SkyLasers 400mW Green Portable Laser

[WackBag]

[quote author=WackBag link=1227151611/0#13 date=1227230257][quote author=AoiShikaku link=1227151611/0#11 date=1227229026]Nice review.. although I'm a bit disappointed.  I'd think that the match would light almost instantly at that distance.

3 reasons...
1.  I was holding the match in my hand and I could not hold it still.
2.  The matches I used are old and red tipped.
3.  The beam at the aperture is not focused to a fine tip.  It is b/t 1.5 to 2 mm wide but should probably be less than 1 mm to burn instantly.

Good questions though.  I have a Techlasers Infinity 95 with the focused lens cap and the beam is focused to a pinpoint at 5 inches.  It will light matches instantly with no problem.  The Skylaser PGL is not really designed to light matches instantaneously, so maybe the video is not a good example of its power.  I'll try to make a video of it burning through some dark paper, it opens a finger sized hole in a matter of seconds.[/quote]

Maybe the matches you used were damp?
A customer of mine made this video with his RPL-260 (closer in output to an RPL-300 than an RPL-260).
1. He was holding his RPL-260 in his hand and the 30 matches he lit were over 6 feet away and their was very high humidity in Minnesota at the time.
2. The matches he used were red in color.
3. The beam diameter at the aperture of the RPL was ~1.46 to 1.48mm in diameter, but with a divergence of ~0.9mrad and the matches being well over 6 feet away, the beam diameter at the matches would be 3.2 to 3.5mm in diameter.

So I must disagree with you on the comment that beam diameter should be 1mm or less for a 400mW laser to instantly light a match.
Did skylasers tell you that their 400mW laser is not designed to light matches instantly from such a close distance?
That just doesn't make any sense, something must have really got messed up in the translation to english.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZvcIlAotWo

In the 2nd Skylaser video, viewing by the clock, it took 17 seconds for the Skylaser to burn through a sheet of blackened paper from a distance of what appeared to be no more than 3 inches, that's completely lame for a +400mW laser at that distance. You might want to remeasure the power output, check the meter calibration and figure out what's wrong with that laser.

As a comparison,
Here's a video that a customer recently posted on youtube comparing their WL spyder II to their RPL-425 to see how fast it they burn through a piece of paper (just normal printer paper (don't know the weight of the paper, but I'm sure it's close to the same as in your video) at a distance of over 8 feet away. The video is several minutes long as they try the spyder, which never does burn a hole through the paper. They then turn the RPL-425 to the paper and estimating by the clock, it took about 3 seconds to burn a hole though the paper and project the beam on the wall beyond.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SdiRSt8pb0
[/quote]
SkyLasers did not tell me that, I just make the assumption that it would be silly to design a 400mW laser to burn matches ;D  Your match lighting video is impressive, I don't think I could keep the laser steady enough to do what he did.  Trying to hit 30 match heads from that distance is going to be pretty tough.  The second video is not quite as impressive, comparing an underpowered 200mW laser to a 425mW+ isn't a fair comparison in my mind.  Also, the paper he is using looks like a thin piece of 3x5 notepad NOT 20lb stock computer printing paper.

Also...Jack I understand you think Optotronics are great lasers (since you own the business) and I don't disagree but please don't dump on my thread and say there must be something wrong with the SkyLaser laser.  I am not a professional videographer and these videos are just taken with a simple digital camera next to my desk  The video's are not out to prove this laser is better or worse then some other laser retailers.  

Update:  The SkyLaser has a focusing ring and so the beam can be adjusted from tiny to quite large if the lens is turned all the way out.  From their website:
"Focus Adjustable Laser Beam. Instead of having a fixed focused laser, our lasers can be adjusted to produce a narrow focused laser beam or a wider unfocused beam. This is easily accomplished by twisting the aperture cap located at the front of our portable laser."  I took it outside and could see that if I turned the adjusting lens a couple of revolutions the beam became tighter a few inches from the end.  I had the adjustable focus ring screwed tight and assumed that produced the best/most focused beam.  So after adjusting it a couple of full revolutions I came back in and tried firing up a couple of matches.  The result was much better  I am guessing since the laser has a pseudo beam expander built in that it needs a slight adjustment depending on the distance of the object you are burning.  
So...Jack...you were right  There was an adjustment needed and your statement made me investigate the issue a little further and I think I have discovered the difference.  Anyway, I hope you didn't take my statement above the wrong way...I may want to buy a Optotronics RPL next

I'll update the videos with better examples soon

Ok, I just tested the paper burn and it is a thousand times better.  It smoked through the paper in about 2 seconds  So my bad :'(  I really didn't know what a 400mW+ laser should do but thanks to all of you, I do now

 

[Deleted member 10578]

[quote author=bootleg2go link=1227151611/0#14 date=1227238881][quote author=WackBag link=1227151611/0#13 date=1227230257][quote author=AoiShikaku link=1227151611/0#11 date=1227229026]Nice review.. although I'm a bit disappointed.  I'd think that the match would light almost instantly at that distance.

3 reasons...
1.  I was holding the match in my hand and I could not hold it still.
2.  The matches I used are old and red tipped.
3.  The beam at the aperture is not focused to a fine tip.  It is b/t 1.5 to 2 mm wide but should probably be less than 1 mm to burn instantly.

Good questions though.  I have a Techlasers Infinity 95 with the focused lens cap and the beam is focused to a pinpoint at 5 inches.  It will light matches instantly with no problem.  The Skylaser PGL is not really designed to light matches instantaneously, so maybe the video is not a good example of its power.  I'll try to make a video of it burning through some dark paper, it opens a finger sized hole in a matter of seconds.[/quote]

Maybe the matches you used were damp?
A customer of mine made this video with his RPL-260 (closer in output to an RPL-300 than an RPL-260).
1. He was holding his RPL-260 in his hand and the 30 matches he lit were over 6 feet away and their was very high humidity in Minnesota at the time.
2. The matches he used were red in color.
3. The beam diameter at the aperture of the RPL was ~1.46 to 1.48mm in diameter, but with a divergence of ~0.9mrad and the matches being well over 6 feet away, the beam diameter at the matches would be 3.2 to 3.5mm in diameter.

So I must disagree with you on the comment that beam diameter should be 1mm or less for a 400mW laser to instantly light a match.
Did skylasers tell you that their 400mW laser is not designed to light matches instantly from such a close distance?
That just doesn't make any sense, something must have really got messed up in the translation to english.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZvcIlAotWo

In the 2nd Skylaser video, viewing by the clock, it took 17 seconds for the Skylaser to burn through a sheet of blackened paper from a distance of what appeared to be no more than 3 inches, that's completely lame for a +400mW laser at that distance. You might want to remeasure the power output, check the meter calibration and figure out what's wrong with that laser.

As a comparison,
Here's a video that a customer recently posted on youtube comparing their WL spyder II to their RPL-425 to see how fast it they burn through a piece of paper (just normal printer paper (don't know the weight of the paper, but I'm sure it's close to the same as in your video) at a distance of over 8 feet away. The video is several minutes long as they try the spyder, which never does burn a hole through the paper. They then turn the RPL-425 to the paper and estimating by the clock, it took about 3 seconds to burn a hole though the paper and project the beam on the wall beyond.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SdiRSt8pb0
[/quote]
SkyLasers did not tell me that, I just make the assumption that it would be silly to design a 400mW laser to burn matches ;D  

You're right, no one designs them to light match, pop balloons or light fires, it just a way hobbyists use to judge the power and have some fun I guess, but the ability to do these things with a laser is directly related to laser performance.
Your match lighting video is impressive, I don't think I could keep the laser steady enough to do what he did. Trying to hit 30 match heads from that distance is going to be pretty tough.
Thanks, but they are not my videos; they were made and posted on you tube by customers. Not sure how hard it would be to hit 30 match heads, but this guy seemed to not have much difficultly in doing it.
 
The second video is not quite as impressive, comparing an underpowered 200mW laser to a 425mW+ isn't a fair comparison in my mind.  Also, the paper he is using looks like a thin piece of 3x5 notepad NOT 20lb stock computer printing paper.

Yes, it not a fair comparison I didn't compare them a customer did, the WL spyder II is only claimed to be a 300mW; but that was not the point, it was the speed at which a +400mW laser should be able to burn through a black sheet of paper.

Also...Jack I understand you think Optotronics are great lasers (since you own the business) and I don't disagree but please don't dump on my thread and say there must be something wrong with the SkyLaser laser.  


I'm not dumping on your thread.
Everyone in the forum has a right to post in any thread and there is no problem with that as long as it's related to the subject at hand. The point I am trying to make here is that something is just not right. A laser that that is outputting what your meter shows to be well over 500mW, but it cannot instantly light matches or burn through paper from only a few inches away is just not right. At that output power, it should be doing that and then some.
What I had suggested was that the power be retested as maybe something did happen as it is behaving more like a 200-250mW laser than a +500mW laser. Maybe it's the laser, or perhaps the meter or something else.

I am not a professional videographer and these videos are just taken with a simple digital camera next to my desk  The video's are not out to prove this laser is better or worse then some other laser retailers.


I realize that and there is nothing wrong with the quality of your videos and also that you are not trying to say one laser is better or worse than another. I'm not saying one is better or worse than another either, I just did a quick search on you tube to find comparisons what different output powers can or should be able to do and I knew there where many RPL videos on the net.
I am just perplexed as to why the high output reading but less than expected performance.
I did just think of a possibility that would or could explain this.
I wonder if the skylaser has a pulsed output rather than a CW (continuous wave)?
If it were being pulsed at say a 50% duty cycle that had +500mW peak for say 2 milliseconds and then shuts off (zero output) for 2 millieseconds; it would trick a meter that has a slow sensor response/bandwidth into reading +500mW, but it would only have the burning power of a 250mW laser.
I'm not saying this is the case, but it's easy to determine.
Have someone take a picture of the laser beam while you quickly wave the laser acros the field of view. Set the exposure length to a few fast values like 1/250, 1/500 or so and then look closely at the trail the laser beam makes to see if it's a solid line or dashed line. [/quote]

 

[Justin]

Just wondering, did you IR filter the laser when you made the power measurements or does the >500mW figure include IR?

 

[WackBag]

No problem Jack, thanks for reviewing my review and pointing out my mistake with the focusing ring
Also, I did your test and its' output is indeed CW (continuous wave) operating mode.  I also checked with SkyLaser support and they also confirmed this information, as well as the IR pump diode being rated at 2.5 Watts  This laser is truly a lot of bang for the buck

I also removed the 2 burning videos...I'll update them tonight ASAP!

 

[WackBag]

Just wondering, did you IR filter the laser when you made the power measurements or does the >500mW figure include IR?

The measurements are taken with the built in IR filter
From their website:
Infrared or IR filter Equipped. DPSS green lasers usually produce a slight amount of invisible infrared radiation that can be potentially harmful to your eyes. Our green portable lasers comes standard with an additional IR filter minimizing IR radiation.

Hi Justin...By the way, I also Love the Hercules laser!

 

[Switch]

In the 30 match light video, you can clearly see their sharpied.But it depends on the match so much.Not just the color.There are these sucky matches that I can't even light by scraping them to the box, they just break in my hand one after another, then there are ones that I just touch with a laser and they light up. A match light video says about as much as a beam shot about the laser's output.

 

[WackBag]

In the 30 match light video, you can clearly see their sharpied.But it depends on the match so much.Not just the color.There are these sucky matches that I can't even light by scraping them to the box, they just break in my hand one after another, then there are ones that I just touch with a laser and they light up. A match light video says about as much as a beam shot about the laser's output.

Yep...I agree.  The matches I have are ancient so I hate to even use them.  I may stop by Walmart this weekend to see if I can get some fresh ones.  I just thought I would post the videos for the fun of it but it became something more  But thats Ok...I would ask the same questions if it were someone elses review.  I also tried to make a video showing the laser being measured by my LaserBee I power meter but the camera I own will not show the black letters/numbers on the green backlit LED screen.  I am going to try and use my camcorder tonight and maybe the results will be better.

 

[marcuss]

Woot! Woot!  527mW (average measured power)

You ordered a 400mw and it outputs over 500w? This is not good since even diffuse reflections are dangerous over 500mw. If you hadn't measure the output you could have used it without safety goggles if there weren't reflective surfaces.

 

[randomer3]

You'd complain about recieving an overspec laser?

Alrighty then....

 

[Ace82]

[quote author=WackBag link=1227151611/0#0 date=1227151611]Woot! Woot!  527mW (average measured power)

You ordered a 400mw and it outputs over 500w? [highlight]This is not good [/highlight]since even diffuse reflections are dangerous over 500mw.   [/quote]

Correction: This IS good.  

[highlight]If you hadn't measure the output you could have used it without safety goggles if there weren't reflective surfaces. [/highlight]  

What the hell does that mean?  :-/ As long as he believes it's 400mW then he doesn't need to protect his eyes, but if he knows its over 500mW he has too? :-/

Don't come and post crap.  Thanks.

Nice review by the way.  

 

[ixfd64]

It appears Skylasers isn't a bad company at all. However, it would still be nice to see several more independent reviews of its products.

By the way, I always get confused between Skylasers and S-KY. ;D It seems those two companies aren't related, although I could be wrong.

 

[marcuss]

What the hell does that mean?  :-/ As long as he believes it's 400mW then he doesn't need to protect his eyes, but if he knows its over 500mW he has too?  :-/

I didn't mean that one doesn't need to protect his eyes, but under certain settings one could avoid wearing goggles because class IIIB laser can be safely viewed from a diffuse reflector for less than 10 sec and from over 13 cm. It was just an example anyway, one should know at what power he is working, safety protocols are different. Shouldn't you know if you are working with a class IV laser?

 

[Ace82]

[quote author=Ace82 link=1227151611/20#25 date=1227296730]
What the hell does that mean?  :-/ As long as he believes it's 400mW then he doesn't need to protect his eyes, but if he knows its over 500mW he has too?  :-/

I didn't mean that one doesn't need to protect his eyes, but under certain settings one could avoid wearing goggles because class IIIB laser can be safely viewed from a diffuse reflector for less than 10 sec and from over 13 cm. It was just an example anyway, one should know at what power he is working, safety protocols are different. Shouldn't you know if you are working with a class IV laser? [/quote]

What you are speaking of is completely irrelevant. You’re just talking about a measurement. You could call it what ever you want, 3b, 5x, it doesn’t matter. The laser’s class is just a general way of telling certain possible dangers, but nevertheless if it’s a 9mm or 45mm pistol you still need to take FULL precaution no matter the difference in power. What you’re saying is that you can be careless to some degree with 400mW, or a 9mm pistol, but you have to be very cautious with a 500mW laser or a 45mm pistol. Another concept to take for consideration is common sense. If it’s hot outside then does it really matter if it’s 110° or 90°, you’ll perspire and most likely not wear a jacket.

 

[lazerguy]

Great review WackBag!

marcuss: So you would look at the dot of a 499mW laser from about 20cm away? Insane. I wouldn't even do that with a 100mW. It will not burn your eyes, but will definitley affect your vision if you keep doing so for some time. You can't really be so naive that you trust those numbers and follow them exactly. Use common sense instead.

And I don't get what you mean. If he thinks it is a 400mW laser but in fact it's a class IV laser (>500mw), he doesn't need to worry. Is that what you're saying? It's still the same laser with the same output, regardless of what he knows about it.

I have to say
you're thinking in a weird way

 

[JapanMan2]

[quote author=WackBag link=1227151611/0#0 date=1227151611]Woot! Woot!  527mW (average measured power)

You ordered a 400mw and it outputs over 500w? This is not good since even diffuse reflections are dangerous over 500mw. If you hadn't measure the output you could have used it without safety goggles if there weren't reflective surfaces.[/quote]


correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe 400mW is it's average, and peak is around 500mW +


it's like my 95mW can out put alot more when it's on full battery and not over heated.

 

[WackBag]

I added a new video showing the laser light a match at 3.5 feet in less than a second I also burned a piece of paper placed about 20 feet away. From the time I got the laser settled (stopped moving around) it burned through in less than 4 seconds The trick is adjusting the focus to the distance you want to light/burn things
Here is SkyLasers response:
"It's important to know that if you are lighting matches or trying to burn with our portable lasers at close range, be sure to un-focus the laser. If you have a pair of laser goggles, un-focus the portable laser (that is, twist the focusing lens out) and look at the dot on a flat surface. You'll see that the dot becomes pin-point if done correctly at around 5-8 inches away. You can adjust the focus accordingly so it's a pin-point several inches or several feet away. If you are using this pin-point to light matches, it should light instantly. Of course, you do have to hold the laser still. Another way to find the focus is to simply turn your laser on, and look down at the laser beam. You'll notice the laser coming out of the aperture is wide and becomes thinner. The beam then becomes wider again. Try lighting the match at where the laser beam is the thinnest."