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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

where is the IR filter located on an S3 Krypton?

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Dec 25, 2016
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firstly, i would like to apologize for the length of this post. also, if it is in the wrong category then let me know. i feel like it doesn't necessarily belong in the green laser category because it is about wattage and the location of a component.
it has two questions- where is the IR filter located in the S3 Krypton, and how can i determine the wattage?

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i have recently bought a used WL S3 Krypton for $100 (i do not know what the wattage is, since the previous owner apparently removed the safety/information sticker)

i am very new to lasers, but from the little i understand, the IR filter on a powerful green laser is an extremely important safety feature. the S3 lasers have a removable and replaceable lens on the front, which can be replaced by other lenses which will make a line, a star pattern, diffuse the beam, etc. the default one is a plain glass lens. i believe this is likely just there to protect the innards from dust, moisture, etc. it is the part on the far left of this image and it has been removed from the host. another reason i suspect this is not the IR filter is that this part is present on all colors of the S3 lasers, and as far as i'm aware, green lasers are the only ones that need an IR filter.
3560_08.jpg



i originally thought this was the IR filter, but after looking at a diagram of a green laser, and some thought, it makes no sense that a component that important and safety critical would be exposed on the front of the unit. it would likely be inside of the module, protected and safe, or at least this would make sense. i imagine it would be like the setup below.
l54-101.gif


i have accidentally damaged the glass in the removable lens that goes on the front. here's what happened- the glass was originally held in by two small weak dots of glue. while i was wiping it off, it popped out of the housing, and i decided to reattach it with a good amount of super glue around the perimeter. this has worked perfectly in reattaching it, but after i thought it had completely dried, i tried wiping a smudge off of the front of this lens, accidentally smearing liquid glue around the surface from the edges. unable to think of any other way to get it off, i used acetone and a q-tip. after doing this, it was clear that there was originally some sort of coating on the lens which was destroyed by the acetone. was this the IR filter, and am i putting myself at risk by continuing to use the laser in its current condition? i'm also curious what that coating may have been for if not for blocking infrared light.

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as far as the wattage goes, i would like to determine if this is a 300, 500 or 1000mw laser. like i said, the safety label was removed by the previous owner. it was advertised as a 1W laser, but i didn't get the impression that he was very informed about it. he wasn't even the original owner, he took it from a friend as compensation because the friend wrecked his trailer. it seems his only basis for claiming it as a 1W unit is that the 1W version is currently the only one available on the wicked lasers website.
i've emailed wicked laser customer support and they said without that label, i'm pretty much screwed. so my question to you guys is, are there any practical tests i can do to determine the approximate wattage? for example, is there something that only a 1W laser can do, but a 500mw can't do, or that a 500mw can do but a 300mw can't? they said that if its a 1000mw laser, it should "instantly" light a red-tipped match, but "instantly" is a vague word. i tried it earlier and it took a few seconds, but it hadn't had time to warm up and from my understanding, if the pointer is too cold, it will be under-powered (if this is incorrect, please let me know). i also know that a 300mw laser can light a match, so this doesn't seem like a good test. i have a match with a white tip. perhaps only a 1W laser can light that?

so yeah. that's it for my post. any information or advice will be greatly appreciated.
 
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This should probably be in the "Tutorials, Help & Repairs" section, but it's not a big deal. If the mods want to move it they will.

How new is your laser? Where are you located?

Wicked Lasers recently switched their green lasers to direct diode, so if you live in a non-blacklisted country and your laser is fairly new (~<6 months), then you may not have to worry about IR at all. However, I will assume that your model is one of the older DPSS style lasers like the one you posted a diagram of.

If the coating you destroyed was on a removable lens, it likely wasn't an IR filter. IR filters are usually square, have a "purpleish" color, and are not typically incorporated into lenses (at least not focusing lenses).

Most likely, the coating was a basic anti-reflection (or AR) coating. If you wear glasses then you've probably been offered AR coatings for them at some point by your optometrist. This is the same thing.

AR coatings are applied to reduce losses and prevent reflections back into the cavity, but in your case it should be okay to operate your laser without it (you may have decreased performance, though). But before you do, would you mind posting some pictures of the lens inquestion just so that we can make sure it was indeed only an AR coating that was damaged?
 
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sure thing! i took pictures of the removable lens and the front of the laser module.

i cleaned the smeared coating off as much as i could and the glass underneath has a purple tint if you look at a reflection in the right light. you can also see the color of the original coating around the edge where it was glued. the coating is sort of a yellow/gold color.

IMG_0042.jpg

IMG_0041.jpg



the front of the module has a purple square piece of glass in the front. from your description of IR filters, this looks like its it. the removable lens is also purple so maybe they both block IR.

IMG_0045.jpg

IMG_0044.jpg

IMG_0043.jpg
 

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The first picture in your first post is a picture of a WL Arctic not a Krypton ---it says clearly on it Arctic on it and it is the short ribbed laser module section not the longer one used in Kyypton

What the story with that?? Is the laser output blue or green? Blue is an Arctic and green is a Krypton.

Either way the only real way to determine output power is by measuring it with a Laser Power Meter.
 
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i know full well that i posted a photo of an arctic.
the part is identical on every version of the S3 and it was the only photo of an S3 laser that i could find with the front lens removed and also in the same picture as the host.
so who cares?:twak:

my laser, that i own and that this thread is about, is a krypton.

do you think there might be a laser power meter at, say, a nearby university or technical institute that they would let me use for a minute?
 

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i know full well that i posted a photo of an arctic.
the part is identical on every version of the S3 and it was the only photo of an S3 laser that i could find with the front lens removed and also in the same picture as the host.
so who cares?:twak:

my laser, that i own and that this thread is about, is a krypton.

do you think there might be a laser power meter at, say, a nearby university or technical institute that they would let me use for a minute?

I asked about the picture just to be sure because I wouldn't guess you put up a picture of someone else's laser and noticed the picture was of an Arctic.

Anyway the screw on end cap is just a clear lens with an anti-refelctive coating --not an IR filter. All DPSS 532nm Kryptons had an IR filter which is the square one you took a photo of.

University or Technical Institute----perhaps call them and see if they have a Department that uses lasers---maybe they would measure it for you---doubt they would let you use it yourself--even if you knew how--liability issues.

Several member have Laser Power Meters maybe one of them would offer to measure it for you if you paid the shipping both ways.

More important is that you get good laser goggles to protect your eyes, if you don't already have them. Laser accidents that cause occular damage happen so fast there is no possibillity of avoiding one when it is happening--damage to the eye happens faster than human blink reflex of 0.25 seconds and can cause permanent damage. See: http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/irreversible-vision-damage-don-t-turn-blind-eye-laser-hazards-71299.html and http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/hit-eye-1000mw-445nm-blue-laser-69469.html
 
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Radim

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sure thing! i took pictures of the removable lens and the front of the laser module.
...

You can take a look if there is a diode inside visible. But remove battery first before looking into aperture - it is like looking into gun's barrel! Never do it with battery in. Double check to be sure there is no way the laser can be turned on by accident.


My Krypton 520 nm (direct diode = no IR involved in lasing process) looks like this. I tried to focus at the diode - the "grey thing" more less focussed (mobile photo).

BTW: Get proper safety glasses for using this laser - they are needed.
 

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Radim

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Any other way how to recognize whether it is 520 nm (diode) or 532 nm (diode pumped solid state - the one where IR is involved) is to switch the laser on. If it starts at low strobe mode (flashing) it is most likely the old 532 nm. If it starts at low continuous mode (not flashing), it is probably 520 nm as there is another firmware loaded.

If it is diode 520 nm - it should be around 1 W. If it is 532 nm (DPSS) there are several power versions.

You can also try to estimate it from the beam colour (520 nm is more "blue") or with transverse modes as 532 nm is moreless TEM00 and diode is multimode - safety goggles needed for looking at dot. Or try to measure beam specs and compare.

Wicked Lasers promoted they have filtered DPSS. The IR filter should be inside module:

diagram_01.gif


Anyway this is a picture from WL and my Evo (532 nm) seems to be slightly different scheme. (There is probably no beam splitter and feedback from 532 nm - the feedback seems to be done via photodiode inside 808 nm pump diode only.) I'm not sure if this module scheme is 100 % correct (you can ask WL), but IR filter is there before output optics - so at the protection lens/window it was AR coating only.

For IR you can also try to use diffraction grating (CD or DVD) and take a picture of interference patterns via camera with no IR filter. You will see IR interference patterns if there is leakage of IR.

To be sure it is always the best to measure spectrum and power with proper devices - maybe someone from LPF could help you.
 
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