Finally, I am now a GLO (Gas Laser Owner)..!!!

I finally can join this group. My two Argon lasers just got in and both are incredible.
I have to say I need to thank publicly at cheech226. He told me the lasers were in great condition, but I didn't expect to get 2 lasers that are as close to new condition as they can actually get.

One is the Laserphysics Reliant 50S with a power of about 90mw at 488nm
The second one is a NLC 458nm and it should have a power output of 30mw (more on this later)

Both lasers are awesome. The color of their emission is just beautiful. Well enough... lets show some pictures;
Here we go:

Laser Physics





Here is a little video with a review of it and some power testing:

Now the NLC:






And the Video

Now I got a question on the NLC. If it's a single line laser at 458nm why is it that in the laser tag it says 450-515nm at 160mw ??? Shouldn't it just state 458nm 30mw?

Anyhow I am quite happy to have this small monsters in my possession, I know have to find a place to keep them installed. One thing is for sure, living in the tropics, this lasers just don't help with the heat they generate.

Is that a factory fan bracket?

The fan should be pulling air through the laser head, not blowing. This will prevent the tube heat from baking the light feedback electronics in the front end

^ I thought the exact same thing when seeing the picture. Make sure air goes IN at the front of the laser head and comes OUT of the squirrel cage fan.

But yes, congrats! Those all in one box type argons are petty freaking sweet. If it were a ML unit I'd have snatched it up instantly.

The video for the 458 isn't working, but about the sticker; they're often inaccurate. My argon's sticker says <500mW, lol.

Thanks for the info. Yes I had the fan blowing to the head, I didn't know it was supposed to go the other way arround, well I didn't run it for long periods, about one min. So I hope nothing went bad.
When y get home I will turn the fan,'thanks for letting me know.

Ok got home and was able to connect the fan in the correct way. I didn't know the first time and I did what seemed most logical for me. Anyhow now I was able to check the power of the laser and I have to say that I am dissapointed, just 20mw. Now I have read about mirror cleaning and lens alignment. Well I might atepmt the lens cleaning but I don't thing that is the problem since aparently if I had the mirrors dirty there should be like an aura arround the dot, and the dot looks quite nice.
So what could be the causes of such low power? Any suggestions on what TO and NOT TO do would be great.

Thanks.

well my mind is at ease now. glad these two beauties made it through the long journey in good condition! welcome to the club:beer:

Edit: Not sure why you are disappointed. you did get a great deal. what does the remote say as far as power after you turned the fan the right way? there is a little pot you can turn with a small screw driver to adjust the current to the tube on the remote

Don't mess with the optics in the head, that is a sure fire way to kill it instantly. These remotes are adjustable, setting it to run only sets it to the current or power the remote is set to, not to the laser's default maximum. Adjust the control pot. The remote's power setting needs to be calibrated where as the current setting does not, so power readings on the remote can be misleading. Try setting the remote to current mode and then adjust the pot to vary the current and output power. 7Amps is normal continuous run level, 10.5Amps is the normal maximum power level for tubes like these. Keep in mind that 458nm is a lower gain line so getting 30mW out is pushing the tube hard. My "80mW" ML tube is only specced for 40mW (7A) and only does 80 when pushed hard to 10.5A or so. These tubes also like to warm up to full power slowly, so it may need a few min to do its best.

Hopefully your runs with reversed airflow didn't cook the power mode electronics, but if it did just run it in current mode instead.

Edit: post your head's exact model number (and psu model number too) and I can pull up the exact specs.

Well I won't mess with the lenses. I will post the exact information tomorrow ( tonight is too late and I am passed on the drinks). As for the current or mw settings they both work as they should, I have adjusted all the pots in the control to match max power and correct readings. I now am getting 20mw out of the remote reading as well as the LPM. They go hand by hand (at least I know the LPM is working well).
Anyhow here is a picture of the 488nm Laser Physics.... men do I love the color of this laser, it just is hypnotizing. I don't know what it's got but it's something that you can just look forever (in low power of course).

The color of these are amazing. I would trade my truck for a multi line argon HANDHELD. But I doubt that will ever happen.

Yeah I am thinking in one.... But obviously argon.

norbyx said:

Well I won't mess with the lenses. I will post the exact information tomorrow ( tonight is too late and I am passed on the drinks). As for the current or mw settings they both work as they should, I have adjusted all the pots in the control to match max power and correct readings. I now am getting 20mw out of the remote reading as well as the LPM. They go hand by hand (at least I know the LPM is working well).
Anyhow here is a picture of the 488nm Laser Physics.... men do I love the color of this laser, it just is hypnotizing. I don't know what it's got but it's something that you can just look forever (in low power of course).

Click to expand...

I almost bought one of these Wish I did...
It looks like a pic I have, M140@1.78 amp...

Speedy78 said:

The color of these are amazing. I would trade my truck for a multi line argon HANDHELD. But I doubt that will ever happen.

Click to expand...

The main problem is the amount of raw power an argon laser takes. You put 1kW in and you get 10-100mW out. The other 999.9(9) watts turns in to heat that needs to be removed from the system VERY quickly.

Cylindrical head units like my ML and Norby's 458 could be operated backpack style assuming you had a large enough pack to hold one of the modern switchmode PSUs and enough Lithium cells to run a 1.5kW inverter and fan. It would be one hell of a burden to carry and it would be awkward but it could be done.

Sigurthr said:

Cylindrical head units like my ML and Norby's 458 could be operated backpack style

Click to expand...

Why am I envisioning a Ghostbuster's proton pack?

Nice, the ghost busters backpack was just nice....
I would agree to make it and cary it arround as long as the power output of the laser comes arround 3000W.... Jajajaja at least with that power focused I could use the laser as branch cutter.....

Just FYI these small argon laser systems have sealed optics, you cannot clean the mirrors as they are integral to the tube itself.

Just enjoy them as they are, argons are one of the coolest kinds of lasers to operate

<- See my avatar

MarioMaster said:

Just FYI these small argon laser systems have sealed optics, you cannot clean the mirrors as they are integral to the tube itself.

Just enjoy them as they are, argons are one of the coolest kinds of lasers to operate

<- See my avatar

Click to expand...

I have read otherwise on the lenses, well on the tube type laser. I don't have the link now but there is a web site that clearly shows how to take it apart and clean the lenses.