The waterproof laser case!

Green lasers are awesome, They have visible beams, they're bright, and if you want to point something out, what better to use then a green laser pointer? Now for the next level, the WATERPROOF laser. The problem is, waterproof lasers/cases for the lasers are almost non-existent, and very expensive at that... So, let's build a case for under $5 that works great, and looks great!

First you'll need a Laser pointer I'd suggest wicked lasers, I've been a customer for nearly two years and I LOVE their products. For this instructable I used their CORE series laser ($50) and their 125mW Pulsar ($250) and dunked BOTH in the same case with NO water damage, how cool is that?

(materials on the next page ->)

Step 1 Materials

Fortunately, most of what you need for this project, you'll already have at home...

1- buy some 3/4" shrink tube, should be in the electrical section of your local hardware store
2- velcro (3/4"-1" wide)
3- highlighter / marker of larger diameter then laser
4- hairdryer / heatgun (heatguns are faster)
5- epoxy
6- vaseline (petroleum jelly)
7- hacksaw/ jigsaw

Comments

[pyro13]

good idea! I just can't justify paying 50$ for a laser pointer, unless it were to burn stuff.

[jayhawker08]

go to dealextreme.com you cant get a burning laser there for well under $50. the quality is not always the best, but you can't beat the price. also, as he said RESEARCH the laser before you buy it. this is an excellent place for TONS of info on lasers: laserpointerforums.com btw, wicked lasers is known for selling underpowered lasers. VERY FEW actually perform to their specifications.

[TheDeviant13]

(removed by author or community request)

[matstermind]

that law only applies to handheld laser pointers, buy the 5mw green laser pointer for $10.50 and takeout the module and put the 200mW for $46.81 in it, they look like the same modules. $57.31 burning 200mW laser, not a bad price.

[brentgmz]

better go to one of the trusted affiliates rather than go and buy from conniving companies who advertise lots of non-sense in there and here. Its better to check the alexa ranking of these site he mention laserglow and laserpointer and really see that these sites GOING DOWN very very fast. Customers are not dumb anymore :-D

[jayhawker08]

I agree with you 100%. Wicked lasers may have a nicer website, but that is no indication of the quality of their products (you can't judge a book by its cover). A trusted company (such as Nova or Optotronics) that ALWAYS delivers excellent over-spec products is much better than one that just has a nice website. I have never heard of one person who has been dissatisfied with a laser from one of these companies, however I have seen TONS who have wished they never bought from wicked.

[iMakeItHappen]

 i totally agree. wicked lasers is a scam. they use photoshop to lure in unexperienced people and then supposedly( im not saying they do or dont do this, but i have heard rumors) pay of friends to write good reviews.


So please, take the extra 2 minutes and read other comments, talk to a friend, or just do some research and you will find a much better company with extremley good prices (i wont name any names)

[brentgmz]

True you can't judge a book by its cover, Nova and Optotronics you can't trust them as well, I been around all those forums more than you I never post though but I know most of them by their name I am the quiet observer of what is going on, definitely those most of the oldtimers. I know the players their stories, the wannabees, the cons, the toughies and the rest of the clowns that make most of the companies. I saw post, counter post, lies, thread pics, move over there and everywhere. Anywhere you see in the NET mentioning the laser companies 1000% sure their detractors, their loyal followers follow thru vindicating each other like hungry wolves.

[GeoMiP]

I've purchased a Nova. It's amazing. I've ran many experiments with it, Temperature uses, durability, and it's a great laser. Need I say more?

[thecheatscalc]

Yes, it's $50, however, it... just works great. Most of their lasers are in fact OVER-powered not underpowered. The problem lies in the facts: 1- a laser test device (a PROPER one) costs $250 and up if you're lucky. few have them, and so, they may just be expecting more when they truly got what was advertised. USER error 2- the forums have a higher rate of "my laser is underpowered" because they're partially intended as SUPPORT forums. 3- I've personally had 5 lasers from them (2 cores, 1- 15mW, 1-35mW, 1- P125) and all but the P125 have not been preforming to specs, they've been preforming OVER specs. 4- be CAREFUL cheap lasers like that have been MODIFIED. they are generally OVERDRIVEN (there's a variable resistor that's been turned up) have short life expectancy, and probably are missing their IR filter. This is VERY dangerous as IR reflects off of things that to you appear black, or NON reflective.

[iMakeItHappen]

 they are not over powered, they just fake the numbers by doing a POT mod which gives higher IR light so the tests show it is brighter, while in reality, the beam stays the same

[jayhawker08]

not to get into an argument with you (i actually like your instructable), but: 1. the people that i've seen the tests from have used proper, calibrated equiptment. Why i don't like wicked is that they don't send the verified output of each laser they sell. Most reputable laser companies (NOVA lasers, optotronics, etc.) do this and their's are GUARANTEED over-spec, every single one. 2. they have a high rate of "my laser is underpowered" because wicked sells underpowered lasers, period. if all their lasers were up to spec, they would have to deal with this problem. 3. the lower powered ones are usually pretty close, but once you get into the higher-powered lasers such as the pulsar 125, they are usually under spec, unless you are one of the lucky few. 4. these lasers (Deal Extreme) are not modified in any way. i'll admit they are not the best quality, but most don't have any problems and for the price you can buy several for the price of one underpowered Wicked Laser. They all have IR filters although they aren't the best. They have been tested by professionals and any of their lasers under 50mw don't put out enough ir to cause any damage.

[thecheatscalc]

Well, I'd guess it goes back to the original words: RESEARCH FIRST! :D Anyways, one point- 50mW of green is enough to do damage, and if the laser has no IR filter (many of the cheap ones don't) up to 100 mW can be leaking. If it's a TRUE 50mW, it'll have a 200mW IR diode, which means anywhere from a fourth of that power or more can be leaking. 50mW'll make a nice hole in your retina.

[brentgmz]

Customers are not dumb anymore we know what our moneys worth, and customers also knows alexa ratings and we know what a reputable site look likes and we know if many people really goes to sites like you mention. For us its counter productive the more you say its bad the more people research and found out that it is not true, Do you think everyone is dumb not really? Customers like us are smarter than what you think.

[jayhawker08]

if you're really as smart as you think you are, then spend 30 minutes reading anything about wickedlasers on www.laserpointerforums.com you will find that this is an unbiased forum with many members who have purchased lasers from many companies and done reviews of almost every laser out on the market. I don't think everyone is dumb, unless they spend several hundred dollars on a laser without reading unbiased opinions on it.

[brentgmz]

yeah I read all those cranks on that forums and some are true and most of it are lies. Oh not only 30 minutes been reading that since the beginning maybe u never heard of the old forum of wicked before ... long long time ago. Not everyone is dumb unless they are easily convince with lies that is all around.

[thecheatscalc]

*sigh* I really didn't want to get into this, but...
Laserpointerforums is NOT unbiased. No site will EVER be unbiased. Unless you know the history behind them... don't think they're not. Let's just say there was a rift in www.lasercommunity.com a while back, and... well you can figure out the rest. Sadly some of the best left too, which is rather disappointing, Honestly I miss them, but they have their reasons. However,
some of them are EXTREMELY biased against Wickedlasers. (not all, but a few, most are really good guys, and I still hold respect for some of the biased ones. we have a right to our opinions.)

However, Please Brentgmz, stop arguing. I think wicked is the best, I've had good experiences with them, and they've done lots of cool things that otherwise, I'd never have had a laser! They're my company, and I'll stick to them.

-laserglow has CNI lasers (unless they changed recently) superdurable lasers, it's just that 1 in 3 has mode issues. (pen models) I have one, I know.
-optoelectronics probably the best around, but they ain't cheap! I KNOW they're reliable
-Novalasers- they're CNI lasers again, BUT, if they REALLY do check each one, then they're quite reputable. I have NO issues with CNI lasers... except the common mode issues.
-Wickedlaser- they're made by them, and all the ones I've had have been just fine... they make some of the best looking lasers around, and they ain't too shabby with preforming either.

PS: I like the last line. minor modification that even biased opinions are good, that's because they draw out the bad even more, and give you more data to research.

[brentgmz]

I don't argue thecheat..., I'm pointing to other websites that pick each other anywhere, use google or any search engine you can see what I' talking laserpointerforums I think has the potential to become the best laser site but the only thing I can see is its one sided, I remember a thread I'm watching suddenly disappear I remember it correctly I think a staff from techlasers clarifying something then bam the admin move it...also other forums. The only forum I think with exception is lasercommunity (except for putting some links relating to other companies and againts the current rule), you can't see any bad review in there for other companies because maybe they remove it or maybe they don't tolerate bashing other companies. If they own the site they can easily put bad reviews or other misinformation for all their competitors ITS VERY VERY EASY FOR THEM because they own the site. Go to lserpointerforums hehehe have you notice it.... Put some good review and all of sudden all bad things will crop 1000% out. So if ever laserpointerforums is lasercommunity.com what do you think is the content in there? switch that site. I think you got my point in there. Thats when I do my own research and found out that most of the people in that forums are either former customers of other companies and majority of the members there are members of competing companies...I got the bigger picture.

[pyro13]

ok thanks! ill look tomorrow!

[imrobot]

so about that video?

[DevilDogPratt]

im guessing using a burning laser pointer for this wouldnt be good because it could melt the plastic right?

[thecheatscalc]

maybe something in the Watt, or Kilowatt range... First off, it's clear. that means that likely only 2% is being absorbed by the plastic. (and maybe 3% is reflecting, but that doesn't affect the plastic because it wasn't absorbed.) Let's say your laser is 1,000mW or 1 Watt. Massive burning power! 2% is only 20mW. That's not enough to even make it warm. usually things will start to burn at 55-95mW that means you'll need 3-5W of power to start melting the plastic. This is all fine and good, but it's also water cooled (if under water). This will likely add an additional 10-20mW to make it burn. so we're talking about 70mW, or 4Watts of power. I don't know of anybody that sells 4 Watt laser pointers... so you should be fine. ;) Oh, and make sure you put the rubber band around the seal! This will protect your expensive burning laser!

[DevilDogPratt]

thanks for the reply! im not sure how powerful it is, because my brother is making one for me, not buying it, but it sounds like it should be good

[AnarchistAsian]

question! is the CORE series safe to point at people???

[Mussen]

No.

[AnarchistAsian]

damn... ^{maybe when someone pisses me off... :P}

[Gavabc123]

go to ledbulbs.co.nz for green lasers they are the best in my opinion.

[JamesRPatrick]

laserglow.comclaim that their lasers consistently perform at the power specified because of hat sinks and electric fans to keep them cool. Also, the power specified is the average output, not the peak.

[thecheatscalc]

The only problem is that the ones with heat sinks and fans tend to be huge... They're nice products though... It's just it's hard to find heat shrink tubing large enough for that! ;P

[brentgmz]

hahahaah everytime the big companies do something in here these small time roaches start advertising in here what a sneaky tactic

[JamesRPatrick]

I have no affiliation with laserglow. I found this info while doing research so I could purchase the best one. I don't own a laser from laserglow, I was just helping out.

[jayhawker08]

thank you james, at least one person has spent the time to do a little research. i don't know much about laserglow, but I would assume they would be better than wicked.

[marc92]

I'd like to see what a laser looked like when shined under water. Please post a picture.

[thecheatscalc]

sorry, I'm trying to get those up as soon as possible, I'll try to get some pool shots tonight (even though it's blasted cold out there!) stay tuned!

[joejoerowley]

I just bought a 20mw laser pointer from deal extreme. It can pop black balloons and light matches. It is also bath tub proof! Only $34

[trooperrick]

I think you just won the contest there. Shrink tubing? I never would have thought...

[GorillazMiko]

wow, THANK YOU! :D

[FathomBoy91]

This could be very useful but in NYC i wouldnt dare go in the water.. lol

Check out mine and best of luck!
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