Outdoors Housing

[White-Light]

I'm thinking of using a laser outdoors for parties but whilst I don't intend putting it in danger of getting wet, with the changeable weather and things like dew after dark, I was wondering if it was best to use a housing.

If so, has anyone made one?

I was wondering what the best design for cooling vs waterproofing was?

I was also wondering if there were any constraints on the type of glass that should be used in front of the unit eg. Will double glazing cause reflections / distortion, will normal single glazing, what thickness etc.

Anyone with any experience / suggestions?

[Things]

Why not just put the laser under a roof or tarp or something? It would be much easier than trying to waterproof the whole laser. If you were to waterproof it, you would have to have something at the lasers output = less laser

[aijii]

You can get AR coated glass that loses a minimum amount of light. We use AR glass on all our lasers. You lose less light through AR glass than you will on dirty mirrors/optics.

Seal your laser up. Recommended that you keep the optics seperate to the electronics, and fan cool the electronics through vents in the chassis, but have the mirrors/optics/lasers enclosed if possible.

What sort of outdoor event ? Bush doof (ie outdoor rave party) if so those places tend to get ridiculously dusty because of all the dirt people stomping away at the ground to psy trance - if you want your laser filled with dirt at the end of the event then leave it open

[carmangary]

Could you give a link to an AR window that is good?

[Things]

No need to use a fog machine then!

[p1t8ull]

Could you give a link to an AR window that is good?

Edmunds ones are good and not too expensive -http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlineca...productID=1919

Stanwax also mentioned a while ago about using photographic skylight filters which again are fairly cheap, the ones I have checked do work well. You can glue a step-up ring into the projjy and have a nice pro looking removable output window as well

[White-Light]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Aijii, I think I have more in mind a box to put the projector in than trying to seal the actual projector up which seems a bit risky to me in terms of affecting cooling and I' presuming would also make it difficult to sell on.

The parties I mentioned are only really going to be small personal gatherings of maybe 10-20 people, not commercial ventures.

That said, BBQ's stick out some smoke and its of the type that does settle on things, which is why I thought it better to consider a housing than a tarp.

I had wondered about building a box with a steel mesh base (to allow air in) and then maybe an open back (to allow air out) with solid sides and roof and of fairly large volume to allow some breathing room. Anyone done anything like this? Last thing I want to do is cook my pride and joy.

[wes]

i have thought a little about this problem as well.

if dust is your concern, i think you would need intake filters in your enclosure.

then fans strong enough to get a good flow through the filter.

[Lasernerd]

i have thought a little about this problem as well.

if dust is your concern, i think you would need intake filters in your enclosure.

then fans strong enough to get a good flow through the filter.

Yep thats what i do!
I have air filters on the intake sides of my projectors.

[White-Light]

What type of filters do you use?

Are there ones specially for lasers, or do you use computer fan type, or car intake filters, or other?