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What a cheap laser can do, Beware!






Hi BBB,
Thanks for sharing , I blame the mom :tsk:for purchasing the pen for a 9 yr old who has no idea about safety with them. All they see and think its a light and has no idea of the ramifications of the beam and what it contacts. Prayers go out to the boy maybe a recovery down the line hopefully .

Rich:)
 
Oh that is sad! I'll also bet that it's NOT a 1 mW laser (even though you should not stare at them either). The "class 1 Cat Toy" 532 nm pen I bought-to use as a pointer in presentations-was vastly brighter than the one my coworker uses and Vastly brighter than the 1 mW setting on my Sanwu Challenger II 1Watt 520 nm. It's so bright that just looking at the dot on a white wall makes my eyes ache. The 1mW setting dot on my 520? MUCH less intense-and no discomfort.
Needless to say-the Cat Toy never gets used. I got a "510 nm" Class one from Laserlands- that does the trick for presentations.

I think someone here has said that the cheap 532 nm "Class 1" pointers have been measured at 25-30 mW.
 
Damn that makes me mad. The mom blames the laser and not her own choice to buy it for her kid. He's 9, of course he's going to want to look down the barrel of the thing! :scowl:

“If we could save other children’s eyes in Archie’s name, then great. If we can get them banned, even better.” - Yeah, she can f*ck right off.

Now that being said, it does surprise me that there hasn't been a crackdown on those cheap eBay lasers yet. Had the laser actually been within the "eye safe" threshold I doubt the damage would have been as severe.

EDIT: Wooo! 1000th post!
 
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Hi H20,

I feel the same about the mom making a bad choice for the kid. What was she 36 or 38 try old Dumb as a box of rocks. If he gets his normal sight back that will be a lesson well learned but costly and its not his fault poor boy.

Rich:)
 
Lifetime17 said:
Hi H20,

I feel the same about the mom making a bad choice for the kid. What was she 36 or 38 try old Dumb as a box of rocks. If he gets his normal sight back that will be a lesson well learned but costly and its not his fault poor boy.

Rich:)
Click to expand...

I doubt he'll ever regain "normal" sight. While the brain is amazingly adaptable, some things just can't be fixed.
 
Hi H20 ,
I just think positive and for the better hey funny things happen all the time . just say a few prayers he will be ok, and he is young to spring back hopefully .

Rich:)
 
H2Oxide- of course he would.
If you look at the picture of the laser in question-there is no warning label-much like my ONE Ebay cheapie "Cat Toy"-which is way over 1 mW. One purchaser said-"way too hot for cat toy." I went to post my own comment-but they were no longer selling. At least some of the cheap Gatling lasers show Match lighting-which might be a clue!
This one was sold by a Toy store.

H2Oxide said:
Damn that makes me mad. The mom blames the laser and not her own choice to buy it for her kid. He's 9, of course he's going to want to look down the barrel of the thing! :scowl:

“If we could save other children’s eyes in Archie’s name, then great. If we can get them banned, even better.” - Yeah, she can f*ck right off.

Now that being said, it does surprise me that there hasn't been a crackdown on those cheap eBay lasers yet. Had the laser actually been within the "eye safe" threshold I doubt the damage would have been as severe.

EDIT: Wooo! 1000th post!
Click to expand...

Lifetime-he likely won't-without some future cell replacement-maybe they can replace his retina someday.
Lifetime17 said:
Hi H20,

I feel the same about the mom making a bad choice for the kid. What was she 36 or 38 try old Dumb as a box of rocks. If he gets his normal sight back that will be a lesson well learned but costly and its not his fault poor boy.

Rich:)
Click to expand...

At least with current medical technology. Lab grown organs are in development- maybe retina's will someday. Or an eye transplant- nerve connections are currently VERY tricky.
H2Oxide said:
I doubt he'll ever regain "normal" sight. While the brain is amazingly adaptable, some things just can't be fixed.
Click to expand...

Lifetime17 said:
Hi H20 ,
I just think positive and for the better hey funny things happen all the time . just say a few prayers he will be ok, and he is young to spring back hopefully .

Rich:)
Click to expand...
 
Pelagius said:
H2Oxide- of course he would.
If you look at the picture of the laser in question-there is no warning label-much like my ONE Ebay cheapie "Cat Toy"-which is way over 1 mW. One purchaser said-"way too hot for cat toy." I went to post my own comment-but they were no longer selling. At least some of the cheap Gatling lasers show Match lighting-which might be a clue!
This one was sold by a Toy store.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely certain what you're getting at here, but the fact that it is from a toy store is of little consequence. I have a whole box of green lasers identical to the one pictured in the article. Some of them were purchased online, some of them were purchased in stores. If the battery connection isn't bad, they're all >5mW, and they all leak IR. I guess I should have said "Chinese laser" rather than "eBay laser", but the two are practically synonymous.
 
Hi H2Oxide-No disagreements with anything you posted- 100% agreement.

QUOTE=H2Oxide;1545955]I'm not entirely certain what you're getting at here, but the fact that it is from a toy store is of little consequence. I have a whole box of green lasers identical to the one pictured in the article. Some of them were purchased online, some of them were purchased in stores. If the battery connection isn't bad, they're all >5mW, and they all leak IR. I guess I should have said "Chinese laser" rather than "eBay laser", but the two are practically synonymous.[/QUOTE]
 
H2Oxide said:
I'm not entirely certain what you're getting at here, but the fact that it is from a toy store is of little consequence.
Click to expand...

It can be of -huge- importance in cases of bodily harm caused by products.

So far the UK is part of the EU, and there are rules about product liability here.

The product responsibility lies with the "legal" manufacturer of a product in the EU. If you import something (as a business) from outside the EU, you are the "legal manufacturer" of that product to the law.

So if you had a EU based toy shop and imported a bunch of lasers from aliexpress or something like that, -you- are the manufacturer when in comes to liability. If they caused harm, your customers should sue -you-, not the physical manufacturer, for any damages (reasonable chance of success if the product was inherently dangerous).

On the other hand, if a consumer makes a purchase directly from a non-EU company, that company would be the manufacturer by law, and you should sue them for any damages if you can by any means (good luck with that, go learn cantonese).
 
Benm said:
It can be of -huge- importance in cases of bodily harm caused by products.

So far the UK is part of the EU, and there are rules about product liability here.

The product responsibility lies with the "legal" manufacturer of a product in the EU. If you import something (as a business) from outside the EU, you are the "legal manufacturer" of that product to the law.

So if you had a EU based toy shop and imported a bunch of lasers from aliexpress or something like that, -you- are the manufacturer when in comes to liability. If they caused harm, your customers should sue -you-, not the physical manufacturer, for any damages (reasonable chance of success if the product was inherently dangerous).

On the other hand, if a consumer makes a purchase directly from a non-EU company, that company would be the manufacturer by law, and you should sue them for any damages if you can by any means (good luck with that, go learn cantonese).
Click to expand...

I meant that it wouldn't make any difference in terms of how powerful/dangerous it was. I'm not familiar enough with laws overseas to make any comment on them.
 
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I wonder how often this happens.
If these are being sold for pocket change to anyone on the street, I'm sure there are tons of incidents where people are burning holes in their retinas and probably doing it to others.
Lasers are undoubtedly a hazard. Average people are not educated enough to understand the dangers. Customs agencies are probably not equipped nor trained to enforce laser import regulations. How do you fix a problem like that? The easiest and probably cheapest way is to enforce a ban.
If these incidents rise to high enough frequency, that may be the way policy will go.

To be honest, I wish lasers never made it to a mainstream market but I think sites like LPF helped boost the profile of these devices... so it's partly our fault.
Stick to DIY and you won't have to worry so long as the components are around.
Oh well. That really sucks for the kid.
 
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