Spartan 589- *problem solved*

[Pman]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Ult, I have no intention of messing with my dragon 589nm but am very curios as to how you would be able to adjust it or actually anything. I also have a Spartan 1W from back a few years and I remember some people complained about lens issues. Are the lenses in the blue acrylic as some had said and is it possible to change the lens for a glass one if that is true? I heard people talk about it back then but never heard of anyone actually doing it.
Something else that just popped in my head is I remember laserbtb have a sticker over the driver adjustment hole on their units. Ever mess with that (not that I'm asking you too)?
Can't say that I'm really surprised that any of the big players get out of the handheld business. Probably comes down to more trouble than its worth.

 

[Chicxulub]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Wow, I'm actually kind of surprised at the level of response this has already created.

For the record: I have had yellow lasers before. I am well aware of the fickle nature of SFG and I understand that is the nature of the beast. I forgive the laser behaving in this manner. Were it not for the other problems, I wouldn't have felt the need to even mention it.

It's really hard to explain what is wrong with the laser's lens with words. If it was just divergence, I'd probably already have it packaged for a trip to Matt/UK lol. However, the lens isn't centered over the aperture which is clipping the beam and causing quite a bit of splash.

I've got a really nice Nikon dslr and I know how to use it. I'm going to get some quality pics when I get home from work today.

Adam seems entirely willing to help me with this laser. He did his entire spiel about how unstable SFG lasers are that he's given other members, but then he asked what it is that I'm looking for and offered to try to make sure he can get it to me.

Again, were it just the divergence or the heat issue, I wouldn't be worried; one is to be expected and the other is easily fixed. The lens is a quality control issue though, and I feel compelled to make DL fix it. I'll post pics when I get off of work this afternoon.

I'm more disappointed than anything else. Even with the problems, I absolutely love this laser.

Edit: I'm also seriously considering buying a Laserbee A. I'm about eight years overdue for buying a LPM. I didn't realize how affordable they had gotten. :/

Edit 2- here's a pic I snapped before work this morning. I was standing about 35 feet away, this gives you an idea of how bad the divergence is.

 

[Chicxulub]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Ok, so here's a picture of the primary problem with this laser.

IMO, this is something that should have been caught in QC. While the main hotspot isn't hitting the glue on the off center lens, there is definitely still coherent light within the Gaussian curve of this laser's emission profile that is hitting this, causing a huge quantity of splash.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of the splash. While the splash is very visible when using the laser, the main dot washes out the camera and nothing else shows up.

For me, the primary appeal of a DPSS laser is a clean, near TEM00 beam profile. This thing has more splash and artifacts than most diode lasers, which I find completely unacceptable.

I'm gonna send this picture to Adam and see what he has to say.

 

[Razako]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Ok, so here's a picture of the primary problem with this laser.

IMO, this is something that should have been caught in QC. While the main hotspot isn't hitting the glue on the off center lens, there is definitely still coherent light within the Gaussian curve of this laser's emission profile that is hitting this, causing a huge quantity of splash.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of the splash. While the splash is very visible when using the laser, the main dot washes out the camera and nothing else shows up.

For me, the primary appeal of a DPSS laser is a clean, near TEM00 beam profile. This thing has more splash and artifacts than most diode lasers, which I find completely unacceptable.

I'm gonna send this picture to Adam and see what he has to say.

Yeah that's definitely a QC issue. The power instability can be expected, but the alignment of the lens being off like that is unacceptable. Seems like CNI got a bit sloppy with that laser. With any luck DL will repair it or send you a new one.

 

[Isaac Clarke]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

They'll have to !! because paypal say so....

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Ok, so here's a picture of the primary problem with this laser.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of the splash. While the splash is very visible when using the laser, the main dot washes out the camera and nothing else shows up.

shine the laser across the room and block the beam with a card so only the splash hits the wall.

I don't really see anything too out of place... The lens is a bit off-center ... But I don't really see any glue on the lens in A place that matters. But without seeing that exact Splash pattern and beam profileI can't really easily comment. One time I had one that had absolutely nothing wrong with it Other than being slightly dirty inside, though how it got that dirty just sitting I have no idea. But it made a huge mess out of the beam. After cleaning it it was good as new. It's especially telltale if the splash has a kind of crosshatch effect, as that generally comes from micro scratching from someone having cleaned it with cotton.

 

[Deleted member 16589]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

The off center lens may have been intentional a crude way of centering the beam. Ive seen it done before on a CNI 473.
Does the beam fire relatively straight.

In green lasers the Double convex lens after the crystal set is often off center in order to make the laser centered on the collimating lens.

Fortunately that white adhesive is soft and easy to remove if needed.

 

[Chicxulub]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Good idea, UK. It let me capture the effect pretty well.

In this picture, the laser is on a couch behind me, shining onto a wall measured to be 16 feet away. I was standing six feet in front of the laser blocking the dot, what you see was on the wall ten feet in front of me. The total splash area on this laser is about 6' across at 16' away, with the semicircle at the top right being a total of about 60* of arc. It is perfectly in line with the clipping on the lens. I couldn't even get all of the splash into this picture.

 

[Razako]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

This might help out with comparison. Here's a shot of my spartan from around 20 feet away

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Indeed it just looks dirty to me. an aperture collision looks more like what's in the upper right & generally Albright as the beam often times. Also keep in mind some splash unless it's more than a certain % of the total power is not considered a defect.

 

[Chicxulub]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Indeed it just looks dirty to me. an aperture collision looks more like what's in the upper right & generally Albright as the beam often times. Also keep in mind some splash unless it's more than a certain % of the total power is not considered a defect.

Aperture collision?

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

If it was hitting the edge of the aperture or lens? But either way, looks like a dirty optic, or one with slight surface issue.

 

[Lux Nitida]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Fixing this post with better info and more accurate picture. This picture is of my spartan aimed at my painted cinder block wall, 20ft from the aperture. The actual splash area is 8 inches in diameter perfectly circular with no artifacts of any kind visible. The spot size at 20ft measured with a caliper and using my safety glasses is 10mm. At 10ft the spot size is 6mm. Using the online divergence tool my divergence for this laser is 1.312mRad. I don't have a splash area of anything like you are describing. I hope you get it sorted out. :beer:

 

[Chicxulub]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Question for anyone else who has bought one of these: when your laser showed up from DL, was the anti-static bag sealed or open?

If it was hitting the edge of the aperture or lens? But either way, looks like a dirty optic, or one with slight surface issue.

That's what I thought you meant but I wasn't sure.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Technically it should be sealed. But from dragon lasers I think they usually come open since they've been tested after they left the factory? It also could've been inspected when it crossed the border. I've had some cni lasers come both sealed and unsealed.

(Edit* and btw lux, I noticed in your sig- the 589s don't have a ppKTP. Else they'd be thousands of dollars.)

 

[Lux Nitida]

Re: Spartan 589! ...Disappointed.

Technically it should be sealed. But from dragon lasers I think they usually come open since they've been tested after they left the factory? It also could've been inspected when it crossed the border. I've had some cni lasers come both sealed and unsealed.

(Edit* and btw lux, I noticed in your sig- the 589s don't have a ppKTP. Else they'd be thousands of dollars.)

So glad you mentioned that! I was actually having a discussion about that very thing with another member as he thought the same but then we were coming to the conclusion that maybe they were ppKTP. Please tell me what the SFG crystal is in these then! I tried looking online to no avail. Are they LBO?