red 250 mw o-like help

[wolfman]

recently I receved a 250 mw red o-like laser and from the day I got it in the mail the beam has had these weird circle. So my question is: is this normal?

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Perfectly normal.

Did you also get a pair of safety goggles?

 

[wolfman]

No i didn't, should I have?

 

[bennett326]

yes just yes buy some now

 

[wolfman]

thanks for the help

 

[jimdt7]

It may be out of focus. Do you know how to focus it ?

Jim

 

[bennett326]

It may be out of focus. Do you know how to focus it ?

Jim

it is but he is referring to the artifacts/imperfections im quite sure

 

[wolfman]

yes I was referring to the imperfections not that the laser is not focused.

 

[Bluefan]

Those round circles present in the beam are the result of diffraction around a dust particle or something silimar. The diode's window or collimating lens is slightly dirty. The most likely case is a dust spec on the output end of the lens. Cleaning a lens however is that straighforward, be careful and do some reading.
Arago spot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[wolfman]

The lens dose the have a bit of dust on it so I'll look into how to clean it without damaging it.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

But remember to get the goggles first so that you can do it without fear of blinding yourself accidentally. It also makes it a lot easier to analyze the beam pattern.

 

[wolfman]

Im borrowing a friends extra pair for a while since things take like 10-20 days to get here form 0-like.