How can you tell when the mirrors and/or lenses are “worn out”?

Question:

Quick Answer:

The lens or mirror will have a reduced power. If you try to clean the mirror or lens.. but it just won't come clean. It may be easier and cheaper to just replace it.

Complete Answer:

The mirror should be easier to see damages. You can look at the surface.. You should only see a perfect reflection. A damaged mirror might see pitting, black or brown smudges, cracks, scratches, deposits of burnt material..etc. Even a brown haze can be symptom of damage.

I had one professional customer that claimed his mirrors were perfect. We changed the mirrors just for a test and found about 15 to 20 percent increase in power.

The lens is tougher to inspect. The translucent orange lens is obviously easier to inspect than the deep purple-black lens. Again, you should be looking for scratches, cracks, pits, deposits of materials, haze, smudge, ..etc. The tough part is seeing if there is a haze inside the lens that would be caused from overheating. We cannot see the same light range as the laser light.. and so it is our best speculation of how good the laser lens really is.

I suggest that you softly(and thuroughly) clean each mirror and lens. Use alcohol first and then acetone. Switch back and forth until all blemishes are gone. The idea is to not scrub or wipe with any pressure. You should just use lens cleaning papers or Q-Tip(Use a cotton swab with paper or wood stick. Acetone will dissolve a plastic stick or nylon swab.) Apply the alcohol to the lens.. Let it drip or evaporate off. Your last cleaner should be acetone as it will remove smudges from the alcohol or water mark.

FAQ item was submitted:

6/3/2010 By: Raymond L. Scott

Contact:

https://rabbitlaserusa.com/Partners/ContactUs.html
Raymond L. Scott  ... Owner Engineer
ray@RabbitLaserUSA.com
601 North Verity Parkway
Middletown, OH 45042
(513) 217-5707