so i ordered a laser from budgetgadgets.com....

[InfinitusEquitas]

^^^It's possible the laser has a large IR component, which would aid burning.

Cheap greens do pop up fairly often, but it's all luck. I mean rhd got a 200mW green pen for $72...

I do agree completely that LPM is the only way to be sure.

 

[volcomkrew4life]

well i'll be sure to pick up some matches while i'm out tonight and see if it can light them

 

[volcomkrew4life]

this is from a good 2 meters away YouTube - ‪50mW Laser Popping a Balloon‬‏

 

[hakzaw1]

We appreciate your enthusiasm but if you want to add a comment to a post just click edit and add away. Posting just a few minutes apart is somewhat frowned upon here.


Most cheap green pointers are not IR filtered and the IR is greatly helping to pop those balloons. One bad thing about the IR is its is one of the most dangerous wavelengths being almost invisible , and it has happened that the crystal that turns most of the IR into 532nm can become misaligned and while the laser seems to be not putting out anything it may still be putting out IR and some folks , from years of using flashlights may look into the laser like they would at a flashlight with dying batteries or a bad bulb, and that can be very bad.

Enjoy but do it safely and not in any way that will get you into trouble.

You may want to add your location to your profile-- some one near you may allow you to meter your laser, but if we have no clue as to your location , that will never happen.


hak

 

[Helios]

If it was $31.. (not including shipping) then there's a good chance it might be close or over 50mW.

And if your happy, that's all that matters. :beer:

And 'harshing people's buzz' is in no way the intention most have. However We get several a day here who truly believe they can get a 'high power' green for $20 or less just because they can get high power reds for that, which in actuality it's just not possible due to the difference in how the lasers actually work and are manufactured. So the knowledge that 'cheap greens are rarely up to spec' is one of the things that we try to hammer into new peoples heads, heh.

$30 for a 50mW sounds about right though so it's possible it's 40mW+ of green. But the only real way to tell is with a LPM and an IR filter.

You can get much more than 50mW for $30. An ebay seller was selling 100mW 532nm for $25 shipped. He was even willing to exchange any laser that was unstable or under 100mW and did so in some cases. IR content wasnt too bad either as mine was about 10-15% You just have to know a good source.