HIMNL9
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- May 26, 2009
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Hi, just arrived the cheap Focalprice laser that i had ordered a month ago, but trying it i found that it's not a good product, at least not my one, so decided to post here a review with some pics for show what i mean.
Arrived in a common bubble envelope, containing a well smashed and crushed thin cardboard little box (usual for my postal system ..... crushing well your items is the second main feature that Italian postal system have, the first one is the delay ), but the laser was still integer ..... nothing to argue about this, cause they ship for free, and always ship in this way.
at first sight, it was looking not bad:
but the external look is the only positive thing that it have ..... i placed two AA alkaline batteries in it, for check the power, and the side switch stopped to "click" ..... then i opened it, and found some problems:
first, the module is a cheap version, bad assembled, also, it's shorter than the space where the module had to rest ..... the module is not fixed in any way in the front part, just slided in a plastic support, and originally, the front lens was around 2mm away from the front aperture, but inserting the batteries, the module spring displaced the module til the front cap, and slided away the switch from under the button (and in this position, ofcourse, it does not work ) ..... by the way, as you can see, other than using a very cheap module type, the front part is machined really bad ..... scratches inside, and pieces of aluminium left in the finished product, are not that what i usually call "a good mechanical work"
Also, the front lens is plastic, not glass, and kept in place with just a pair of spots of glue, badly appliqued, cause part of it is gone on the lens surface
The front part of the cap is approximatively half millimeter of thickness, and have the signs of a "wobbling tool" (don't know how to call it technically in English, sorry ..... is when a tool or a piece is vibrating on a machine for too lack of clamping or bad alignment ..... machinists know probably what i mean ) ..... i don't know if this specific piece is badly worked for a defect, or if all of them are so, but also if this is a defective part, there's also another bad thing ..... the module is not heatsinked from the body, it's just slided freely in a plastic spacer, and the only part where the brass touch the aluminium is in front, also cause the hole in the front cap is 12,8mm diameter, where the module is 11,9mm diameter ..... there's half millimeter of air all around it, when it's aligned in the host, and half millimeter of air is not a good thermal conductor .....
so, basicaly the module, when the battery spring push it against the front part, touch only in the small front ring that hold the lens ..... and considering that it become hot relatively quickly, i can say this unit can have a duty cycle of 20/30 seconds on/off, not more .....
I have also checked the power of the module, and it's peaking at 45mW, and resting at 39mW, after an IR filter (there's no IR filter in the laser, ofcourse, i just used mine for check the real power).
In conclusion, i can say it's a badly worked product, at least for the one that i've received ..... but, as i've said, mine can be defective ..... i have other 2 units still in order from Focalprice, and when they come here, i inspect also them ..... for the cost, if they are better than this one, it can also worth the expense, but if they are badly realized like this one, i end dismantling them and using the hosts for made another R G V matched set, and recycle the modules in a fixed heatsink for a mega-multibeam-lumia-wheel that i'm building for the front of my shop, so i can at least recycle the parts
Arrived in a common bubble envelope, containing a well smashed and crushed thin cardboard little box (usual for my postal system ..... crushing well your items is the second main feature that Italian postal system have, the first one is the delay ), but the laser was still integer ..... nothing to argue about this, cause they ship for free, and always ship in this way.
at first sight, it was looking not bad:
but the external look is the only positive thing that it have ..... i placed two AA alkaline batteries in it, for check the power, and the side switch stopped to "click" ..... then i opened it, and found some problems:
first, the module is a cheap version, bad assembled, also, it's shorter than the space where the module had to rest ..... the module is not fixed in any way in the front part, just slided in a plastic support, and originally, the front lens was around 2mm away from the front aperture, but inserting the batteries, the module spring displaced the module til the front cap, and slided away the switch from under the button (and in this position, ofcourse, it does not work ) ..... by the way, as you can see, other than using a very cheap module type, the front part is machined really bad ..... scratches inside, and pieces of aluminium left in the finished product, are not that what i usually call "a good mechanical work"
Also, the front lens is plastic, not glass, and kept in place with just a pair of spots of glue, badly appliqued, cause part of it is gone on the lens surface
The front part of the cap is approximatively half millimeter of thickness, and have the signs of a "wobbling tool" (don't know how to call it technically in English, sorry ..... is when a tool or a piece is vibrating on a machine for too lack of clamping or bad alignment ..... machinists know probably what i mean ) ..... i don't know if this specific piece is badly worked for a defect, or if all of them are so, but also if this is a defective part, there's also another bad thing ..... the module is not heatsinked from the body, it's just slided freely in a plastic spacer, and the only part where the brass touch the aluminium is in front, also cause the hole in the front cap is 12,8mm diameter, where the module is 11,9mm diameter ..... there's half millimeter of air all around it, when it's aligned in the host, and half millimeter of air is not a good thermal conductor .....
so, basicaly the module, when the battery spring push it against the front part, touch only in the small front ring that hold the lens ..... and considering that it become hot relatively quickly, i can say this unit can have a duty cycle of 20/30 seconds on/off, not more .....
I have also checked the power of the module, and it's peaking at 45mW, and resting at 39mW, after an IR filter (there's no IR filter in the laser, ofcourse, i just used mine for check the real power).
In conclusion, i can say it's a badly worked product, at least for the one that i've received ..... but, as i've said, mine can be defective ..... i have other 2 units still in order from Focalprice, and when they come here, i inspect also them ..... for the cost, if they are better than this one, it can also worth the expense, but if they are badly realized like this one, i end dismantling them and using the hosts for made another R G V matched set, and recycle the modules in a fixed heatsink for a mega-multibeam-lumia-wheel that i'm building for the front of my shop, so i can at least recycle the parts
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