Finally got my Lasever DPSS Blue back from repair

[buffo]

Just wanted to drop a quick note to everyone to say that my Lasever DPSS blue laser has returned from China.

It arrived last night, and though I didn't have a lot of time to play with it, I did manage to un-pack it and test it.

Although I was told that they'd be repairing my old unit, it appears that they've replaced it. Well, at least the head assembly is new. (Different lens, different heat sink, and it's painted black. Still the same small "MR" style head with the round turret in front.) The serial number is the same, however. (Well, they added an "R" to the end of it; probably for "repaired".) I wonder if they kept the same pump diode and crystals and just mounted everything in a new head with a new TEC? Eh, it's possible I suppose. Hopefully the head will drop right back into place in the projector where the old one was... (Looks like it will.)

The driver unit is definitely new. I marked the old one so I could tell if it came back to me, and this one is different. However, like the head, the driver has the same serial number as my old one, but with the letter "R" appended to it.

Everything was packaged quite well, though I frowned at the customs declaration... "Sample of Screwdrivers" Yeah, right... Good thing they didn't open it I guess!

I unpacked it and hooked it up. Right out of the box it was making 110 mw. (It's rated for 100 mw.) After a 5 min warm-up it was making 120 mw. I let it run for around 3 hours before shutting it down for the night, and at the end of that 3 hour run power was right at 114 mw.

I did notice that both the head and the driver unit are running hotter now. The head was around 95 degrees F, and the driver unit was up around 105 degrees F. (Both were sitting on a 2 ft square, 1/4 inch thich plate of aluminum.) Not really hot, but my old unit didn't even get warm. (Maybe that was part of the problem...)

Unlike my laser laser, this one had the beam dialed in pretty close right out of the box. I believe I can get it better with a little adjustment though. I'll probably set it up in the back yard over the weekend (where I can have a long 100 ft throw) and then adjust the lens on the output to get the best beam I can.

More info to follow later after I've done some more tests.

Adam

PS: A big thanks to everyone who spoke to Lasever on my behalf to get the ball rolling on this repair. It only took a month, so that isn't too bad, but it was supposed to be a lot shorter turn-around than that. Still, I've got the laser now, so life is good.

[carmangary]

I recently got the 50mw of that laser. From your description, it sounds like my has the same case as yours. Mine doesn't get hot but probably because is is only 50mw. Well, actually it is 70mw measured.

How do you focus the beam? Do you rotate the inner piece that has the two little dimples?

I shot mine out into the sky the other night because some fog rolled in. Absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to get it installed in my scanner.

[buffo]

Hi Gary;

Congrats on your blue laser purchase. Yeah, that little washer-shaped lens holder inside the output turret with the two dimples is actually a thin threaded barrel that threads into the output turret. It will screw in and out, allowing you to tweak the focus of that final lens.

On the laser I sent back, that lens holder was loose and free to turn. On this one, however, they put some hot glue around the edges (in two places) to hold it firm so it won't turn. I'll have to scrape that off with a knife first.

I agree that 473 nm is pretty! I had it running for around 3 hours last night, and it was fun to see blue coherent light again...

Adam