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Thread: Is Laser Eyeware Honestly Rated?

  1. #1
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    Default Is Laser Eyeware Honestly Rated?

    I have used dozens of pairs of laser goggles over the years. Most are the high end models from well known companies. A typical rating for a protective range will be an OD from 4 to 7. This means a reduction of intensity of the transmited light from 10,000 to 10,000,000 times. An OD of 6 is very common. The range is also very broad and covers the typical laser line with significant coverage on each side of the line.

    I don't think the typical goggle set blocks anywhere near as well as it is rated to block. 1,000,000 times means that a blinding 10W beam will penetrate these goggles with 10uW. A 10uW spot should be very dim and the spot from the 10W is not. Some goggles block better than others, yet the ratings are always reported as minimums and so some should provide even greater reduction, but none SHOULD be less.

    I actually take advantage of what I am describing. Try to align a low power laser with goggles on. Unless they are terrible, gas station shades you have difficulty seeing the beam. When I align a multi-watt laser, I can often do so with the goggles on.

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    Be interesting to test some by sitting them in front of a power meter sensor and measuring the amount of each wavelength passing through . I seem to remember that someone has done it on here before but at least doing again Eric would mean that you have the true range of each of your goggles and some interesting reading for the rest of us.
    Last edited by White-Light; 10-25-2015 at 01:07.

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    The problem is in fact the range. To get into the low power range of my meter, unless these are really off, I would have to hit them with tens of watts at each frequency.

    Anecdotally, how do those of us that align some fairly complex beam paths do it? Do you find that some goggles leak enough to see the beam? Do you constantly crack them away from your face to sneak a peak while adjusting with the other hand? When I align an 808 nm beam I have to do it while watching a video monitor and the camera provides the protection, but if you look ( I do not advise this, I'm just saying) you can just barely see a several watt 808beam on an anodized surface. The eye's sensitivity to 808nm light is 1/67,000 that of its sensitivity at 555nm. That means such a spot is as bright as a 50uW 555nm laser and you can just barely see it. A 10W L-scope (Q switched or not) is way, way brighter through any goggle I have used.

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    I use goggles made for UV to align high powered green systems. The density in green is low enough to render the light comfortable. With IR, I'd be in goggles all the time. That shit really freaks me out.

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    The goggle i have for UV are totally clear at green and provide no protection above UVC, but i only need them for UVC, you dont need the crappy orange tinted glasses they show on CSI For UVC.

    The glasses i use for IR are branded Trimedyne but when i am using them with and IR 808nm I cant see the beam so i use a video camera that i modified, the ir filter is now at the front of the camera so i can remove it or leave it in.
    I dont have any cheaper glasses to test this with though, i question the ratings on the cheaper glasses my self, one set of plastic sun glasses i tested with a camera behind it did nothing, the laser burned a hole right though the tinted layer, so the plastic lens laser safety glasses i inherently do not trust
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    Every US and German made Goggle I have ever tested matched its specification, especially the certified ones.
    I cannot say that about the "Pacific Region" imports... Some of them turned out to be very dangerous..
    .
    Don't get me started on the kids who WRONGLY say to trust stacks of theatrical gels, either...
    .
    Testing for high pulse power goggles has to be done with fast instruments and big lasers in some cases, as in theory the dye or glass can momentarily "bleach" to clear and then revert to adsorbing.
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    Anyone uses Eagle Pair or Aixis goggles? I was thinking of getting some protection.

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    " 15 characters"
    Last edited by Laser Wizardry; 11-13-2015 at 12:58.

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    correct me if i am wrong but cant some exposure to a high power laser cause blind spots rather then total blindness? like if at a laser show and some got it by a scanning laser or from a accident with out eye wear?

    the reason i ask is i can just imagine some one saying they don't need eye wear and have an injury they are not aware of?
    Remember Remember The 8th of November, When No One Stood, but Kneel, In Surrender
    In a popular government when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can come only from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost. Montesquieu

  10. #10
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    This is much more likely. Getting into the habit of wearing eyeware while working with lasers starts with following the rules. Then, most of us will have an "eyeopening experience" where a powerful laser sweeps across us and we come to realize what might have happened without the protection. You're more likely to benefit from goggles when the unexpected or careless exposure occurs than when your facing some apocalyptic laser discharge (like mine).

    An interesting aspect of wearing goggles is that when the laser is used for display purposes you are meant to see it. However, as I said above, the goggles can interfere with the alignment process, so here you might need to use "Pacific" goggles. When they fire the Vulcan laser in the UK, you see nothing, just a distant click and that's it; a petawatt and less visibly impressive than a laser pointer.

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