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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

My First Argon! [PICS]

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Hey everyone. So the recent past have been good to me with regards to lasers! Built my 520nm laser yesterday (in the Green forums) and got my ML argon ion from Dave today! Both of these were birthday gifts, so I am happy!

The laser I got is fantastic. Plug'n'play from Dave, has all six standard lines, and it outputs a whopping 145mW! Here are some pictures!


LPM Chart:
LPM-chart.png




P1010404.JPG

The laser!




P1010405.JPG

The lines! I tried to measure them individually, but I couldn't :( Used a prism for it!




Obligatory Beamshot!
P1010413.JPG

No smoke, standard, Arizona lighting!


Thanks everyone for looking. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I do!
 





norbyx

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You got an amazing laser there my friend. I was looking for a ML argon myself but wasn't able to get one. Well.... sooner or later something will come up. Argons have something special, if it was up to me I would probably keep them always on....

Again congratulations on your new laser.
 
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Thank you :D It's funny - I plugged it into one of the outlets in my dining room and it broke the fuse! I found another outlet in my house that works though.
 
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Very nice! I nearly bought that laser from Dave but decided against it and went for the cylindrical one.

Prisms tend to split the light unevenly with one end of the spectrum being spread more than the other, reflective diffraction gratings (diffraction mirror) are the best you can buy for this.
 

Things

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What's the typical fuse rating for mains outlets in the US? I find it odd that people are always tripping them with small argon lasers, IIRC they only draw around 1-1.5kW. I've run a window AC and an argon laser off the same socket and never had an issue, but here in Aus each socket is good for 2.4kW.

That's a nice argon though, so wish mine wasn't so EOL and hard to start :(
 
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Sig: I will have to get one of those. The only grating I have is a plastic transmission grating.

Things: I'm not so sure what the socket was that I had it on. I find it weird that the fuse tripped too... the fuse on the argon itself is 240V/3A, so that means that the fuse tripped at <3A o.o
 
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15A on 14ga wiring is the standard, but many places have 10A breakers in areas not designated for appliances (like bedrooms). I have 12ga wiring for my office and a 20A breaker supplying it.
 
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Yeah, I have no way of testing the input current on the argon, so I will have to assume that it's probably 8A and that the fuse is labeled incorrectly.
 
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Yeah, I have no way of testing the input current on the argon, so I will have to assume that it's probably 8A and that the fuse is labeled incorrectly.


Hey Wolfman, just speculating here, but it's possible that the inrush current spike (surge) on your PS is significantly higher than the fuse rating and the run current, and that fuse is simply a "slow-blow" type, and so it remains intact. Your circuit breaker, on the other hand may react much more quickly to a surge (especially if it's old or if it's a particularly touchy ground-fault interrupter type). It could also be that something "biggish" like an AC unit or refrigerator was running on the same circuit at the time. Someone here must know the typical surge current for your supply.

Aside from that, congrats on the arrival of your new baby! That's one sweet photon-fountain you got there :D And thanks for the pics! One can never have too much laser porn, especially those gorgeous gas laser beams.


Things; As Sigurthr says, 15A is the standard rating for most residential circuits over here, but bear in mind that most of those are 110-115 Volts. Although, many large loads like electric ovens and ranges, water heaters, and laundry dryers are normally on the full 220V service feed. In Aus, you have what, 230 or 240 Volts standard? Also, just curious...what is your AC mains frequency?
(it's 60Hz here in the U.S.)
 
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Well in the Uk Standard voltage is 230 V AC 50 Hz in home ( 230 Between line and neutral , 400 V AC between any line and line on 3 phase ) , The ring final circuits in homes ( sockets ) are backed by a 32 amp MCB most times , And the Plugs hold a 3 or 5 or 13 amp fuse so the max from one socket is 3 kw , and a max of 7.3Kw from the 32 A MCB Ring .

I believe Australia has the 230V/400V AC @ 50Hz supply ? not fully sure though .


Very Nice Ion laser :D <3
 
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That's probably it, AJ. Either that or the outlet I had it plugged into just had a lower fuse blow. I asked Dave for the figures and it's >10A pull rate, so for a dining room, that's probably what blew the fuse.

Anyway, the frequency in the US is 60 Hz.
 
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Nice! Welcome to the club. :beer: The scary thing is after you get an argon the next step up is a Krypton or Krypton-Argon and they're $$$$. You want a diffraction grating to split the beam into its individual lines. A good diffraction mirror is worth its weight in gold but they're harder to find and not usually cheap. If I ever get moved down to PHX we'll have to see if we can get a LEM going as I think there's a few other people from LPF down there too.

What's the typical fuse rating for mains outlets in the US? I find it odd that people are always tripping them with small argon lasers, IIRC they only draw around 1-1.5kW. I've run a window AC and an argon laser off the same socket and never had an issue, but here in Aus each socket is good for 2.4kW.

That's a nice argon though, so wish mine wasn't so EOL and hard to start :(

I assume he meant the breaker tripped but if he lives in an older home it may have a fuse box that may only have 10A fuses. (if that's the case I'd be getting that swapped out for something more modern)

Typically in the US a standard circuit is 15A. Kitchens and offices are often on 20A to handle additional appliances. I run my argon off a dedicated 20A circuit that normally is used for the washer. Of course that meant finding the right power cord which is for another thread that I'll eventually get round to.
 
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That's probably it, AJ. Either that or the outlet I had it plugged into just had a lower fuse blow. I asked Dave for the figures and it's >10A pull rate, so for a dining room, that's probably what blew the fuse.


I'd say that would do it in many situations. I wouldn't worry about it, other than maybe locating a 15 or 20 Amp circuit that's not used often for other things.

Anyway...ENJOY, and don't forget to give her an occasional workout!:)
 

Things

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Australia has 240V @ 50Hz. It's commonly said to be 230V, but 240V is the actual standard here, some other countries use 230V. I measure around 244V at the outlet here, but technically it can drift within 5% of 240V. Frequency is allowed to drift between 49.85 and 50.15Hz under normal conditions, however it's allowed to drift a little past that for shorter (<5 second) durations. Steady frequency is important as it determines timing on many devices, changes motor speed etc.

And yes, inrush is definitely a factor in your breaker tripping. I know one way to limit it a bit is to run the argon through an extension lead - it'll limit the peak inrush current.
 
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