We Are Sooooo Lucky

Sometimes we miss how lucky we are. I hope that this reminds us.

I have a JDS Uniphase 2214-40ML that is on its last leg. It puts out 20mW at 10A! It won't lase at idle(4A). It has dark rings around the beam. It will only give two color lines at full power. You get the picture? This tube is trashed (it was trashed before I got it).

Anyway, I thought I would look into having it refurbished. I found a company in Utah that can do it. I wrote them asking for a quote. Here is their reply:



************************************************************************
National Laser Company
175 West 2950 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
USA
Tel: 801 467-3391
Fax: 801 467-3394
www.nationallaser.com

TO: me
PHONE:
EMAIL: my email address
FROM: Debra Hampton
DATE: Monday, August 11, 2008

Thank you for your interest in National Laser Company. We are pleased to have this opportunity to provide the following quotation.

Product Description Model Number Unit Price
NLC C61 Argon Laser Head
Compatible with ABI 377 40mW @ 457-514nm, HC61NAL001 $3,800
Tube refurbishment
Compatible with UP 2214 40mW @ 457-514nm, HUPCRAL001 $2,800


Quotation: The above prices are U.S. dollars valid for 30 days and are subject to change without notice.

Delivery: As for availability, the refurbished NLC laser can be shipped within 3-4 weeks of receipt of order from customer.

Shipping Terms: FOB: Salt Lake City, customer must provide shipping account number.

Payment Terms: Prepayment required.

Warranty Terms: (1) NLC warrants the NLC laser to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for 5,000 (five thousand) hours or 15 (fifteen) months from the date of shipment by NLC. This warranty does not cover damage to products resulting from operation outside of specified operating parameters.



Please call if you need further information. We look forward to our future association.

Best Regards,
Debra Hampton
Director of Sales
Direct Line: 801-924-8790
National Laser Company
**************************************************************


To have this laser refurbished (replace the tube, re-align the optics, and clean it up), they only want $2,800.00
That's not buying the laser new. That is just fixing this one!

We are sooo spoiled

Imma go out and tell my lasers how much I appreciate them.

Peace,
dave

refurbishing is basically redoing the whole tube, so yea basically even with larger lab equipment a tube refurb costs almost as much as a new laser tube

At that price i would get HERC-500!

Sawt al Hurriyah said:

Man, I am sooo gonna wait for those legendary 488nm diodes to come out.......Argons are just too much work!

Click to expand...

A 488nm diode won't give you 528nm or 514nm or 501nm or 496nm or 476nm or 472nm or 465nm or 457nm or 454nm or 437nm

Peace,
dave

Lol yeah! I've received similar quotes in the upper 4 digits on some of my stuff.

And don't forget AixiZ modules too - Really guys, we're all so arrogant about our DIY 'abilities'. Without the humble little AixiZ module where would 99% of us be? Nowhere!

Dave -- DO IT !! Open a molding barrel of money and reserect a laser !!!
You CAN afford it.

Or maybe ask Chris at Hurrer........ maybe , sorta :-?

Mike

Yep that's a lot. Have you seen the asking price of a new system?

daguin said:

[quote author=Sawt al Hurriyah link=1218500812/0#3 date=1218505003]Man, I am sooo gonna wait for those legendary 488nm diodes to come out.......Argons are just too much work!

Click to expand...

A 488nm diode won't give you 528nm or 514nm or 501nm or 496nm or 476nm or 472nm or 465nm or 457nm or 454nm or 437nm

Peace,
dave[/quote]

Maybe, is if it is multimode [smiley=happy.gif]

Hemlock Mike said:

Dave -- DO IT !! Open a molding barrel of money and reserect a laser !!!
You CAN afford it.
Or maybe ask Chris at Hurrer........ maybe , sorta :-?
Mike

Click to expand...

But the holes left in the back yard after I dig up the barrels are so unsightly . . . .

Besides, I'm working on something else

Peace,
dave

If it has dark rings it's o0ld and far gone. I've resurrected a few old uniphase tubes to near spec by first running the filament at almost double rated voltage for 30 seconds or so, then running them at medium current till the tube gets hot enough to melt lead, then baking out in an oven at the highest possible setting for about 3 -4 hours. You will need to preheat the oven and let the tube cool slowly in the oven to avoid killing the seals.

Depending on how far gone the tube is you'll get an additional 2500 hours or so out of it. This only works with small air cooled hard sealed metal ceramic tubes. Good luck

heruursciences said:

If it has dark rings it's o0ld and far gone. I've resurrected a few old uniphase tubes to near spec by first running the filament at almost double rated voltage for 30 seconds or so, then running them at medium current till the tube gets hot enough to melt lead, then baking out in an oven at the highest possible setting for about 3 -4 hours. You will need to preheat the oven and let the tube cool slowly in the oven to avoid killing the seals.

Depending on how far gone the tube is you'll get an additional 2500 hours or so out of it. This only works with small air cooled hard sealed metal ceramic tubes. Good luck

Click to expand...

That will clean the crap off of the mirrors?!? :-/

You know that I am a bit of a noob with these. Heck, I'm still waiting on the power cord (don't ask) for my Lasos power source (that I found on an equipment auction in PA), so I can finally fire up the argon I bought from you :-[

I wouldn't have a clue how to be able to run something at twice its rated voltage. Current I could do, but voltage?

As I stated, I'm working on something else as well right now. However, depending on how that works out, would you be interested in a little side job?

Peace,
dave

Artix said:

[quote author=daguin link=1218500812/0#4 date=1218505378][quote author=Sawt al Hurriyah link=1218500812/0#3 date=1218505003]Man, I am sooo gonna wait for those legendary 488nm diodes to come out.......Argons are just too much work!

Click to expand...

A 488nm diode won't give you 528nm or 514nm or 501nm or 496nm or 476nm or 472nm or 465nm or 457nm or 454nm or 437nm

Peace,
dave[/quote]

Maybe, is if it is multimode  [smiley=happy.gif][/quote]

Methinks "multimode" might not mean what you think it means.

Dave --

I thnk Chris was talking about cooking the tube ONLY -- Not the mirrors or mounts or housing. Don't cook the coated mirrors. Some reallignment will most likely be necessary after the BBQ .......

Piece
Mike

Hemlock Mike said:

Dave --
I thnk Chris was talking about cooking the tube ONLY -- Not the mirrors or mounts or housing. Don't cook the coated mirrors. Some reallignment will most likely be necessary after the BBQ .......
Piece
Mike

Click to expand...

Yeah. My bad. I was talking about the inside of the Brewster window. I understand the dark "rings" in the beam are from material being blown off of the cathode by excess current and onto the inside of the Brewster window. It is a symptom of a "runaway" tube. The pressure gets low. The power gets turned up. Cathode material gets blown off and accumulates on the inside of the tube. The "new" material inside the tube buries more gas. The pressure goes down some more. The power gets turned up some more. And the wheels on the bus go round and round.

I can understand how the process described could effect the availability of more argon gas, but not the reduction of the material built up inside.


Peace,
dave

Wow, so not much of a score after all huh? Good job you made some money back off the scrap. When I think about it though, those repairs give good estimates on how much of a score you really got, working good condition or not.

VW said:

Wow, so not much of a score after all huh? Good job you made some money back off the scrap. When I think about it though, those repairs give good estimates on how much of a score you really got, working good condition or not.

Click to expand...

This is a different laser. This one was a $75 eBay purchase a while back. It was my first Argon. I didn't realize how sick it was until I fired up the one out of the sequencer. The one out of the DNA Sequencer is fine

Peace,
dave