Lazerpoint.com <-- seem fishy to me..

[ApexProxy]

I have a 300mW 532nm pointer that runs on a single 16340 and it seriously toasts batteries fast. I think the reason they do that is you are running an IR diode outputting several times more then the resulting output in 532nm so the power draw is much greater than other lasers with the same output. For example I believe my 300mW 532 has an IR pump diode putting out over 1W.

 

[Keiichi tsuchiya]

i dont quite get what you are saying ?? :yabbem::yabbem::wtf::huh::huh:
but you mean that every laser has a IR filter that drains the battery of the laser ? if so mine has a very powerful one cause at 200mW it cant light a match ): :horse::yabbmad::yabbmad::yabbmad::tsk: ( is not focusable but still !!)
any idea of whats going on???

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

DPSS lasers are a lot less efficient. Google and read up DPSS, and you will understand what he is talking about.

 

[ApexProxy]

In a nutshell DPSS 532nm lasers are an IR laser that has a tiny crystal inside it that converts it from IR wavelengths to 532nm and the light coming out of the crystal is what you see as the 532nm beam. Sometimes an IR filter is placed after the crystal to filter out any residual IR. The reason DPSS lasers are super inefficient is because the light conversion is so inefficient. I believe on average the conversion process loses somewhere around 70% of the output.

 

[Keiichi tsuchiya]

ooooo!!! now i get it !!! thanks a lot !! ^_^ !! 70% wow thats a lot
thansk for the info ~_~ !!

 

[ApexProxy]

No problem.

 

[20516Boredguy]

16340 Drain I know what you mean i have 1000mah 16340's and they go quick when i use my 532 from lazerpoint

 

[ApexProxy]

You may also be surprised at how few of the little 1000mAh rated 16340s actually have at least half or more of the capacity of what they rate them at.

 

[Patrickliu]

I bought from lazerpoint.com a 200mw green and it cannot light matches althought it can cut dark plastic bags, it is only 38 dollars for about 50-100 mw power so it is still worth it.

 

[Bob_Boyce]

In a nutshell DPSS 532nm lasers are an IR laser that has a tiny crystal inside it that converts it from IR wavelengths to 532nm and the light coming out of the crystal is what you see as the 532nm beam. Sometimes an IR filter is placed after the crystal to filter out any residual IR. The reason DPSS lasers are super inefficient is because the light conversion is so inefficient. I believe on average the conversion process loses somewhere around 70% of the output.

30% conversion efficiency is being optimistic. 15% to 20% is more likely from most of those cheap DPSS 532nm laser pointers from china. I've tested many and found a few that were even under 15%! They tend to sell the ones with poor efficiency off as lower powered pointers that still consume a lot of battery power. For example, a 532nm pointer being driven at 200mW from an 808nm IR pump diode, being sold as a 50-100mW pointer but only delivering about 30mW at 532nm.

Bob

 

[ApexProxy]

I know tiny pen style cheapos tend to be insanely inefficient and combined with crap drivers there is a ton of loss. I was talking about a slightly larger torch style 532nm and was giving a slightly more average/less of a worse case scenario. I would expect a mid power laserBTB 532nm to near 30% maybe a little below but close.

 

[AceAngel]

We love Greenies... but I guess too many bad Greenies out there with high price and unstable power output(extreme sensitive to temperature).

I had drop my appetite on Greenie at this given moment.
445nm here I come.

 

[ApexProxy]

Good grade 532nm lasers aren't all that hard to find they cost a little more and you need to be careful where you get them. Also, 532nm lasers are greatly effected by temperature simply due to how they work and not necessarily because of their quality. 445nm lasers are my favorite though.

 

[Bob_Boyce]

I know tiny pen style cheapos tend to be insanely inefficient and combined with crap drivers there is a ton of loss. I was talking about a slightly larger torch style 532nm and was giving a slightly more average/less of a worse case scenario. I would expect a mid power laserBTB 532nm to near 30% maybe a little below but close.

If it were only that simple. Most laser pointer manufacturers do not build their own 532nm modules. The precision required to align the crystals to get even 30% power conversion efficiency is typically beyond the average sweatshop that assembles the greater majority of greenie modules made in China. Not just those used in the small pen style pointers. The better laser builders will test what they source and sell their products accordingly. The rejects are often sold off in bulk to the 5mW pointer assemblers. This is why the typical 5mW pointers can be all over the place in output power. Those tend to fall below even the 15% to 20% average that I was referring to in my earlier post. I was actually referring to the better quality 532nm modules from China that use the more common 250mW 808nm IR pump diodes. Even those better quality ones fall below 15% sometimes.

The higher powered 532nm modules use an 808nm IR pump diode of 1/2 watt or more. Those require larger crystals and even more care in alignment. Not the typical sweatshop built 532nm module for sure.

The last greenie I cobbled together on the bench used one of my 50W CW 808nm pumps driven to 25W, seperate crystals, and output 7.5W of 532nm. It took many hours of tweaking the crystals to get it to that.

Bob