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Thread: Laser projector basics - your help appreciated!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Bedford, U.K.
    Posts
    18

    Post Laser projector basics - your help appreciated!

    Good afternoon all

    If there is a thread already running on my question please feel free to direct me. Had a good search but haven't found anything quite right for my requirement.

    I occasionally help run a local club night and the last few we have done i have added a bit more visual stimulation with some laser shows to go along side the house lights.

    Obviously won't be running anything for a few months now due to the pandemic, but i have one laser that doesn't really perform how i would like so i am looking to see if it can be improved.

    Apologies for the most likely very simple questions, but i am at best an amateur, and have no real knowledge of the technical nature of the laser world. I fully understand the safety element just for peace of mind for anyone reading however. All lasers are running a good 4 metres above head height, are fully secured using secondary loop wires on the gantry and are NOT crowd scanning at all.

    We run the night to raise funds for a local childrens hospice as not for profit, so no money is made, so most things are run on a very tight budget. If i was making money out of the events I would love to invest into something far more capable, but this is not possible, so i have to work with what i have.

    I'm very happy with two of the lasers, i run them through Moncha, which although is relatively limited does enough for what we need. The third one, which is an old Lanta Blazar i got secondhand a year ago seems pretty blurry in comparison, and has no brightness compared to the others although it is supposedly rated higher in power output.

    I run the lights all on green only as the night is an old school house night.

    So, my question is, what can i do to clean and tune it up if at all? I have taken the casing off today and its like the thing has been living in the bottom of the sea for a decade Plenty of dust, and some liquid looking residue on the inside of the cover, which i expect maybe haze oil?

    Looking for a simple service and clean how to please. I have seen StanWax do an optical cleaner so i will order some of that if that if recommended. If so, can it be used on any of the components with glass/mirrored surfaces?

    Is it also worth me lightly cleaning the dust/residue of the rest of the components/casing etc?

    I've put some pictures up below to hopefully assist.

    Please feel free to treat me like a complete noob as i am one, i won't get offended and please understand i may not fully understand technical terms yet, so if you could talk in lay terminology if possible that would be most helpful thanks

    Very much looking to improve my knowledge and get a better understanding given time.

    Any advice appreciated

    Thanks, Simon.......
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  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    1 hr from everything in SoCal
    Posts
    2,752

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    Welcome to PL! First bit of advice, it's good to fill out the location section of your profile. It lets us know where in the world you are and in some instances, there may be forum members that live close that can help out as we have people from all over the world here!

    Glycol foggers, hazers, even cigarette smoke (depending on your laws on smoking in clubs) can gunk up a projector. I see that this projector is fan-cooled which exacerbates the problem. For forced fan-cooled projectors, you can minimize gunk build up by using a filter on the air intake (be wary as it will reduce airflow)

    For cleaning optics, don't use store-bought rubbing alcohol and don't use q-tips. The IPA at the store will leave a film on the optics and q-tips will scratch them. Over time, cleaning this way will destroy optics. The less you have to touch the optics, the better. It is also absolutely worth cleaning out the inside of the projector. The cleaner everything is, the better.

    Clean out the dust and residue first. One of the things I like to use is a low speed blower and a soft paint brush (components only, keep away from optics).

    For optics, blow off surface dust with an air duster or a bulb. Try to be gentle, a strong blast of air could break an optic loose. Use the "First Contact" cleaner that StanWax sells. That stuff works great on optics. For further cleaning, use methanol (if you can get it) or a decent grade of acetone with an optic lens tissue and perform some of the cleaning techniques here: https://www.newport.com/n/how-to-cle...tic%27s%20face.

    This will clean up beam scatter quite noticeably and make your beams look sharper and a tad brighter.
    Last edited by absolom7691; 06-16-2020 at 16:20.
    If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Bedford, U.K.
    Posts
    18

    Default

    Wow - thank you very much that is as good an answer as i was hoping for, and thanks for the link there's some great info in there too.

    I've ordered some First Contact and will get some Methanol and lens tissues also in due course. The inside clean out will be carried out first and then i'll tackle the tricky bits! Will update on the results when I've done it, but by the looks of the current state of the surfaces i'm fairly certain i'll get a better effect once done.

    I've updated my profile too, thanks for the advice.

    Thanks again

    Si

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Cambridgeshire, England
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    Not contributing anything directly to the conversation, but hello from just up the road in South Cambs.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Bedford, U.K.
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    18

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    Quote Originally Posted by NobleGas View Post
    Not contributing anything directly to the conversation, but hello from just up the road in South Cambs.
    Afternoon and thanks for the welcome

    Where about's are you in sunny South Cambs? Got a few friends in Cambridge and some of the northern villages, and i hail from Bury St Edmunds originally

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Cambridgeshire, England
    Posts
    478

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    Quote Originally Posted by stepawayfromthemachine View Post
    Afternoon and thanks for the welcome

    Where about's are you in sunny South Cambs? Got a few friends in Cambridge and some of the northern villages, and i hail from Bury St Edmunds originally
    I'm in a village just north of Potton (Gamlingay).

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Bedford, U.K.
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    18

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    Quote Originally Posted by NobleGas View Post
    I'm in a village just north of Potton (Gamlingay).
    Ah ok I know it well as I cycle through it regularly and a friend of mines parents live there (the Gales).

    Also a chap I worked with for a few years also lives there (Ian Harben, drives an old American muscle car, a white Corvette I think) 👍🏻

    Just in case you know either of them!!

    Everton Hill is my nemesis!

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