Dropped $180 on that fancy laser level and it's been gathering dust

I bought a Bosch GLL 3-80 self-leveling laser back in June thinking it would speed up my brickwork on big walls. Tried using it on a 40 foot retaining wall job and the line just disappeared in the sun. Has anyone found a decent laser that actually works outdoors without spending $400?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_allen4813d ago

...not to sound like a know it all but the problem isn't really the laser itself, it's the receiver. A lot of guys don't realize you need a special detector to pick up the beam in bright sun, even on a $400 unit. That Bosch model you got actually works with a receiver, you just gotta buy the LR 1 or something similar separate. Without it the line just washes out, but with the detector you can work 200 feet out no problem and it beeps to tell you where the level is. So you might not need to spend another $400, just like 40 or 50 bucks on the right accessory.

the_ruby13d ago

Oh trust me, I learned this one the hard way too, @gavin_allen48. Bought a nice rotary laser, set it up on a sunny day, and spent twenty minutes convincing myself it was broken before a guy at the supply house told me about the receiver. Felt like a real genius standing there waving my hand in the air trying to find a beam that was basically invisible. But you're dead right, once you have that little beeper thing, it's a whole different world. I almost threw the thing in the trash before I knew any better.