Laser scanner adjustment

Hello all,

I'm a new member here! My name's Sel, born and bred in Leicester, Uk and moved to Bursa, Turkey six years ago and been here since.
I bought myself a few disco laser scanners that needed some work on them and have come into a stumbling block with one of them.

I've managed to get this one (Eclips X100) running again but compared to my blue laser scanner this is really dim, to the point of that next to it you can't see the green. I've tried searching for any info on the internet and found nothing that would help so I opened the driver to have a gander inside and found these 3 variable resistors inside but as I don't want to start messing too much and make a hash of it I'm hoping someone here could guide me as to which one does what. I tried a few small adjustments but couldn't see any difference so I've left it.

Also, the glass on both scanners is missing (one arrived in the post with the glass smashed in), can I still use them as-is or would it be prudent to install at least something in there for safety?

Any help would be massively appreciated as I'm at a loss!

Sel

The laser is a dpss laser. Likely one of those is current to the pump diode and the other ktp temperature. The third could be a bias current adjustment for the pump.

scanners without mirrors are just motors. You need to replace the broken mirrors. Post shots of the scanners and drivers and we might be able to tell you mirror size. Likely 5mm.

on the laser, you likely won’t see @nything unless you put a modulation signal to the driver input. Put 5v on the modulation input briefly and see if it flashes brightly.

actually looking I see a pot with red lock tight. That is likely the temp setting.

Hey Kecked, thanks for the reply.

Would it be ok for me to adjust these to see if there's a difference in the brightness of the laser? I'll put 5v on the modulation input but I don't know which one that is so I'll take more detailed photos of the laser driver and hope to ascertain which is which. On the input/output all I know is the TTL input from a separate board to the laser driver (the green and red cable on the bottom left of the board), apart from that I'm not sure.

The mirrors are fine in this scanner, its the glass on the front of the unit the beam passes through that was broken which I took out. I've seen a few scanners which don't have any glass so I'm presuming that it's just for dust protection and not much else?

Thanks again mate.

Take more pictures. Best not to turn pots you don’t understand. If you take enough I might be able to figure it out looking. Front glass is just to keep dirt out. From the look of it that ship sailed long ago.

a video might save a lot of pictures.

Me and the wife went out last night and got drunk so didn't take any photos but will do a video when I get home from work.

That ship set sail and then sank :)

I've added some photos as the video was too wobbly and dark.
Hopefully you can make head and tail of the driver.

does this laser use a magnet?

Blue and green brightness comparison.

As Kecked said, that green laser is a DPSS laser which requires the temperature on something called a TEC to be set correctly and adequate current for the IR pump diode. Other things can go wrong with DPSS lasers over time.

Looking at your pics, you have three potentiometers on the driver, but I can't tell you what controls what. One is going to be the gain or max current to the pump diode, another one will be to control the TEC temperature, the third might be bias control (the standby power to the pump diode) or something else. Someone else here might be able to guide you regarding which pot is which, but absent that, you could try making very small adjustments to each pot independently while the laser is running (returning them to the original position if things don't improve), but you risk blowing the pump diode or making things worse.

-David

<Edit> The label in the first picture doesn't list the output power. It is possible it is a low powered laser and is functioning properly. <Edit>

Until fairly recent, actual 'blue' was the more expensive while Blu-ray (405nm) is cheap but to our eyes not very bright... from your pic my guess is that you have a violet laser (405nm) and not an actual blue.<br>
most makers set the outputs below the max for a longer life. AND slight increases will not make a big improvement. In order for us to 'see' a doubling in 'preceived brightness'--you need 4 X the mW-- like 100mW vs 400mW to see a doubling. Even 1W of 405 is not very bright--hard to see the beams from the side w/o fog or smoke. <br>
<br>
HOWEVER-- brightness and burning power are not exactly the same thing- a 405 may be the best wavelength for burnin' stuffs' &amp; while it looks harmless but that is far from the truth.<br>
Even a 3$ 405nm 'pen' pointer could damage the eyes --thus while no laser should be considered to be a toy -- the 405 may be the most dangerous Visable wavelength --AND our eyes own lens will mulitply the power a lot- like 5mW becoming 500 mW Or more--just like the sun= will set things on fire if you magnify the power. <br>
<br>
Treat lasers like guns- locked away- no batts inside--I would even store the tail caps elsewhere if there is ANY chance of kids (or some adults) can possibly get access.<br>
best wishes--hak

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dkumpula

As Kecked said, that green laser is a DPSS laser which requires the temperature on something called a TEC to be set correctly and adequate current for the IR pump diode. Other things can go wrong with DPSS lasers over time.

Looking at your pics, you have three potentiometers on the driver, but I can't tell you what controls what. One is going to be the gain or max current to the pump diode, another one will be to control the TEC temperature, the third might be bias control (the standby power to the pump diode) or something else. Someone else here might be able to guide you regarding which pot is which, but absent that, you could try making very small adjustments to each pot independently while the laser is running (returning them to the original position if things don't improve), but you risk blowing the pump diode or making things worse.

-David

<Edit> The label in the first picture doesn't list the output power. It is possible it is a low powered laser and is functioning properly. <Edit>

---

Hello mate, thanks for the reply.

I had a little go with the pots and found this;

Far right pot: adjusts the brightness of the laser
Middle pot: I'm assuming this is for the TEC temperature as the fan on the back of the laser ramped up.
Left pot: Couldn't see or hear any difference.
Single pot: Couldn't see or hear any difference.

How should I adjust these pots to get the maximum brightness?

According to the specs online the green laser should be 100mW.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hakzaw1

Until fairly recent, actual 'blue' was the more expensive while Blu-ray (405nm) is cheap but to our eyes not very bright... from your pic my guess is that you have a violet laser (405nm) and not an actual blue.<br>
most makers set the outputs below the max for a longer life. AND slight increases will not make a big improvement. In order for us to 'see' a doubling in 'preceived brightness'--you need 4 X the mW-- like 100mW vs 400mW to see a doubling. Even 1W of 405 is not very bright--hard to see the beams from the side w/o fog or smoke. <br>
<br>
HOWEVER-- brightness and burning power are not exactly the same thing- a 405 may be the best wavelength for burnin' stuffs' &amp; while it looks harmless but that is far from the truth.<br>
Even a 3$ 405nm 'pen' pointer could damage the eyes --thus while no laser should be considered to be a toy -- the 405 may be the most dangerous Visable wavelength --AND our eyes own lens will mulitply the power a lot- like 5mW becoming 500 mW Or more--just like the sun= will set things on fire if you magnify the power. <br>
<br>
Treat lasers like guns- locked away- no batts inside--I would even store the tail caps elsewhere if there is ANY chance of kids (or some adults) can possibly get access.<br>
best wishes--hak

---

Hey hakzaw1,

I've searched online everywhere to find the specs of the blue laser scanner and for the life of me cannot find anything so I'm going on the brightness comparison of the green and blue, obviously this isn't ideal but if I can get them to around the same brightness I'll be happy as I don't want one colour overpowering the other. Even if I have to turn down the brightness of the blue laser that's fine by me.

The beams from the blue scanner are very clearly seen, even with very little smoke. I've opened that one up but the writing on the sticker is all smudged so I can't ascertain the power rating to it.

I always try to be as careful as possible, to make sure everything is as safe as possible I've ordered some safety glasses and although it's just me and the wife at home my workshop is locked when I'm not around.

EDIT: This may sound like a really stupid question but would it be possible to buy a 100mW laserpen, take out the module from that and install it into the scanner?