Question about a HeNe found at flea market

While I was at the flea market today, I ran across a Spectra Physics 105-1 10 mw laser head for $7. I figured it was probably broken, but for that price, it was too good a deal to pass up. Anyone have any specs or info on this laser and how to test it?

If you see < or > you need to know what that means. did it come with a PS? if so was there no place tp try it out? even if DOA the Alden and the optics inside may be worth $7-- there is data on that on at Sam's Laser FAQ- including the actual output, the nm , and what is needed to power it. If you do power it up be sure to not touch the prongs from the Alden-- OUCH!!

there may be a member near you with a PS- but you have not included your location so.. cant help you there. If you put your 20 in your profile it will show under your user name in your posts. I prolly have a PS that will work- I am near Houston.btw

I just put that into a google search and found this-- there is much more there - go find it

Sam's Laser FAQ - Items of Interest

Laser Power, Photons, How Much Light?, Beam Profile
____________________________________________
About HeNe Laser Power Ratings
Any given laser - be it a HeNe, argon ion, CO2, or other CW laser; or a pulsed laser like an Nd:YAG, Ti:Sapphire, or excimer, will have two, maybe three, power or energy ratings:
The manufacturer's power rating based on model. This is the one you find in the catalog or spec sheet and will be the minimum output produced during the warrantied life of the laser under a given set of operating conditions.
For HeNe lasers, there is a single rating since these are generally operated at their nominal tube current all the time. Example (Spectra-Physics HeNe laser model 105-1 HeNe laser): 5 mW.

So that 10mW you saw there means LESS that 10-- could be 9 or .5 both are less- but at least when new that SP should output 5 mWs- most likely red, odd that that perticular model would be the one Sam uses for an example!!

They are quite rugged- I would say better than 50-50 chance that it works or could be made to work. what was the date on it?? (not that it matters that much)

hakzaw1 said:

If you see < or > you need to know what that means. did it come with a PS? if so was there no place tp try it out? even if DOA the Alden and the optics inside may be worth $7-- there is data on that on at Sam's Laser FAQ- including the actual output, the nm , and what is needed to power it. If you do power it up be sure to not touch the prongs from the Alden-- OUCH!!

there may be a member near you with a PS- but you have not included your location so.. cant help you there. If you put your 20 in your profile it will show under your user name in your posts. I prolly have a PS that will work- I am near Houston.btw

Click to expand...

First of all, it didn't come with a power supply. Second, it dooesn't say <10 mw, it says 10 mw. Lastly, I had already looked at that link, and I can't find any specific data on the voltage or current of the head.
Also, it has a sticker which says engineering sample on the side, so it may be different than the normal version.

Ok I will look for you--N/P here to help

good to see that you put your location-- lots of helpful members in Cali-- they would be gald to let you test it out. i will find the VDC and PS model for you.

at Sams----


for a 5 mW Melles Groit it shows this--
370 mm 300 mm .80 mm 3.8 1.7 6.4 1,800 V 6.5 mA 5.0 mW
first two numbers are total length, length and bore- then threre is this...
Typical HeNe Tube Specifications
Prior to the introduction of the CD player, the red HeNe laser was by far the most common source of inexpensive coherent light on the planet. The following are some typical physical specifications for a variety of red (632.8 nm) HeNe tubes (all are single transverse mode - TEM00):
Output Tube Voltage Tube Supply Voltage Tube Size
Power Operate/Start Current (75K ballast) Diam/Length
---------- --------------- ------------ ---------------- -------------
.3-.5 mW .8-1.0/6 kV 3.0-4.0 mA 1.0-1.2 kV 19/135 mm
.5-1 mW .9-1.0/7 kV 3.2-4.5 mA 1.1-1.3 kV 25/150 mm
1-2 mW 1.0-1.4/8 kV 4.0-5.0 mA 1.2-1.8 kV 30/200 mm
2-3 mW 1.1-1.6/8 kV 4.0-6.5 mA 1.4-2.0 kV 30/260 mm
3-5 mW 1.7-1.9/10 kV 4.5-6.5 mA 2.1-2.4 kV 37/350 mm
Where:
and this too..

I have measured the operating voltage and determined the optimum current (by maximizing beam intensity) for the following specific samples - all red (632.8 nm) tubes from various manufacturers. (The starting voltages were estimated):

Output Tube Voltage Tube Supply Voltage Tube Size
Power Operate/Start Current (75K ballast) Diam/Length
---------- --------------- ------------ ---------------- -------------
.8 mW .9/5 kV 3.2 mA 1.1 kV 19/135 mm
1.0 mW 1.1/7 kV 3.5 mA 1.4 kV 25/150 mm
1.0 mW 1.1/7 kV 3.2 mA 1.4 kV 25/240 mm
2.0 mW 1.2/8 kV 4.0 mA 1.5 kV 30/185 mm
3.0 mW 1.6/8 kV 4.5 mA 1.9 kV 30/235 mm
5.0 mW 1.7/10 kV 6.0 mA 2.2 kV 37/350 mm
12.0 mW 2.5/10 kV 6.0 mA 2.9 kV 37/475 mm
Melles Griot, Uniphase, Siemens, PMS, Aerotech, and other HeNe tubes all show similar values.
and then this
Minimum
Laser Wave- Mirrors Output Exciter Original
Model length Int/Ext Power Model Price Description/Comments
105R 632.8 nm I 5 mW 215 $ ??? Cyl. head, rand. pol.
105P 632.8 nm I 5 mW " $ ??? Cyl. head, lin. pol.
HOPE THaT HELPS if you use any PS with similar numbers to those above that are 5mWs you may get it to work--GL--
Len

Can you post a clear picture of the warning label(s) and the tube itself? Thanks.

anything close to this may work-1.7/10 kV at 6.0 mAor this1.7-1.9/10 kV at 4.5-6.5 mA

The PS is often harder to find and more costly.

hk

Found these too

SPECTRA-PHYSICS HeNe He-Ne Laser Head 105-2 - eBay (item 180513974668 end time Oct-26-10 09:46:01 PDT)



this PS may not work but is close


Laser Drive 20-28 VDC HeNe Helium Neon Power Supply - eBay (item 300443828610 end time Nov-02-10 19:49:36 PDT)

Here are some pictures:

Great photos-- dont let that make date discourage you - I have some about that old and they work fine. Im betting there is a member around the SF area that will test it for you.

good luck with it- I think you made a great deal.

And it looks pretty long --may be 10 mWs after all.

hk

I've got a Hughes HeNe from 1979 that still works fine. If they're hard sealed (and I believe the SP ones were/are at this point) - it'll probably still work fine, so long as it doesn't "rattle when you shake it".

You can write to Sam at Sam's Laser Faq, he probably would have a PS he could sell you for a good price to get that thing up and running -- also Daguin here might have one.

Sadly, it does seem to rattle around a bit, like there is a loose part in there or something. Even if it doesn't work though, it would make a pretty nice club.

Or an overkill host for a 445 casio

guess that rattle is from from a loose optic?? bummer..

there are a lot of tubes out there(ebay) with the alden gone- too


prolly some neat mirrors inside- but I would test it before you give up

That's the CDRH safety rating, in other words the absolute maximum theoretically possible under worst/best case conditions, not the actual output. Your laser is likely 4-5mW output depending on age and use. That's a nice head, SP made good stuff. The housing and cable are worth what you paid for it.

It likely requires around 2300V @ 5.5-6.5mA.

SodaAnt said:

Sadly, it does seem to rattle around a bit, like there is a loose part in there or something. Even if it doesn't work though, it would make a pretty nice club.

Click to expand...

Depends on the sort of rattle, some HeNe tubes will rattle a bit if the cathode can or bore support spiders are a little loose. Take out the screws and pull both end caps off the housing, hold the head up to a light and look down through the mirror. You should see a brighter dot in the middle about 1mm diameter looking straight down the bore, and dimmer around that. If you have a piezo striker from a lighter you can connect that and should get a flash of pinkish light from the tube, although probably not any sort of beam.

It might be junk, in which case the housing, mirrors and cable are worth a few dollars, but it might also be just fine.