Please share your knowledge about a green laser pointer.

[Dogie]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and would like to apologise in advance if I post this in the wrong place. Now to the reason why I'm making a thread.

I've recently purchased a "high power" laser pointer that was advertised as a 1000mw laser (bs I know), the sticker on the laser says "Wavelength 532nm +- 10" and also "<1000mw" which is true, since even 5mw is less than 1000mw. The laser driver (if i correctly assumed what the drives actually is) is an lm358. I'll post some pictures of the board. My question is, what can I do to this laser pointer to make it a little more powerful? What's its actual power? Thanks to anyone who can give me any information on this matter, I would really appreciate if anyone used their time to give some information to a newbie. By the way, the laser barely burns black plastic.

EDIT - Also, does anyone know what's the purpose of the tiny rod that's bridging a few connections on the board in the second picture?

 

[Rivem]

You can't do much other than replace the module of this laser to make it more powerful.

There is no way to know the power without metering since cheap Chinese lasers like this are not very consistent. You could meet or send the laser to a trustworthy member here if you really want to know.

The tiny rod is a jumper on the circuit that simply jumps the spot where a switch might be installed on the board for use in a different host.

Can you focus this laser, or is the focus fixed?

 

[Dogie]

You can't do much other than replace the module of this laser to make it more powerful.

There is no way to know the power without metering since cheap Chinese lasers like this are not very consistent. You could meet or send the laser to a trustworthy member here if you really want to know.

The tiny rod is a jumper on the circuit that simply jumps the spot where a switch might be installed on the board for use in a different host.

Can you focus this laser, or is the focus fixed?

Thanks for the reply. It's unfortunate that I can't do anything with it. There's a lens in the front of the pointer that that can be screwed closer or further away from the laser diode, and the top of the laser pointer that houses the lens can be screwed off, so I guess that's a yes, it can be focused.

 

[Dogie]

You can't do much other than replace the module of this laser to make it more powerful.

There is no way to know the power without metering since cheap Chinese lasers like this are not very consistent. You could meet or send the laser to a trustworthy member here if you really want to know.

The tiny rod is a jumper on the circuit that simply jumps the spot where a switch might be installed on the board for use in a different host.

Can you focus this laser, or is the focus fixed?

I do have another pointer that started acting up (flickering and cutting out). I guess I could rip out the diode and driver and try to put it into the new one, but the old one is a pen style one with a button on the side whereas the new one has a button at the bottom. And soldering the old driver might be above my knowledge and ability when it comes to small electronics. The old laser was advertised as a 200mw and had no problem causing instant pain on skin.

 

[Rivem]

Thanks for the reply. It's unfortunate that I can't do anything with it. There's a lens in the front of the pointer that that can be screwed closer or further away from the laser diode, and the top of the laser pointer that houses the lens can be screwed off, so I guess that's a yes, it can be focused.

Have you tried to just focus down to a smaller spot to burn? How big does the spot look through your laser saftey glasses?

I do have another pointer that started acting up (flickering and cutting out). I guess I could rip out the diode and driver and try to put it into the new one, but the old one is a pen style one with a button on the side whereas the new one has a button at the bottom. And soldering the old driver might be above my knowledge and ability when it comes to small electronics. The old laser was advertised as a 200mw and had no problem causing instant pain on skin.

You probably won't have luck with this since it's far from trivial, even for more experienced laserists. You'd be better off buying a cheap 303 laser.

Edit: the power could be anywhere from 15-150mW. Maybe a bit higher or lower if something odd is going on.

 

[Dogie]

Have you tried to just focus down to a smaller spot to burn? How big does the spot look through your laser saftey glasses?



You probably won't have luck with this since it's far from trivial, even for more experienced laserists. You'd be better off buying a cheap 303 laser.

Edit: the power could be anywhere from 15-150mW. Maybe a bit higher or lower if something odd is going on.

I have tried focusing it, but it still doesn't burn anything. The only way to burn something is to remove the lense, after which the dot turns into a huge circle on the wall, and holding it really close to something black. Only then does it burn anything, and still barely does it.

 

[Dogie]

Have you tried to just focus down to a smaller spot to burn? How big does the spot look through your laser saftey glasses?



You probably won't have luck with this since it's far from trivial, even for more experienced laserists. You'd be better off buying a cheap 303 laser.

Edit: the power could be anywhere from 15-150mW. Maybe a bit higher or lower if something odd is going on.

Either way thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. I guess I'll look into buying a more powerful purple laser, I saw that there's a lot of info on these forums about them, so I'll search around for options here. Thanks again!

 

[Encap]

Please use edit function to consolidate your double posts. Double posts are very frowned upon here.

If that laser is a 532nm it is not a direct diode laser it is a DPSS laser which is much more complicated - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode-pumped_solid-state_laser

The real answer is to not buy low cost "toy" quality lasers.

Look into buying from a credible manufacturer not one of thousands of reseller selling the same novelty toy quality lasers and misrepresenting output.

One good quality supplier is:
laserbtb