Common Fixes

Often lasers are sent to Service Centres with the following User battery mistakes:

Standard batteries that are dead / Rechargeable batteries that are flat and need charging and Polarity errors ie. batteries of either type that have been fitted incorrectly. Always double-check.

It's well worth trying another set of new batteries and do not mix different types nor mix old batteries with new. Sometimes even new sealed batteries are faulty, so its always try two sets.

Bare in mind that new lasers with rechargeable batteries will not have been fully charged. Follow the User Manual to give them a full charge, before assuming the laser is defective.

Its common for Service Centres to receive lasers in for repair with either no charger or the wrong charger. Using a non-original charger can cause serious damage to the batteries, internal charge circuit or the laser itself. We always recommend contacting your Supplier to purchase the correct OEM charger, if yours has been mislaid. Do not risk buying an often cheaper equivalent to find it causes problems. Its false economy.

Some lasers accept both standard batteries and rechargeables. Ensure that all Users are aware of which batteries are fitted so that in error, a charger is not plugged into a laser level fitted with standard batteries, which could cause serious damage.

Not every User is aware that laser levels, both Rotary and Line lasers can be affected by reflective surfaces on the work site. Customers report to the Service Centre that the detector (laser receiver) is faulty because it is picking up the laser beam in random positions. This is nearly always due to site Refraction. Its a little easier to spot the problem indoors because the reflected beam is less bright than the original main beam. However, outside with a rotary laser and detector, it is much more difficult to determine which is the main beam or a reflected one. There may be more than one too.

Its too easy to conclude the laser is faulty rather than understanding what site conditions can cause this phenomenon. We have an additional data sheet (available on request) to describe this more fully.

However, it is very easy to eliminate the problem by making sure that laser beam reflections cannot be bounced back to the detector. As an example, if your site has large glass windows, make sure you set-up the laser level so that when you hold the detector, the glass is behind you and the detector , so it cannot reflect on to it.

Basically look out for & position your laser, being aware of all reflective surfaces like glass and shiny wet surfaces.

It is possible for laser detectors (receivers) to pick-up interference from electrical equipment and display incorrect levels or beep randomly. Older equipment is more prone to these problems.

There are generally two types of laser detector. One type is used with Rotary lasers and the other, a pulsed output detector, is used with some cross-line laser levels. Be aware that both types can be affected by interference.

Indoors, the main culprit is old fluorescent lights. Even without the laser switched on, the detector may produce intermittent beeps. Move away from the light and all should work correctly again.

Outdoors, detectors can sometimes be triggered by high intensity, strobe warning lights on plant or equipment. This applies to both the amber and newer green warning lights and make the laser detector appear faulty. Some strobes can even interfere when out of direct line of site, due to the high level of electro-magnetic interference. This can only be resolved by working further away or turning off the strobe light, if permitted.

Always make checks in other areas where conditions are different to determine if interference is the problem, BEFORE returning your equipment to a Service Centre.

This issue arises regularly where one laser level is compared with another on site. Just because the other laser is more expensive than yours does not necessarily mean that it is correct and yours is out of calibration. 50% of the time, yours will be OK.

The easiest way to check the calibration of your laser is to set some levels and peg them out. Then move to another part of the site with a different side of the laser facing these pegs to recheck. Compare the specified tolerances of your laser level with your results. If within tolerances, your laser level is working correctly.

If you still have concerns, then ask your Service Centre to recheck the calibration.