mode shift? (Evolution Pro)

[axd]

Recently acquired an Evolution Pro 532nm/40mw, and have some questions.

1. when covering the spot on the wall with e.g. a thumb to observe the corona, I notice a small, rather faint hair-like extension at 8 o'clock (switch=12 o'clock) that looks like a "mode shift" (sorry, no images - the site doesn't seem to have them). This "hair" extends to approx. 5-6x the width of the hot spot, it looks like a very faint little loop but is not visible without covering the hot spot. Unit is at room temperature; the hair remains even after removing the front cover (Q: is that the IR filter?)
2. When I rotate the front cap, under some angles there appear moisture patterns, under another angle the pattern looks like scratched lens; the patterns disappear when the cap is fully screwed in (=normal position), so it seems to be related to the front cover lens. Although the lens looks clean as far as I can see, when I wipe it off, the "moisture" pattern disappears. Note that ther is no moisture at all in the air. Maybe the distance between front cover lens and laser can generate specific patterns as a result of microscopic patterns on the front lens?
3. The beam is slightly off-axis: slight tilt up towards 12 o'clock, est. 20cm over 6m, maybe a few degrees (didn't try to measure it accurately) (edit added: same observation in this review.)

Does point 1 give me reasons to worry?

thx,

-alex-

ps - can't imagine such lasers are being handled by kids - until now I haven't had accidents with it, but it takes discipline to look where the beam will hit, before switching it on: make sure no-one might be hit (eg. sweep across a building with windows - someone might be looking out from a darkened window!), check for potentially dangerous reflections that might come back and still hit (anyone's) eye... (and yes, I have the goggles.)

 

[HobbyLaser]

It's hard to tell for sure without actually seeing it, but from what you've described, that sounds a lot more like bad/dirty optics than a non-TEM00 mode pattern.

Can you get a picture of the beam, and post it here?

BTW, a beam being SLIGHTLY tilted is not uncommon on green lasers. It's not a big deal, as long as it's not so bad as to be annoying (or causing part of the beam to be blocked internally).

 

[axd]

Can you get a picture of the beam, and post it here?

Need to find a cam first. My Creative Go no longer works on Windows 7 :scowl::hairpull: