Laser Reliability Info requested from all users

[buffo]

1) Manufacturer: Lasever
2) LSR473-ML series (Lab module with round turret head & small, squarish back)
3) 473nm
4) Power advertised - 100mw
5) Power actual - Was 100 mw, then dropped to 5 mw after 3 months of use. Sent back to China for repair, was actually replaced with new laser.
Replacement laser #1 power actual was 110mw, then dropped to 40 mw after 2 months, then to 25 mw after another week or two. Sent back to China again, and was again replaced with new unit.
Replacement laser # 2 power actual was 103 mw, then dropped to 10 mw after 4 months and about 35 hours of use. Sent back to China again, and was once again replaced with new laser.
Replacement laser # 3 power actual was 110 mw, and is still 110 mw as of today. Head design is *slightly* different, but still very close to the original ML design.
6) First purchased: Dec '06
7) First failure in Jan '07. Second failure in March '07. Third failure in October '07.
8) <100hrs @ time of failure for all three failures. (Two were less than 50 hrs)
9) 1yr Warranty / Service from supplier. I had to pay shipping (one way) on each return.
10) Cause of failure - unknown, but believed to be thermal issues caused by a faulty TEC circuit design and poor mounting of the TEC element in the head.
11) Initial price=$1150. Price has dropped to $750 now. No charges for repair other than shipping one way to China each time.

And in fairness to Nanowatt, you did say that "if a laser has ever died on you unexpectedly, could you please post"... Granted, you were talking about solid state lasers, but you didn't specify solid state only in your request for info. (Doesn't matter for me, because the only ion lasers that have died on me have been because of my own stupidity.)

Adam

[nanoWatt]

Do you think Chinese lasers today are more reliable? Or is this going to be an expected track record?

1) Manufacturer: Lasever
6) First purchased: Dec '06
7) First failure in Jan '07. Second failure in March '07. Third failure in October '07.
8) <100hrs @ time of failure for all three failures. (Two were less than 50 hrs)

[Lampy]

Not sure its fair to group all Chinese lasers together, for example I think Bridge on this forum is doing well with all his laser releated products and I'm sure people are happy with many others too. Althogh I can't comment as I don't have first hand expereience with Chinese lasers. My DT40 pro galvos are doing well though!

-Matt.

[mliptack]

Yeah my laser from Bridge is still burning brightly. Still way above advertised output and has over 100 hours on it.

-Max

[buffo]

To be fair, Lasever claims that they've found the problem. Likewise, everyone that has received one of the newly modified heads has had no further problems. Time will tell if the fix is permanent or not, but I believe they've solved their problem.

And you have to admit that it's hard to walk away from 100 mw of 473 nm blue (with excellent beam specs, I might add) for just $750. Even if you end up sending it back for repair at your own expense, it's still a bargain.

Of course, if you're a professional outfit, then it means your projector is out of action for a month or more, and that might end up being a *LOT* more costly.

Adam

[sbk]

1) Lasever
2) LSR473-ML Series
3) 473nm
4) 100mW (measured ~120mW)
5) <50mW
6) 04.2007
7) 01.2008 (I saw it a few days before )
8) ~50 hours
9) Asked for a repair a few days before, no answer for the moment
10) Unknow cause, but I think the same cause like all other Lasever manufactured before the fix. The laser is always super-stable and the beam shape is OK.
11) 1150 AUD




1) Lasever
2) LSR532-ML Series
3) 532nm
4) 200mW (measured >250mW)
5) 50 - 70mW with a strange beam (multi dots)
6) 11/05/2007
7) 18/08/2007
8) <50
9) Sent 01/07/2007, repaired and returned 15/08/2007
10) Cause of failure : seems like a disalignement or failure of the crystals
11) 360 USD, repair cost 0$, only shipping one way
The replacement laser did >350mW and seems to stay OK, but when using analog modulation, there is a quite big step-down in power when reaching ~3V, then at 4V the power increase again...