The LEDShoppe Thread

[culexor]

has anyone gotten one of the 50mW's apart?

I managed to take the cap off and adjust the lens, but then i over tightened it and ended up breaking it....then i tried to get everything else out of the housing without success. It's a major pain in the butt, so I ended up just ripping it apart and still some of the components stuck to the housing. :-/

 

[ColdStl]

[quote author=GoRdOn_B link=1226642076/64#78 date=1237417367]has anyone gotten one of the 50mW's apart?

I managed to take the cap off and adjust the lens, but then i over tightened it and ended up breaking it....then i tried to get everything else out of the housing without success.  [highlight]It's a major pain in the butt[/highlight], so I ended up just ripping it apart and still some of the components stuck to the housing.  :-/[/quote]

I've taken one apart and destroyed the host in the process. I used a copper pipe cutter (plumbing tool with a wheel cutter). It allowed me to get closer to the module a lot safer than a saw would've. I then had to use pliers to peel the rest of the housing off. The adjusting lens is housed in plastic and feels cheap, so be careful.

 

[...]

I got one apart by pulling the end cap off, and using an the cover (the part that would go over the driver module) from an aixiz module as a spacer over the module (so I was pressing directly on the brass part) and pressing it out in a vice. It took quite a bit of force but it did eventually start moving and I was pretty much home free at that point.

 

[starlight]

just got a 50mW greenie from LEDShoppe today and it is a complete piece of junk. The beam comes on for a half second then dies to almost invisible. I guess you learn from your mistakes and mine was trusting a $25 laser pointer to work. My first buy from them and a bad first impression always hurts.

 

[starlight]

I e-mailed LEDShoppe and let them in on my defective laser and they responded quickly and are sending a replacement asap. I also orderd 5 more 50mW to give to friends and family I will let you all know what they are like.

 

[bootleg2go]

just got a 50mW greenie from LEDShoppe today and it is a complete piece of junk. The beam comes on for a half second then dies to almost invisible. I guess you learn from your mistakes and mine was trusting a $25 laser pointer to work.  My first buy from them and a bad first impression always hurts.

Huh?
I'm not so sure you do learn from your mistakes.
If so, you would have waited until you got the replacement and are happy with it's preformance before ordering 5 more. It's quite likely the one they send you and the 5 additional ones will be much the same as the 1st.

 

[robjdixon]

Yeah, but everyone else has a good one, so I think it is a relatively safe risk for him to take. I think he was caught up in the heat of the moment when he made the 1st post

 

[micallen]

The 2 I've ordered have been great.

 

[starlight]

I e-mailed LEDShoppe and let them in on my defective laser and they responded quickly and are sending a replacement asap. I also orderd 5 more 50mW to give to friends and family I will let you all know what they are like.

I don't think I will be able to let you all know the result of the other lasers I bought from LEDShoppe because the tracking number tells me the shipment was unsuccessful, I think customs confiscated them and I will not get the order. Anyone else have this problem ever I buy a lot of stuff online and overseas and have never had anything say undeliverable. Will I get a refund from them or do I need to start a claim through PayPal you think.


check it out if you like


http://app3.hongkongpost.com/CGI/mt/enquiry.jsp

EE792664524HK

 

[hakzaw1]

I ordered 23 (5mW) cheapie greenies via ebay, after a no-probs order of 10. (whsle they were 17. ea +3.50 s&h ea.back then) Seller offered higher mW up to 50mW but I felt they were the same units. Heard lots about getting shorted on mWs but in my case-- S.F.Customs 'stole' and (said) destroyed 16 pointers. They pulled my order-sent it to their lab- and sent me the ones that were 5mW and under. This all took months to get the other 7. To their credit the guys in Shainghai did refund (partial). So they got burned more than me. I should have never had more than 5 or 6 to the package. Even sans batts&plastic box- too heavy is my guess. Wondedring now if I am 'in the system' with US Customs and will they may red flag stuff coming to me. More the reason to buy U.S. Did get to phone chat with a Customs guy in S.F. who was totally clueless about lasers. Hope he looks down the barrel of one (not really) He did seem to care and asked lots of questions etc He had no part in it. <(@v*)> hack

 

[Warske]

...I think customs confiscated them and I will not get the order....
check it out if you like  
http://app3.hongkongpost.com/CGI/mt/enquiry.jsp
EE792664524HK

Two days after it hit customs, it "Arrived the delivery office and is being processed."  That suggests to me it passed customs.

Maybe your address and/or phone number are wrong.  I would give them a call.   It says:

To make further enquiry of this item, please complete the Online Enquiry Form or send the item number; the details of sender; addressee and contact information by fax to Mail Tracing Office. Our fax no. is (852) 2868 4723. You can also email or call our Mail Tracing Office at (852) 2921 2211 during office hours.

 

[hakzaw1]

I think I got the same note on mine then nothing for a few weeks followed by the letter telling me of the confiscation.--- hack

 

[scopeguy20]

I bought 2 lasers for the 7th time, and got 2 clunkers, I let LED Shoppe know, and in 2 weeks (approx) I had them replaced. These do ~ 50 mW so I am OK with the service.

 

[Wansyth]

[quote author=starlight link=1226642076/64#84 date=1240236503]I e-mailed LEDShoppe and let them in on my defective laser and they responded quickly and are sending a replacement asap. I also orderd 5 more 50mW to give to friends and family I will let you all know what they are like.

I don't think I will be able to let you all know the result of the other lasers I bought from LEDShoppe because the tracking number tells me the shipment was unsuccessful, I think customs confiscated them and I will not get the order. Anyone else have this problem ever I buy a lot of stuff online and overseas and have never had anything say undeliverable. Will I get a refund from them or do I need to start a claim through PayPal you think.


check it out if you like  


We attempted to deliver your item at 11:23 AM on April 27, 2009 in BRIGHTON, MI 48116 and a notice was left. You may pick up the item at the Post Office indicated on the notice, go to usps/redelivery, or call 800-ASK-USPS to arrange for redelivery. If this item is unclaimed after 30 days then it will be returned to the sender. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.


app3.hongkongpost/CGI/mt/enquiry.jsp

EE792664524HK


[/quote]



On usps.com
Passed customs, you just weren't there to sign for it.

 

[starlight]

On usps.com
Passed customs, you just weren't there to sign for it.
[/quote]

I can't thank you enough. I never checked usps.com because I never got the notice they usually leave when you miss a delivery.

Well I now have six 50mW LEDShoppe green lasers and YES this things do rock. I am very happy with the deal but a little bent on the shipping time but I got the stuff and they all work to satisfaction. Thank you everyone who paid attention and gave advice on the matter it helped alot you all desever a THANKS

 

[Warske]

I ordered 5 of the LEDShoppe 50 mW green laser pointers (LP1076) on the evening (PST) of April 20, and they showed up this morning at 10 AM, less than 8 days later.

I used the 15% off coupon (1560) for orders over $60, and pushed it over $100 to get the free fast shipping.

It all came out to $21.20 per laser, delivered.

The post office sent out a special delivery truck.  The driver said he had to deliver them before noon, and I had to sign for them.  Tracking at usps.com (thanks Wansyth!) let me know what day they would arrive...

[tt]Arrival at Unit, April 28, 2009, 8:08 am, xxxxxxxx, OR
Processed, April 28, 2009, 4:55 am, yyyyyyy, OR
Inbound Out of Customs, April 27, 2009, 1:09 pm
Inbound Into Customs
Inbound International Arrival, April 25, 2009, 10:06 am, ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS)
Foreign International Dispatch, April 24, 2009, 8:51 pm, HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE, HONG KONG
Foreign Acceptance, April 24, 2009, 5:29 pm, HONG KONG
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment[/tt]

They were well packed, the only possible quibble being that they were able to scrape together, since there was nothing separating the individual pens.  Nevertheless, they all arrived in fine shape.

I tested the power output using the Simple Laser Power Meter (3.13 multiplier).  Each laser was run for 30 seconds, 4 inches from the target.

I used the same set of batteries for each test, giving them at least 5 minutes to recover between tests.  After testing all of them, I checked the first one again to see if the batteries had sagged after 2.5 minutes of use (they had, but only a little).

Measured Power
[tt]
   1  63.2 mW
   2  66.4 mW
   3  62.0 mW
   4  71.4 mW
   5  52.9 mW
   1  62.0 mW (retest)[/tt]

Testing for IR (infrared)

I bought a 760 nm IR pass camera filter for $10.99 from y2krex on ebay.  If you shoot the green beam through this filter at a white target in a dark room, you see nothing at all.  But it should let through most of the IR.

Eventually I'll measure the IR attenuation and post back here, but in the mean time, I measured the first laser again, but this time with the filter blocking the green wavelength.  I measured 12.5 mW of IR, so we know there is at least that much coming out, and probably another 10% or 20% more.  Like I said I'll let you know.

Before this, the brightest green laser I owned measured 6.7 mW, and these do appear ever so much brighter.  I am very pleased!

Edit (4/29/2009):

I checked my IR filter, and it transmits 90.1% of the IR.  I also determined that all of the IR is 1064 nm.

So the first laser was generating
[tt]
   49.3 mW of green
   13.9 mW of 1064 nm IR
   -------
   63.2 mW total[/tt]