Melles Griot 643 Ar-Kr... problems getting set up.

Beautiful lasers you guys, I'd love to get my hands on a krypton or an ArKr

You really have no idea how jealous I am lol

awesome pics

Argon: Great laser! Photos are top notch as well! How much did that system run you?

Argon: Great laser!

Click to expand...

Thank you, brtaman :yh:

How much did that system run you?

Click to expand...

Do you mean how much the costs for the system were? The laser unit itself was really cheap on ebay, 36 Euros plus shipping a few Euros more, but the seller didn't run the laser for more than a year. The power supply didn't come wioth the laserhead, so I took the selfmade supply from my ALC-60X Laser and changed a few things. The power supply cost me about Euro 100, but I had some parts already lying around (for example the filament transformer and the variac). The two fans for the laser were bought for Euro 10 on another auction. All in all I think the total costs were about 150 Euros, but the power supply also works for my Argon-Lasers too and I have to say that it also could be done cheaper.

EDIT: The power supply for an ALC-60X is very easy to build. The schematic diagram can be found here:
http://www.andreas-kilchenmann.ag.vu/ArgonPSU.pdf

The only changes that should been made for the Omnichrome 643 are the changing of the supply capacitors to 250V and another power supply (15V) for the ignition circuit and of course, another tube voltage from the variac. Heater voltage is the same and tube current also.

argon said:

Thank you, brtaman :yh:


Do you mean how much the costs for the system were? The laser unit itself was really cheap on ebay, 36 Euros plus shipping a few Euros more, but the seller didn't run the laser for more than a year. The power supply didn't come wioth the laserhead, so I took the selfmade supply from my ALC-60X Laser and changed a few things. The power supply cost me about Euro 100, but I had some parts already lying around (for example the filament transformer and the variac). The two fans for the laser were bought for Euro 10 on another auction. All in all I think the total costs were about 150 Euros, but the power supply also works for my Argon-Lasers too.

EDIT: The power supply for an ALC-60X is very easy to build. The schematic diagram can be found here:
http://www.andreas-kilchenmann.ag.vu/ArgonPSU.pdf

And the only changes that should been made for the Omnichrome 643 are the changing of the supply capacitors to 250V and another power supply (15V) for the ignition circuit and of course, another tube voltage from the variac. Heater voltage is the same and tube current also.

Click to expand...

Wow great deals! You live in Europe? There may be hope for my dreams as well.

All I seem to find on ebay.de are extremelly old/expensive ALC units...guess I am going to have to start hunting. :beer: Just in case please shoot me a PM, if you find a good deal that you don't plan on picking up yourself.

Man, you really scored with the ArKr head

MarioMaster said:

Man, you really scored with the ArKr head

Click to expand...

Massive understatement. :drool:

All I seem to find on ebay.de are extremelly old/expensive ALC units...guess I am going to have to start hunting.

Click to expand...

I live in Switzerland. You're right, it is not easy to find good lasers on ebay and this was just a little luck in my case ;-) Ion-Lasers are rather rare, even though if you're looking for long time you could find something. Sometimes it's also a bit risky to buy unknown units, but no risk no fun

But in my opinion the spectrum of argon ion lasers is more beautiful than the spectrum of an arkr laser. Argon rules

EDIT @ brtaman:
Nice avatar Do you build tesla coils and other high voltage stuff in your spare time?

2nd EDIt: Sorry, stupid question from my side. Checked your youtube channel Very nice SSTCs!!!

same here in australia - hard to find, but then that timelablasers guy ends up selling a bunch of them LOL

Now, he only has single line lasers, so now I need to hunt for a multiline. Love those photos argon!

Strange place for the gas reservoir. An external one like that is usually limited to larger heads.

An external one like that is usually limited to larger heads

Click to expand...

For Krypton-Lasers or lasers with argon krypton mixed filling, the separate gas reservoir is quite common, because the krypton pressure goes back faster than the argon pressure so the tube needs a reservoir for an acceptable tube lifetime. Unfortunately my laser has also a bit weak krypton pressure, so the red krypton line comes much later than the blue argon lines. At a tube current of 3.5A the laser starts to work (a yellow and a blue line), and at about 5A the red krypton line 647nm appears. At higher power levels there are additional lines like some (deep) blue argon and krypton lines and a weak green line, which should be suppressed by the original mirrors. When performing an extended resonator by reflecting the beam back to the laser with an additional high-reflecting mirror, there are a lot more lines visible (for example the deep red line for krypton at 676nm and a very strong green line (I suppose it is the 514nm argon line) and many additional blue ones.

Greets argon

Hi guys,
I have one of those ArKr lasers too although mine produces the purple, blue, green and yellow lines. I've got a couple of multiline Argons too which are part of my collection of lasers and I've been wondering if its possible to filter out all lines except the purple....anyone got any ideas?
I have a couple of filters which allow me to get either pure yellow or the blue/green mix out of the ArKr but getting just purple might be a bit trickier (?)

timelablasers said:

Hi guys,
I have one of those ArKr lasers too although mine produces the purple, blue, green and yellow lines. I've got a couple of multiline Argons too which are part of my collection of lasers and I've been wondering if its possible to filter out all lines except the purple....anyone got any ideas?
I have a couple of filters which allow me to get either pure yellow or the blue/green mix out of the ArKr but getting just purple might be a bit trickier (?)

Click to expand...

Just use a dichroic mirror that passes the wavelength you want to use. Or use a prism to split them up and then pick off the beam you want. Is it the 458nm line you are reffering too or the violet krypton line?

OMG! as i started to look up gas lasers after watching a ArIon on youtube...i just can say...i drool over this gas lasers!

Awesome pics...and they are sooooo nice and neat! Im really jealous...maybe when i start working and get my own money ill own a multiline (or more )

If you're looking to filter out all but yellow, you might want to try the prism idea and use a razor blade after it to cut(pardon the pun) off exactly what you want.

Yes, start emailing Sam, or if your near Ohio, stop by and I can see if I can get it going. Sounds like the 4040 interlock chip is blown or not closing the relays, do you get a click when your turn the key or at 35 seconds for the time-in? Ok, I now see the line about OZ. Start with a isolated voltmeter and make sure you have the plus 15 volts inside the supply. Then see why you don't have a time in relay. A hint, most of the fuses in the unit look like 1% green body precision resistors.

Steve