noob power question

[ldc2710]

hi all I have had a few lasers in the past but never had any way of testing the power ,but on a few of them they came with power readout prints,now the question I'm asking is what kind of power would a green 532nm need to be to pop a balloon at about 15 feet away,as I got a green laser today from ebay and it did it at about that distance with ease,now I knew it would be overpowered from the stated 1mw as most are but just wanted a rough ball park figure as I'm sure people in the know have done distance tests with lasers


cheers

 

[Pi R Squared]

hi all I have had a few lasers in the past but never had any way of testing the power ,but on a few of them they came with power readout prints,now the question I'm asking is what kind of power would a green 532nm need to be to pop a balloon at about 15 feet away,as I got a green laser today from ebay and it did it at about that distance with ease,now I knew it would be overpowered from the stated 1mw as most are but just wanted a rough ball park figure as I'm sure people in the know have done distance tests with lasers


cheers

Well you didn't say what color the balloon is, did you put the laser on a table or in a tripod so it doesn't move? This makes it easier to pop a balloon because the laser won't move like it does when you hold it in your hand. Does it have a visible beam? At least in dim lighting? 532nm don't have the poor divergence that most of our lasers do, meaning that they can still put a small dot on something at 15 feet or more. It's hard to believe a laser labeled as 1mW could be that powerful but it sounds like you got a good one. I bought a cheap green laser on Amazon that was way overspec and it only lasted 10 days, I hope yours lasts. You say it popped the balloon with ease at 15 feet, my guesstimate is 100mW or more.

Alan

 

[ldc2710]

hi sorry forgot,the balloon was a darkish blue one and yeah the laser was on a table so it didn't move and yup the beam is visible in the daylight

 

[Pi R Squared]

hi sorry forgot,the balloon was a darkish blue one and yeah the laser was on a table so it didn't move and yup the beam is visible in the daylight

Ok it sounds comparable to my 82mW 520nm so I still say it could be in the 100mW range.

Alan

 

[ldc2710]

tbh ive had a 100mw green from thejoker and this one feels like its got a bit more oomph