# How do I tell how powerful my laser really is?



## iluvmycam (Apr 26, 2014)

I read the beginning of the laser eye damage thread. It said the laser was a lot less powerful than claimed. 

How do I tell how powerful my laser really is? 

Is it common that that imported lasers are all overrated in power?


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## TEEJ (Apr 26, 2014)

There are people with meters scattered around who can measure it for you. The pointers can be overrated or underrated depending on what's in the sellers best interests. 

For example you might one advertised at 5 mw...but able to burn stuff. ..because they are not allowed to SELL one over 5 mw...and so forth. 

If selling as high performance. .they might do what they do with lumens for flashlights etc....same game.


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## mcnair55 (Apr 26, 2014)

As long as it looks ok on the presentation your audience is watching i would not worry.


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## TEEJ (Apr 26, 2014)

mcnair55 said:


> As long as it looks ok on the presentation your audience is watching i would not worry.



It can look cool when the screen the slide show is on catches fire though.


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## bshanahan14rulz (May 2, 2014)

You are assuming that there won't be any specular reflections. You know what they say when you assume: it makes an *** out of U and ME. As the presenter, you must make sure that the laser will never reflect towards your audience.

If a person accidentally shoots someone else in the head, they are still held accountable, even if it was an accident. If your laser damages someone else's eyes, you will be at fault. So, make sure you know what you are pointing at before you push the all-mighty button!

As alluded to earlier by TEEJ, the only way to know how much power your laser is emitting is to measure it with a laser power meter. You might check out the laser pointer forums, I believe they have a google map showing some members' locations who are willing to meter people's lasers for them.


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## markr6 (May 2, 2014)

I wish I had an easy way to measure mine. The last "5mW" 18650 laser I purchased was clearly much, much more powerful! I'm very careful with that one.


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## Arilou (May 2, 2014)

markr6 said:


> I wish I had an easy way to measure mine. The last "5mW" 18650 laser I purchased was clearly much, much more powerful! I'm very careful with that one.



I did it with an old CPU cooler and a voltmeter. It worked out to about 0.12 volts per watt. If you want something a little more professional, the Radiant Electronics ones are only $100 or so.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?372255-Measuring-laser-output-power


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