Repairman needed!

[ZRaffleticket]

Experienced builders! I need some help. I came home from college this weekend and found my parents have rearranged my room... and it seems they let my 561 fall or take a sudden impact(of course). The alignment is off and the amount of splash nearly exceeds the brightness of the dot.

It still lases fine, however the head needs to be taken off to re-align the module... not the crystals inside, just the module with the focusing lens. Which, by the way, won't budge from it's current position. Probably from whatever happened to it.

The alignment on this has always been an issue-- I had taken the head off before and fixed the problem. The module is literally sitting inside this thing loose. It's not hard to jam something in there to hold it in place... though builders would have a much better time with epoxy.

Anybody up to seeing 561nm? I mean helping?

 

[ARG]

I would love to help - but I would be too afraid of opening up a laser that expensive

 

[ZRaffleticket]

Heh, that's my fear with this thing... wasn't a cheap thing. I might just see if it can be transferred to a custom host when it's all said and done. PGL-III-C's have been nothing but a pain in the a$$ in my experience. (having owned 3)

 

[ARG]

Having owned two I hate the bloody tailcap. Poorly designed. The key interlock should be where the button is, and they should use a better 2.5mm audio plug (they use one of the cheapest ones available, and it breaks after a few hundred plug/pull cycles)

Plus the tailcap resistance is quite large.

I do like the fins, shutter and switch though. Nothing beats that shutter.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

My shutter arrived broken-- switching it to ON or OFF opened the shutter, having it between closed it. I've fixed that pretty easily though... but now along with the rest of problems with the head, it's functioning as it had been.

 

[RA_pierce]

IIRC the heatsink should come right off... it's just threaded on there. There should also be a retaining ring in there along with the plate that the lens is mounted to.
If you get the ring in the right position perhaps it will re-center the module for you.
The lens mount should be permanently locked in place with some adhesive. Maybe that's why it won't budge.

I wonder if they changed the design since I purchased mine...

Edit: Also if you are going to open up your laser I highly recommend lubricating the threads with a little WD-40 or something because the aluminum threads will jam up VERY easily if you get some aluminum dust in there when you try to put it back together.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

Heh, I wish I did at first... This thing won't budge at all. Stupid mistakes---

 

[Wolfman29]

I've only opened up two PGLs before and I know that they are hit or miss with being able to be easily opened. One came open with just a bit of torque. The other one I had to almost entirely destroy to get it open. Had to use a huge wrench, shove it in a vice, and basically crush the thing with pressure before I could get the torque I needed.

 

[ped]

I'd love to help, re built many lasers like this, including my own, but I'm not in the US :/ .

 

[phoenix77]

[/QUOTE] Edit: Also if you are going to open up your laser I highly recommend lubricating the threads with a little WD-40 or something because the aluminum threads will jam up VERY easily if you get some aluminum dust in there when you try to put it back together.[/QUOTE]

I hope ya don't mind me making a small comment here, & I might even be wrong about this but, AFAIK, WD-40 only comes in a spray can, & the fluid comes out in a fairly strong spray. My advice if you are gonna use WD-40, would be to spray a Q-TIP till it's well soaked & apply the fluid that way instead of just shooting it outta that little red straw, which will get over-spray onto EVERYTHING inside the host, lenses & diode windows included. You could also spray the fluid into the cap till ya get a puddle of the stuff & then soak the Q-TIP that way. WD-40 contains petroleum distillates & other solvents :eg: that you DO NOT want to get on the lens coatingS & elsewhere, as it may just dissolve it right off. I could be wrong about this & if I am, somebody please post a correction. He has enough problems already without compounding them with a non-existent one :na: !!!
:thanks: & :wave: phoenix77/rob

 

[ZRaffleticket]

I wouldn't specifically use WD40, I'm not sure if some of the fumes it gives off could potentially cause damage or not

Sorry ped, I'd go for you if you were in the US, but sending a DPSS laser overseas just frightens me.

 

[RA_pierce]

I hope ya don't mind me making a small comment here, & I might even be wrong about this but, AFAIK, WD-40 only comes in a spray can, & the fluid comes out in a fairly strong spray. My advice if you are gonna use WD-40, would be to spray a Q-TIP till it's well soaked & apply the fluid that way instead of just shooting it outta that little red straw, which will get over-spray onto EVERYTHING inside the host, lenses & diode windows included. You could also spray the fluid into the cap till ya get a puddle of the stuff & then soak the Q-TIP that way. WD-40 contains petroleum distillates & other solvents :eg: that you DO NOT want to get on the lens coatingS & elsewhere, as it may just dissolve it right off. I could be wrong about this & if I am, somebody please post a correction. He has enough problems already without compounding them with a non-existent one :na: !!!
:thanks: & :wave: phoenix77/rob

Yeah you are right Rob. WD-40 isn't the best but the Q-tip method you describe is a good way to control the stuff... It only needs a little bit.
There are definitely better options but WD-40 is pretty easy to get ahold of and it works well enough if you don't make a mess out of it.