Top 5 laser level non faults – OR – Top 5 things to check before sending in your laser for repair
Laser level non faults. This is a top five list of reasons laser levels get sent for repair when there was actually nothing wrong with them in the first place. Other wise known as the top five things you should check before sending your laser off for repair. The following is compiled from personal experience.
Laser Level Faults
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Dead Batteries
Sounds crazy but yes a large number of laser levels get sent into service centres as faults because of batteries. Often, either the standard batteries are flat or the rechargeable battery has not been charged. Sometimes new batteries are installed and assumed to be good but even new standard batteries can sometimes be faulty. You only need one out of the set to cause a problem. So its always work trying a couple of sets just in case. It’s tempting, but do not mix old and new batteries. Again, it only takes one bad one to stop the laser from working either immediately or very quickly on site.
With rechargeable batteries, it’s worth noting that if its a new laser out of the box the battery will not have been fully charged. So give it the recommended charge before assuming a defective laser level. Finally, with both rechargeable and standard batteries make sure they are inserted correctly. I have seen lasers sent back as faulty and upon opening the battery compartment find the batteries inserted incorrectly, a quick change and it’s off and running again.
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The wrong charger used
Sometimes service centres receive a laser level as faulty and on opening the box find a non-original charger. Now, this is fine if it of the same rating, but if it’s not, then it will not charge the laser level or it may fry the charging circuitry or battery. It’s worth noting with some models that the charger is more than a simple power adaptor. As often charging circuitry is built into the charger, so a power adapter of same voltage may not work or may damage the laser level. If in doubt contact the manufacturer before using a non-original charger or power adaptor.
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Reflections on site
On a job site where there is glass or other reflective surfaces, the laser transmitted from a laser level can reflect off the glass or surface. This reflection will not necessarily be at the same height as the original beam. With visible indoor lasers, it’s pretty easy to spot a reflected beam as it is substantially less bright as the original. However, outside particularly with a rotating laser using a receiver or detector, it is not as obvious to know when you are picking up the original beam of the reflected one. The result is that you will be getting inconsistent levels across your site and so possibly blame the laser level. When setting up a laser level always take note of any reflective surfaces nearby. Ideally, locate the laser level in such a position that a reflection does not get picked up by the receiver.
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Electrical/Light interference
Sometimes laser receivers can pick up interference that gives erroneous beeps or level displays. Some of the older laser receivers will even pick up the rotating orange light on earthmoving machinery. However, most modern receivers no longer suffer from this with standard rotating lights. More recently some machines have been fitted with extremely powerful LED strobe warning lights. These can affect quite a large number of laser receivers even if they are not in direct line of sight, so it’s worth knowing this. I’ve found that its more the fault of cheap LED strobes producing high levels of electrical interference more than the receiver being inefficient.
Something service centres have come across is that indoors a fluorescent light that is faulting or about to die will cause laser receivers to appear faulty. So, if your laser receiver is producing erroneous noises and display, first see if there are any strobe lights on site. If you are indoors. see if the receiver is acting the same in other rooms.
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My Lasers Calibration seems different compared to someone else’s laser level
Again this one comes up quite regularly. You are on-site and you set your levels or check levels set by someone else and they are substantially different. Don’t assume it’s your laser level that is out. 50% of the time it’s going to be the other laser level, not yours. One way to check you lasers calibration when you are on-site is to set some levels and peg them out. Then move your laser level to another part of the site preferable with a different side of the laser facing the pegs. Check the levels if they come to within the tolerance of the laser level then your device is working fine. Check out this post on how to check your calibration HERE
Have any more to add to this top 5?
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