simple question

[Keiichi tsuchiya]

should i be able to tell the power of the laser with a heat gun or IR gun ?? lets say that i have a 100mw laser and i point at the gun , and the gun reads it as 100F.... can i assume that result as the power and not the temp??
weird right ... LOL :wave::thanks:

BYYYEEE:na::thanks:

 

[Sigurthr]

No, it doesn't work that way, there are way more factors involved in measuring laser output power (such as reflectivity of the sensor surface, thermal conductivity, specific heat, etc). Also, chances are a laser shone in to your IR temp gun will damage your gun.

If you want to know the power of your laser, buy a LPM, simple as that, and no way around it.

 

[sinner]

There was a way arround but i suppose it rely on a magic number which is not good enough.. you just use 1sq inch aluminium foil and paint it black using a thinnest and deepest color you can get.. it all depends on how black your foil surface is.. place with/mount it infront of a IR temp gun, now for exactly 30seconds fire your laser on the black surface.. note the temperature increase, multiply with 3.3 i guess..


Simple Laser power meter using ir thermometer But i suppose the tests wer'nt so conclusive so most of us dropped it..

 

[Sigurthr]

Aye, I kinda disregarded that project since the total heat capacity of the aluminium foil was so small that one slight gust of air could disturb the reading. Plus you would still need a calibration source for anything other than unitless comparative measurements between your own equipment.

 

[sinner]

What i think is some basic engineering lack.. you're right on the temp variations caused by air, still a super sensitive IR thermometer with a thicker anodized metal and some calculations would make it a bit better.. But still no compare to a real lpm..
You wouldnt want to answer "20% more than my other one" if someone asks how much optical power does it produce!!

 

[Keiichi tsuchiya]

Ok ! thank you all i will look for a lpm !

 

[tsteele93]

There are a couple of good meters here on the forum. Jerry sells the Laserbees and although he tries to hide it here on the forum, he's a pretty good guy.