser if you operate the laser outside of the operating temperature. Try warming it up to room temperature then turn it on. Charge your batteries while you're at it, cold or hot batteries don't perform well. I get this a lot when I try to use my WL Executive when its cold out, it flickers immediately from a bright dot to a very dim unstable dot after like half a second of turning it on, and the dot shifts around as it tries to warm up
 
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Tmack

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A mode shift isn't when your laser has multiple modes. It's when the diode flickers. Your thinking of a multimode driver with four settings. The mode hopping they are talking abut is when a dpss is unstable and flickering.
 
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Not sure about "diode rotating" but it does sound like a mode shift issue. Are you sure you are operating the laser within the operating temperature? The laser crystals involved in 532nm are pretty temperature sensitive, you may damage your laser if you operate the laser outside of the operating temperature. Try warming it up to room temperature then turn it on. Charge your batteries while you're at it, cold or hot batteries don't perform well. I get this a lot when I try to use my WL Executive when its cold out, it flickers immediately from a bright dot to a very dim unstable dot after like half a second of turning it on, and the dot shifts around as it tries to warm up




I think you nailed it there. How do I fix this issue, because mine does what your WL Ex does but it doesn't come around. Does anyone know how much it will be to fix(what parts do I need etc.)?
 
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Well, as far as I know, the fix is to warm it up to room temperature (the internal components need to be within the operating temperature, not just the casing). If it doesn't hop back into a nice clean dot when it's warmed up, then either the cost is a) warm it up some more, or b) the cost of a new laser. These crystals are very hard to realign, and it's generally not worth fixing. I am interested as to why your laser isn't coming back into TEM00 (nice clean round dot) though, usually that's due to the laser not being within operating temperature
 
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Keep it on longer. It needs time to warm up to reach full power especially with the weather you have.

With one of my greens, it always holds at full power if it's very cold outside. When it's average temperature, it dims until it has time to warm up a little.
 
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Yeah, so it's destroyed then...... That's so shitty. I just bought it from a member on here a few weeks ago and as soon as it gets snowy and just absolutely beautiful for a laser, the thing breaks due to the visual effect is too amazing. LOL That sucks hard. Thank you guys for your assistance. I think I'll just stick to WL which I can turn on and leave it on until it gets nice and warm and then I can bring it outside for as long as I keep it on (100% duty cycle)
 
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I am dubious that you broke your laser trying to operate it outside of its temperature range... I may be wrong though. Leave it on your desk perhaps for the night, away from hot or cold areas and see if it works fine the next morning. Also check for physical problems, use different batteries, press on a different part of the button (if it's a momentary press), screw the endcap down all the way or not so much, etc
 
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Try it with different batteries. Try it at DIFFERENT temperatures, hot AND cold. Some like it hot, some do not.

50mW is still a LOT of green. I think you mean it looks like 0.5mW.

If none of that works, then either the diode, driver, or crystal set is hosed, possibly all three. If it's the crystal set, fahgeddaboudit. The diode may be able to be swapped out depending on how it goes together. If it's the driver, then it can be easily swapped out.
 
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I am dubious that you broke your laser trying to operate it outside of its temperature range... I may be wrong though. Leave it on your desk perhaps for the night, away from hot or cold areas and see if it works fine the next morning. Also check for physical problems, use different batteries, press on a different part of the button (if it's a momentary press), screw the endcap down all the way or not so much, etc

Tried all of that the night it happened.
 




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