Optic ruined?

[SirJMD]

I have two 120mW green lasers, where both are semi-damaged. The front lens spreads the light quite a bit - there's still a focused hot-spot, but there's LOADS of "noise" around it.

At just 3 meters away, the "noise" takes up an area at about 30cm in diameter.


Question is... what can i do to fix it? Or is it totally ruined?

(the one is a dual AA pen-size, and the other is a bit larger and CR123 powered)

 

[Ragnarok]

It may help if you could give us some more information:

Are the optics exposed to the environment (beam shutter/no beam shutter/recessed)?

What environment are the lasers used in? Dust/smoke/pocket lint, etc. can contaminate optical surfaces over time.

Is this the first time this has happened to these lasers?

Have you ever attempted to clean the optics? If so, what method did you use?

Fwiw, if the optics are merely dirty, a piece of lens cleaning tissue moistened with alcohol can be gently swabbed across the lens surface a few times as needed. Do not apply pressure.

2c, R.

 

[SirJMD]

It may help if you could give us some more information:

Are the optics exposed to the environment (beam shutter/no beam shutter/recessed)?

What environment are the lasers used in? Dust/smoke/pocket lint, etc. can contaminate optical surfaces over time.

Is this the first time this has happened to these lasers?

Have you ever attempted to clean the optics? If so, what method did you use?

Fwiw, if the optics are merely dirty, a piece of lens cleaning tissue moistened with alcohol can be gently swabbed across the lens surface a few times as needed. Do not apply pressure.

2c, R.

Ah yes, forgot all about the details !


There is no cover infront of the lenses. The lenses LOOKS clean - nothing visible. It happend shortly after i bought them - probably due to some burning of some plastic.

Ive tried to clean the lenses, first with some microfiber cloth - didnt help, then with some rubbing alcohol - didnt help.

 

[Ragnarok]

If the lens is glass, you may try stepping up to acetone or MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) which could melt/affect a plastic lens depending on the material!.

If you were burning plastic close enough to the optics for the resulting smoke/vapor to reach them, and the optics are also plastic, it is possible that some of the smoke/vapor particles may have bonded to the lens and probably will not be removable.

Best to use an external lens to focus the beam for burning, with the laser at a safer distance of several inches at least, to prevent optic contamination.

2c, R.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

what does the beam look like? is it a big oval? it may be that the lens was budged and needs to be readjusted...

 

[SirJMD]

Ragnarok --> Its glass. Gonna try with some acetone. I have the lasers at another location, so its gonna be somewhere next week.

bshanahan14rulz --> Its like.. scattered. Its most likely something on the lens, from when it was used to burn stuff. The lens is refracting the light in weird patterns.
Gonna shoot a pic as soon as i can


EDIT: Found an old pic i took of the damaged beam:

As you can see.. its all over the place


The laser housing is this:

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

After further review of the thread, I too believe there may be smoke residue on your lasers' lenses. Those look way too nice to give up on, though. I'd take 'em off your hands, but I told myself I need to get goggles first before getting anything more powerful.

 

[SirJMD]

After further review of the thread, I too believe there may be smoke residue on your lasers' lenses. Those look way too nice to give up on, though. I'd take 'em off your hands, but I told myself I need to get goggles first before getting anything more powerful.

Im more interested in fixing them, than selling them