whats the average lifespan of a 50mW DX laser?

[mikeeey]

im hoping it's infinity lol.

 

[SenKat]

Theoretically ? 5-10,000 hours But, realistically ? I guess it depends on who you hand it to !

Seriously, though - if you follow strict duty cycles, and keep it perfectly clean - never use it or expose it to high humidity, blah, blah, blah...you will outgrow it before you kill it !

 

[mikeeey]

Theoretically ?  5-10,000 hours  But, realistically ?  I guess it depends on who you hand it to !

Seriously, though - if you follow strict duty cycles, and keep it perfectly clean - never use it or expose it to high humidity, blah, blah, blah...you will outgrow it before you kill it !

hmm ok. how do u keep it clean and keep dust from getting inside? if dust does get inside can it just easily be blown out or half-way easily be blown out with an air compresser?

 

[SenKat]

Well, you can blow the dust out, as long as you are gentle with it. The problem is, the sixe of the aperature - it is pretty tiny, so it's gonna be tough to get dirt out - I would advise against carrying them in your pocket, as lint will work it's way inside and really booger up your beam. The only laser I carry with me is kept in a sealed dragon tube that keeps all the dirt, etc out. Worst case scenario ? you may have to remove the tip of the laser carefully, in order to gentl cean the lense inside - I suggest a product like the lensepen - see the mini-review in the companies and reviews section that Kenom did....

 

[Justin]

SenKat, the 10,000 hour lifespan for diodes is only under ideal electrical conditions. You would really only see that kind of lifespan in a TE cooled device running on very clean DC power (from a lab power supply or similar). An uncooled or passively cooled device powered by batteries is operating under FAR from ideal conditions and has to cope with variations in voltage, heat and etc. For a handheld device with passive heatsinking (Aries or similar) the lifespan is closer to 5000 hours. That's still about 250 days of "on-time" though, so you would need about 5000 "C" batteries on hand to test it. (And a whole lot of patience!) Runtime for a DX pointer with no passive heatsink will be even shorter but I couldn't estimate a figure.

 

[mikeeey]

Well, you can blow the dust out, as long as you are gentle with it.  The problem is, the sixe of the aperature - it is pretty tiny, so it's gonna be tough to get dirt out - I would advise against carrying them in your pocket, as lint will work it's way inside and really booger up your beam.  The only laser I carry with me is kept in a sealed dragon tube that keeps all the dirt, etc out.  Worst case scenario ?  you may have to remove the tip of the laser carefully, in order to gentl cean the lense inside - I suggest a product like the lensepen - see the mini-review in the companies and reviews section that Kenom did....

so lets say i did keep this in my pocket often. do u know a way to keep the dust from going in? would anything that blocked the top also block the IR which burns things?

 

[SenKat]

I am sure you can manufacture a lid of some sort - like most cameras have lense covers - and you would just pop it off when you are ready to use it...you could even have it attached with a lanyard or leash to the laser so it doesn't get lost ! Hmmm - I would think something flexible, like that clear tubing you can find ant some hobby stores, or pet stores - if it is large enough around, you could slide it snugly onto the tip of hte laser, and pull it off when you want to use it. An even more permanent design would probably win you MAJOR kudos with the rest of hte DX community !

 

[mikeeey]

I am sure you can manufacture a lid of some sort - like most cameras have lense covers - and you would just pop it off when you are ready to use it...you could even have it attached with a lanyard or leash to the laser so it doesn't get lost !  Hmmm - I would think something flexible, like that clear tubing you can find ant some hobby stores, or pet stores - if it is large enough around, you could slide it snugly onto the tip of hte laser, and pull it off when you want to use it.  An even more permanent design would probably win you MAJOR kudos with the rest of hte DX community !  

clear tubing i could find at a hobby or pet store? im not sure what ur talking about. could u find a picture? sounds like a good idea though

 

[SenKat]

I am talking about the type of tubing that is used in aquarieums - it comes in larger diameters, I am sure of it - something like that would work nicely.

 

[Kenom]

Ya know there is this product that is great. It's called rubber dip. Rubber dip is used for making rubber handles on tools. It's also great for making a tool previously not electrically isolated to be so. I donno where to get rubber dip but I imagine a very simple search at your local hardware store would work.

Now that we have located the rubber dip, find a wooden dowell that has the same diameter as the pointer we are trying to make a tip cover for. Using saran rap or some kind of plastic food covering that is extremely thin place the plastic over the end of the dowell. With the plastic held firmly in place dip the end of the dowell into the rubber dip. Rubber dip dries fairly quickly and once it is dry you can pull the plastic off the dowell. Cut any excess amounts of plastic off the end of the rubber and you have a newly crafted endcap for your laser that will prevent dust from entering your aperature.

If you can find somekind of grease that you can put on the plastic to prevent the rubber dip from drying on the plastic let us know so we all can use it.

 

[mikeeey]

I am talking about the type of tubing that is used in aquarieums - it comes in larger diameters, I am sure of it - something like that would work nicely.

lol...im still not sure what ur talking about...

 

[SenKat]

[quote author=SenKat link=1181960183/0#8 date=1182169694]I am talking about the type of tubing that is used in aquarieums - it comes in larger diameters, I am sure of it - something like that would work nicely.

lol...im still not sure what ur talking about... [/quote]

The clear tubing in fish tanks that is used to produce bubbles inside the tank That silicon tubing comes in many different sizes - but Kenom's suggestion would work well, too - that stuff is sold in the paint area of Home Depot - and runs about $11.00 a pint I think. It works REALLY well to re-insulate old tools that the rubber stuff has come off of the handles....you know thin kind that gives you that little tingle when you slice a live wire ? Yeah - THAT cutter !

 

[mikeeey]

[quote author=mikeeey link=1181960183/0#10 date=1182189645][quote author=SenKat link=1181960183/0#8 date=1182169694]I am talking about the type of tubing that is used in aquarieums - it comes in larger diameters, I am sure of it - something like that would work nicely.

lol...im still not sure what ur talking about... [/quote]

The clear tubing in fish tanks that is used to produce bubbles inside the tank    That silicon tubing comes in many different sizes - but Kenom's suggestion would work well, too - that stuff is sold in the paint area of Home Depot - and runs about $11.00 a pint I think.  It works REALLY well to re-insulate old tools that the rubber stuff has come off of the handles....you know thin kind that gives you that little tingle when you slice a live wire ?  Yeah - THAT cutter !  [/quote]
lol ok when i get mine il look for that, or see if i can find anything around the house.
thanks

 

[picrthis]

I am sure you can manufacture a lid of some sort - like most cameras have lense covers - and you would just pop it off when you are ready to use it...you could even have it attached with a lanyard or leash to the laser so it doesn't get lost ! Hmmm - I would think something flexible, like that clear tubing you can find ant some hobby stores, or pet stores - if it is large enough around, you could slide it snugly onto the tip of hte laser, and pull it off when you want to use it. An even more permanent design would probably win you MAJOR kudos with the rest of hte DX community !

There is already such a product out there, I have one on every laser I own. They call them vacuum caps, you should be able to find them at your local automotive shop or graingers if you have one near you. They are made of PVC flexible vinyl and you can pop them on & off in a second, will protect it from pocket lint. I even thought of marketing them for Lasers, but don't know how much fuss that would be. They are so nice, you'd swear the Laser came with it. I'll take some pics of mine & post.

 

[mikeeey]

[quote author=SenKat link=1181960183/0#6 date=1182137183]I am sure you can manufacture a lid of some sort - like most cameras have lense covers - and you would just pop it off when you are ready to use it...you could even have it attached with a lanyard or leash to the laser so it doesn't get lost !  Hmmm - I would think something flexible, like that clear tubing you can find ant some hobby stores, or pet stores - if it is large enough around, you could slide it snugly onto the tip of hte laser, and pull it off when you want to use it.  An even more permanent design would probably win you MAJOR kudos with the rest of hte DX community !  

There is already such a product out there, I have one on every laser I own. They call them vacuum caps, you should be able to find them at your local automotive shop or graingers if you have one near you. They are made of PVC flexible vinyl and you can pop them on & off in a second, will protect it from pocket lint. I even thought of marketing them for Lasers, but don't know how much fuss that would be.  They are so nice, you'd swear the Laser came with it. I'll take some pics of mine & post.  


[/quote]
thanks! and i look forward to seeing those pictures.

 

[Kenom]

what your talking about is this
http://autozone.com/R,NONAPP23529/store,/shopping/accessoryProductDetail.htm

You can purchase them in the larger size in singles or just a few if your lucky.