Laser starting to get weaker

[HenryC]

About 5 months ago I purchased the Stick 100mW green laser pointer from Lazerer and Now I have noticed that it is getting kinda weaker/dim and the dot flickers in intensity, even when the battery is fully charged.

Do you guys have any idea why is this hapening? do I have a faulty battery or a laser diode? has anyone had any experience like this?

 

[ElectroMagneticFreak]

Do you notice if the flickering or variation in intensity changes depending on temperature? I have a 30mW 532nm (green) pointer which does this until the temperature becomes warm enough for it to be stable. If I remember correctly, it seemed that it didn't have this problem when it was new.

After holding it in my hand for a few minutes or placing it somewhere warm (above room temperature) usually the flickering goes away and the laser puts out it's full power continuously afterwards.

It very well could be that yours has something else going on but you could always try placing it somewhere warm first and see if it helps.

 

[HenryC]

It doesn't have to do with temperature, the weather here is very warm and I also palced my laser in my pocket for a lot of time to warm it up and test that out, but te laser still is pretty weak.

 

[Bob_Boyce]

It doesn't have to do with temperature, the weather here is very warm and I also palced my laser in my pocket for a lot of time to warm it up and test that out, but te laser still is pretty weak.

Low end DPSS 532nm laser pointers tend to be inherently unstable, and typically become even more unstable with age. That's to be expected.

Bob

 

[HenryC]

Well that's a bummer, I was aware I was buying a Chinese laser, but considering Lazerer's rep around here I'd neve r guess 70 bucks would last me 5 months.

What a dissapointment.

 

[Eradicator]

This comes with the territory cheap DPSS dies, its a fact I hate and have learned to live with. LUCKILY, the new green diodes are finally getting down to reasonable prices and higher power green diodes are right around the corner.

If you want a DPSS 532nm laser that will last, your gonna have to pay the premium for optotronics or another top tier company.

I spent over 100 dollars at lazerer for a laser that only lasted about 1 month. I do think that's unacceptable and will no longer buy from them, but I at least did receive a laser and it did seem to be near spec (didn't have an lpm at the time). Receiving a working laser is better than a lot of people get from China, even if it only worked for a little bit.

 

[HenryC]

Well that's an optimistic way to see things hehe. I guess there is no point trying to contact support at Lazerer.

Thanks for the answers guys!

 

[Eradicator]

Well that's an optimistic way to see things hehe. I guess there is no point trying to contact support at Lazerer.

Thanks for the answers guys!

Always try to see the bright side, you can walk around mad about stuff all the time, but that wont get you anywhere and you are in a bad mood. If you try to be optimistic, you can at least get nowhere and feel good about it lol.

 

[HitShane]

Always try to see the bright side, you can walk around mad about stuff all the time, but that wont get you anywhere and you are in a bad mood. If you try to be optimistic, you can at least get nowhere and feel good about it lol.

That's Great +1

 

[Tw15t3r]

Well that's a bummer, I was aware I was buying a Chinese laser, but considering Lazerer's rep around here I'd neve r guess 70 bucks would last me 5 months.

What a dissapointment.

HenryC, just wanted to let you know that I have an o-like 50mW module I bought 3 years ago, and it still serves me well today. That company is a chinese company, and no doubt they no longer sell that particular module that I bought, but if you're willing to give another shot at buying from another company, you could try them. No guarantees though. This was 3 years ago. The point is, don't lose faith in Chinese companies!

 

[HenryC]

HenryC, just wanted to let you know that I have an o-like 50mW module I bought 3 years ago, and it still serves me well today. That company is a chinese company, and no doubt they no longer sell that particular module that I bought, but if you're willing to give another shot at buying from another company, you could try them. No guarantees though. This was 3 years ago. The point is, don't lose faith in Chinese companies!

I will buy another one for sure if this one is dead, the damn laser bug bit me hard!

O-Like was an option before but at the end i switched to lazerer, I'll take a look again .

 

[Bionic-Badger]

The only real difference between Lazerer and other cheapo laser sites is that they meter their lasers and specify that output at the time of sale. As for build-quality, etc. they're really no better, but that should be expected at that price point anyway.

 

[Bob_Boyce]

The only real difference between Lazerer and other cheapo laser sites is that they meter their lasers and specify that output at the time of sale. As for build-quality, etc. they're really no better, but that should be expected at that price point anyway.

So true. The 532nm green DPSS modules from a few years ago were better made than the ones made now. Back then there was less mass manufacturing going on, so more care was put into each module. Nowadays they make so many that the quality has gone down the tubes even more. The assemblers get paid strictly by the number of working modules built, not by how well they function. There is no quality contol at that level, and there is no incentive to build them any better. The workers figure why bother to do better when it doesn't pay more.

They do have some nice asian gals working in those factories and many are real friendly too. Me and my business partner had dinner with a pair of those cuties one evening ;-)

Bob

 

[RedDart]

This comes with the territory cheap DPSS dies, its a fact I hate and have learned to live with. LUCKILY, the new green diodes are finally getting down to reasonable prices and higher power green diodes are right around the corner.

If you want a DPSS 532nm laser that will last, your gonna have to pay the premium for optotronics or another top tier company.

I spent over 100 dollars at lazerer for a laser that only lasted about 1 month. I do think that's unacceptable and will no longer buy from them, but I at least did receive a laser and it did seem to be near spec (didn't have an lpm at the time). Receiving a working laser is better than a lot of people get from China, even if it only worked for a little bit.

Yes sadly Lazerer has great up-to-spec powerful fun lasers but they seem to die pretty fast from all the feedback...

 

[ElectroMagneticFreak]

While we are on the topic of the ubiquitous "cheap" modules being used almost universally , do you guys considers a company like Sky Laser to be a bit better than Lazerer then, or do they use some of the same "cheaper" modules as well?

Better quality companies like Jetlasers for example, actually manufacture the modules in their lasers themselves as does Lasever I am guessing?

 

[Bob_Boyce]

While we are on the topic of the ubiquitous "cheap" modules being used almost universally , do you guys considers a company like Sky Laser to be a bit better than Lazerer then, or do they use some of the same "cheaper" modules as well?

Better quality companies like Jetlasers for example, actually manufacture the modules in their lasers themselves as does Lasever I am guessing?

Yea, Sky uses the same modules as nearly everyone else. Many of those that claim to make their own usually just hand-pick the better ones out of batch buys of the cheapies and sell off the rest in bulk to other companies or on eBay/Alibaba using different company names.

Bob