Problem with laserword mkii cs-1000 laser mirrors

[TonyMitchell]

@mickeylaa - is there a website or Facebook page for this event?

[lonemorf]

Im guessing this one:

https://www.facebook.com/events/182973515374352/

 

For once, I feel the need to chime in here. I rarely post in threads like this for 2 reasons:

1. I do not know anywhere near as much as most of the folk on here,

2. I find it difficult to not sound like a condescending prick when I write posts like this.

 

I am a bit of a lurker on these forums, and use it to gleam information and I also enjoy reading some of the more amusing threads on here.

When I first joined this forum, I posted a thread seeking assistance on how to get hold of some cheap trussing, and other elements of rigging, and to be honest I got torn a new hole in my bum, and was pretty much condemned. It was somewhat brutal. However, the advice I got, proved very useful, and I now own a spanky set of stands to support my kit on, and ultimately its safe.

I also posted about a rig I was building up for my daughter dance school, and that got condemned too - and guess what - I modified things, sold a load of stuff, and bought stuff that would be better.

 

You may ask where I am going with this (if you are still reading, and/or you still care). I have read all your posts, and they are, as mentioned by many - Scary. Finding your event was not difficult, which also led to your own FB page - and the videos of the kit being set up in there (in my non-expert opinion) are also a little scary (the one out the bedroom window with your new lasers was a highlight for me). I need to be careful, as I am beginning to sound like that condescending prick I mentioned early on!

Where I am heading is this - Me, I am a live and let live kinda guy, and I realise you have taken *some* of the advice given on here (I think you bought some headbangers on someones recommendations, and also it appears you got a company in to look at your truss), but I think you still may want to heed to advice given on the laser front. I personally would not go to the lengths of reporting this event to any authority, but I understand why some might - it does look very, erm, "ad hoc", and I think your risk exposure is probably quite high.

You seem to have evaded certain questions, which I also understand why, but it may be best to engage some of the more experienced folk here, and mitigate your risk as oppose to ignoring them, as you are the organiser - Are you insured for this event?

 

Anyway, I think listening to the advice in this forum will do you proud, and also save you a load of aggro long term - lets just say you wing this one, and it all goes ok - that does not mean you "got away with it" - you got lucky. You wont get lucky everytime - If you are not a limited company, you are *personally* liable - and that is *really* scary.

 

Anyway, im done being a condescending prick now, I hope you engage some of the more knowledeable folk here, and see what you can do to protect yourself, and the guests at your event.

 

Cheers

 

J

[peza2010]

I have isolators on the lasers incase a single beam shoots out...but im sure after a week and price of these lasers would of thought there would of been an easy way to re align the mirrors

 

and I got a company out to look at the marquee and the owner seen it and they said it was fine. they are the ones that supplied the 4 meter truss

 

Im sorry, and I dont want this to seem like we are beating down on you, but every reply you give makes us realise how little you know.

 

You have isolators incase a single beam shoots out?? Say what?

 

And im sorry you thought there would be an easy way to realign lasers, but thats just a very small indication of what your playing with here is NOT A TOY. In your head the mirrors should be able to be lined up on the spot - but in reality, a misaligned mirror could be a laser shoots outside of its programmed zone and blinds someone.

 

Unfortunatly for you, even though the marquee says its okay, a verbal agreement means nothing in court, especially considering your other post was about cobbling together a dodhy rigging system.

 

I see lots of posts on here that are perhaps dubious at best, but rarely kick up a fuss, but im genuinly worried about this one.

 

One of our friends or family could be going to your rave, and might not make it back just so you could put on a "show".

[adonex]

Just want to quickly show you something:

 

http://imgur.com/VOrDCUs

 

That is my bag after the same laser that you have single beamed and hit it on my test bench. I have a decent amount of experience with lasers and what happened to my bag was after the laser malfunctioned during a gig and the e-stop was hit. It turned out that galvos bit the dust which occured very quickly after purchase. If you have any question about lasers Photonlexicon is the place to ask. This includes posts asking on how to start. There are several that you can read. If you do, you will get the same answer from everyone. Research and training. Its not something that can be picked up overnight. General rule of thumb: If you are asking where to get replacement galvo's and drivers from you should never be pointing lasers into crowds and should be keeping the bottom of the beam at least three meters off the ground at all times. E-stops and physical beam blockers are also a good idea. As I have said on here before, never just rely on the software alternative if you are using ILDA. I doubt that though and if you are using DMX then you need to ensure you have a code of practice (you should have anyway) incase something goes wrong. Read up on the MPE and ensure you dont exceed this, and always have PLI. You will find on PL that before the members buy something on the buy and sell page, they always ask a variety of questions to the seller including divergance per unit distance and galvo manufacturer/speed. They are asking this for a reason, both for the quality of the device and the safety. To sum it up. If you dont feel confident that you know enough about it, don't use it. Also with regards to a request for a ban, I dont think that is the right way to go about it. As at the end of the day I think the OP will get the message that it is a resounding NO from us. Also just for future reference, OP: Have a look on PL and you will see all the bitching about laserworld lasers. They ###### about them for a reason!

 

 

*****UPDATE******

 

I have isolators on the lasers incase a single beam shoots out...but im sure after a week and price of these lasers would of thought there would of been an easy way to re align the mirrors.

 

Just saw this. What exactly do you mean by "isolators" I am unaware of any physical system that stops single beams from shooting out a laser? And there is not an easy way to re-align galvos as it is not as simple as that. What do you think the reason is for them being out of alignment in the first place? You could have a multitude of problems, each of which you have to methodically check that you dont have in order to ensure safety.

[david.elsbury]

######. Scary thought... Here's hoping the OP will see this and have more responsibility in real life than he appears to on here :/

 

Thanks for sharing :-)

[emsgeorge]

Well, with less than 5 mins digging, turns out that this lad is also a sparky by trade - mb electrical.

 

Although the wix site looks a little unfinished. http://mickeylaa.wix.com/mbelectrical

 

Perhaps a spell check on that site wouldn't go amiss ......

 

Edited to add:

 

By isolators, I think he means mains isolators to be able to switch the units off if needed. However, this would need someone sober enough to watch the beams, all night long. A small chance considering the cost cutting measures he employs throughout the event (organising the entire thing, rigging all the lighting, printing their own tickets, etc)

 

The chance the council knowing of this event is slim, their team are all over non licensed events, and will shut things down at a moments notice if they don't like the look of it.

[david.elsbury]

The event must be done by now- any feedback?

[mickeylaa]

Event went really well. only used one laser world cs-1000 and the lasers where 3.5 meters high roughly. going to get the other one fixed by laserworld. just need to know things like how often this will happen etc as im paying alot of ££ for it to break and dont want any safety concerns

 

Im looking to get more not sure to gether another 2 cs-1000 or buy a laserworld ds-1800rgb as a center laser

 

[adonex]

Please, please do research first. Laserworld lasers are not expensive for a reason. Instead of spending more money on lasers, how about spending that money on a certified course so if this is something you are serious about you can then go and work for a company doing shows with proper lasers. You are only going to get so far before you are forced to start showing people that you have been on courses so why spend thousands on your own lasers when you could spend it on a course and go and work with lasers that are equivalent to a nice looking house.

[mickeylaa]

Link me some to courses for lasers. laws . regulations if you can <3

[Platinum events]

https://www.facebook.com/louie.kay.5/videos/883639378419613/?pnref=storyVideo of the night

[peza2010]

So if that video is from your event, you were telling a blatent lie about them being 3.5m above peoples heads. They are scanning at head height and lower.

 

This is why its such hard work for people that can actually rig and operate lasers safely... because people like you do it so badly which means venues want to see more and more paperwork.

 

Moderation: Personal attack removed. The rule, as always is, attack the post not the poster please.

[Jivemaster]

Remember that "laser more than 3.5m high" means all parts of the laser beam 3.5, above the crowd.

[ANDYLASER]

Laserworld are crap.

 

If you do not know how to align a laser, or set up its mirrors, or fix it if there is an issue, then you are not competent enough to be operating it in the first place.

 

Modern technology has a lot to answer for. When, using a laser meant buying a piece of scientific equipment that needed copious amounts of water and electricity to work and almost everything else was built yourself, the standard of operation and show safety was much higher, as you needed to be competent and skilled just to make the bloody things switch on

 

Now you buy something from ebay for £200 and everyone thinks they are experts.

 

I presume from the posts that there was no HSg95 paperwork submitted and no public liability insurance in place.

[ANDYLASER]

Our I-90 white light cost £12K for a bare head and power supply. It needed 32A 3 phase and 8 litres of water a minute to keep it cool.

To do a show we needed a 55Kg transformer, 3 phase cable and distro, centrifugal water pump and hose, waste water hose, scaffold tower, separate scanning head (which you had to design and build yourself), controller, mirror targets and about 5-6 hours to set up.

 

Got decent money for it too, but we also knew how to fix it on site if it went tits up (which it did frequently). Laboratory equipment was never designed to be carted around in a transit van and be subjected to a constant 140 Hz rumble for 10 hours at a time. Mind you, shows were choreographed to the music, rather than the ###### auto pilot shows most current system give. DMX was never very good at controlling lasers, and a dedicated desk was much better. Chameleon PM19 and PM22 were the business back then.

 

One of my favourite systems from back then, were the ALC60x 150mW multi line argons. A pair of those in mirror image formation would be brilliant in small to medium sized venues. Also, they were sufficiently low enough power for safe crowd scanning (within limitations). Beam quality would still put most modern DPSS units to shame.

 

You had to "earn" the right to be a laser tech as it wasnt an easy thing to do, took a long time and you needed to be reasonably clever just to avoid killing yourself.