Lazerer 150 mW green gone wonky?

[guitar0alec]

I bought a 150 mW green laser pointer from lazerer a few weeks ago, and it worked very well for about a week. After about a week it started getting small amounts of noise around the dot, and it started getting worse. And because of the 7 day warranty at lazerer, max wouldnt refund me. I just noticed that the beam is now coming out slightly crooked and the noise is very very obvious even in the daytime. How do I go about fixing this? I don't have a whole lot of experience in lasers, but I would like to try my hand at fixing it. Is it as simple as a dirty lense, or something harder to fix? Is there any possible diagnosis you guys can give me? Thanks for any advice guys...

 

[ApexProxy]

It could easily be a dirty lens which would most likely be the reason for the noise. You could also check to make sure the lens itself is tight and not out of place which would account for a beam not coming out straight. I don't know the design of the laser itself but it could also be possible that the diode moved out of its alignment of the lens. A dirty lens wouldn't cause the beam to be thrown at an angle so you likely have two problems but both can be easy enough to fix. I think a clean glasses cleaning cloth to the lens could solve the noise (correct me if I'm wrong guys). And if possible remove the lens and make sure it and the diode are mounted tight and aligned right.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Just clean the lens. Don't try to mess with the diode or crystals.

A lint free microfiber cloth, and a bit of rubbing alcohol (the higher concentration the better) will work.

 

[guitar0alec]

The way the lens is set up, its sort of set back into the module a little bit. I wouldn't be able to get to it without taking the acutal module apart. Would a Q-Tip work? That would get to the lense no problem.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Qtip is not ideal, but yeah, it will work, at least to make it better than it is currently.

 

[guitar0alec]

Oh ok. Thanks. What could cause the beam coming out sideways though?