- Joined
- Jan 14, 2009
- Messages
- 1,452
- Points
- 83
Hey ,
Well after a 1 hour drive I can finally join the argon laser club
The laser I won is a ILT ( ion laser technologies ) 5500A head and 5405 Model PSU , The laser head was made in 1990 so its just over 24 years old with the hour meter reading just under 100 hours on time .
According to the seller it was used now and then but not very often .
When I got it home first thing was to measure the anode current and cathode voltage , the laser was set at its max current of 11A , not sure how long it was left like this .
The head has jacks on the side for anode current with a output of 10mV/A and then 2 jacks for the voltage across the cathode - 2.6 Volts AC .
There is also a tiny flat head pot that controls the tube current so as it stands this laser system runs in current mode .
Tube has a delay with the two side fans turning on , then the top then soon after ignition and it seems to start on the first attempt .
Minimum it goes to is 5A idle with its max at 11.1A .
Power output is -
5A Idle - 30mW 5 Lines ,
6A - 61mW 6 Lines
8A - 150mW 6 Lines
10A - 260mW 6 Lines
11A - 340mW 6 Lines .
Looking at this with a safe max of 8A I would say the tube is doing rather well ?
Makes a nice room heater too xD
IMG_0560[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr
IMG_0568[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr
IMG_0561[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr
IMG_0562[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr
Well after a 1 hour drive I can finally join the argon laser club
The laser I won is a ILT ( ion laser technologies ) 5500A head and 5405 Model PSU , The laser head was made in 1990 so its just over 24 years old with the hour meter reading just under 100 hours on time .
According to the seller it was used now and then but not very often .
When I got it home first thing was to measure the anode current and cathode voltage , the laser was set at its max current of 11A , not sure how long it was left like this .
The head has jacks on the side for anode current with a output of 10mV/A and then 2 jacks for the voltage across the cathode - 2.6 Volts AC .
There is also a tiny flat head pot that controls the tube current so as it stands this laser system runs in current mode .
Tube has a delay with the two side fans turning on , then the top then soon after ignition and it seems to start on the first attempt .
Minimum it goes to is 5A idle with its max at 11.1A .
Power output is -
5A Idle - 30mW 5 Lines ,
6A - 61mW 6 Lines
8A - 150mW 6 Lines
10A - 260mW 6 Lines
11A - 340mW 6 Lines .
Looking at this with a safe max of 8A I would say the tube is doing rather well ?
Makes a nice room heater too xD
IMG_0560[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on FlickrIMG_0568[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on FlickrIMG_0561[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on FlickrIMG_0562[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr
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