tweaking a 400mW green laser

[lowell]

The countdown is on. About 36 hours to go. 700mW is waiting in the wings (L.A. airport to be specific) Anyway, DHL says it will be here by noon on Monday. Here's what the process has looked like so far.

Date and time Status Location Service Area
2/28/2009 11:04 pm Scheduled to move Los Angeles Gateway, CA
4:26 am Scheduled to move Los Angeles Gateway, CA
4:23 am Shipment on Hold. Los Angeles Gateway, CA
2/27/2009 9:07 pm Processed at DHL Location. Los Angeles Gateway, CA
9:17 am Clearance processing complete Los Angeles Gateway, CA
12:17 am Clearance Delay Los Angeles Gateway, CA
2/26/2009 12:38 am Clearance Delay Los Angeles Gateway, CA
12:07 am Processing for clearance Los Angeles Gateway, CA
2/25/2009 10:49 pm Processing for clearance Los Angeles Gateway, CA
10:49 pm Clearance Delay Los Angeles Gateway, CA
10:48 pm Transit through DHL facility Los Angeles Gateway, CA
12:15 am Departing origin. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2/24/2009 10:13 pm Shipment picked up Hong Kong, Hong Kong

 

[lowell]

So I'm within hours of having my 700mW (claimed) laser. I finally got a 9V battery and tested my Laserbee meter today. One of my little 5mW green pointers (that I knew had to be better than 5mW) averaged around 18mW, and actually hit 22mW for a moment. That was with Lithium AAA Energizer batteries. On the other hand, a supposed 300mW red only averaged about 175mW, and topped out at 202mW. That was with two CR123 batteries. With the 3.6v 18650 it only averaged around 140mW. I like being able to test these things, and can't wait to test the 700.... Supposed to be here by noon tomorrow! (That's only 12 more hours!)

 

[jayrob]

Hey it sounds like you don't mind spending what ever it takes to enjoy your love of lasers.

Just to share my comparison of two of my (higher power) green handheld lasers with you...

One is a very well priced laser from O-like. It is IR filtered and supposed to be 250mW's. I am very happy with the laser for the price. It goes over 450mW's before it settles at around 300mW's after about 45 seconds. Paints the sky green!

Now, my RPL 375 from Optotronics cost about 3 times as much or more! But there really is no comparison in many different ways. For one, the pump diode and crystals I'm sure are of much higher quality and will out last the cheaper laser by far. (I hope)

Also, there is circuit protection built into the RPL for battery over discharge safety. There is also 15 different power settings via the tail cap, which is much more that just a pot. There are a series of different resistors built into it.

But the quality (size) of the beam and divergence is a huge difference!

And as was said earlier in this thread, the customer service from Jack at Optotronics is top notch. I just upgraded my RPL 350 which was over a year old, and he still gave me 80% of it's new value towards my new RPL 375. Who does that?? (plus Optotronics in in the U.S. and shipping is no problem)

Anyway, everybody is still very interested in this laser that you are waiting on... Thank you for sharing the up coming results with us!

But just pointing out that there is much more than power to consider when buying a DPSS laser. And since you seem to have the money. You will soon want to satisfy your desire with a quality laser from Optotronics or Nova...
Jay

 

[lowell]

Perhaps you can imagine my excitement as the DHL trucked pulled up a few minutes ago. I got my box, my laser was in it, I was impressed by it's quality. I put a newly charged battery in, and hit the button, and a weak, "spray" of fractured light spattered on the wall. :-[ Perhaps you can imagine my disappointment after all this time, to finally get this, and for it to be broken. Perhaps one of you can tell me what exactly the problem might be. I'm guessing the diode broke. The box was poorly packaged, almost no energy absorbing packing materials at all. Just a thin layer of foam wrap. This sucks! :'(

 

[Kenom]

show us a beamshot.

 

[lowell]

Update. After unscrewing the cap, I can actually see the fractured glass in the lens. Does this thing have to go all the way back to China to fix it?

 

[Kenom]

Yup!

Maybe you can have them send you a replacement while you send this one back. They sometimes do this.

 

[jayrob]

Major bummer...

Hopefully they are good with their customer service. Please keep us updated with how this transaction works out.
Jay

 

[lowell]

Here is a picture of what I saw when I hit the button.

 

[lowell]

Here's when I was still excited, and didn't yet know the thing was broken. Disappointment was just moments away..

 

[WRM]

That's quite unfortunate. My waiting finally ended today when I received my batch #1 lasers from Igor. I hate the waiting game; but it gives you something to look forward to. It must have taken a serious blow to crack lenses. It would be in their best interest to package these things appropriately considering this will cost them big time (unless they have insurance with their carrier). Please let the forum know step by step how the return goes. That way we can know what to anticipate if we also purchase anything from this vendor. Good luck with the replacement procedure. Bill

 

[lowell]

They might just send me another top half, containing the lens. The diode itself seems to be in tact. I'll let you know as things develop. I just had all four wisdom teeth out, so I've been a little loopy. Stay tuned for more coherent details.

 

[GooeyGus]

if it is making green your diode and crystals are good to go. You just need a new lens. I would definitely NOT send it all the way back to china, but either just buy the broken lens from the company or have them send you a new lens assy.

BTW, did you throw it on the power meter? I'd be curious to see what kind of power it is making, even with a broken lens.

 

[lowell]

Without the lens, it made 370mW on the meter. Does that sound right for something that should be 700mW when working correctly. With the fractured lens on, it only made 20mW, but the light was sprayed all over the place. I'm waiting to hear what they're going to do. It sounds like they may just send me a new lens.

 

[pseudolobster]

You should be getting more than 700mW without a lens. Sorry.

 

[lowell]

Without the lens, it is totally unfocused, the beam is the size of a silver dollar from six inches. I don't think it should be higher than a focused beam would be. Thanks anyway fake crab. There's likely damage to the diode anyway. They want the whole laser back. Based on the pictures I sent them, there's probably more damage than just the lens. So, we start all over. I send it back, and wait, then they send a new one, and I wait some more..... Never ending...