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Air-cooled Argon-Krypton whitelight

Tube might have had high argon pressure. As you run them the argon gets embedded into the tube walls, lowering the pressure. This is why argons are hard to start after sitting for a long time.
 





I'm going to try running it for long periods on lower current to try to combat that issue.

I had a feeling that pressure may have been a problem from the start. Was just hoping for the best I guess. It's also more efficient to work from easier, to harder tests. So alignment, current/voltagem then tube pressure, then working on the tube/PSU itself.

Oddly enough, it fires off the first click, every time. Under the lowest current setting, you'll even see a flash of blue, then nothing again.
 
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The easy firing just means the pressure wasn't THAT bad, and I *think* Kr lowers the ionization threshold, but don't quote me on that. There is a minimum current level suggested for long life for each tube as I discovered when I got my argon. Often this level is above what Idle is set at. The reason being that the arc will wander over the electrode at low current, causing uneven wear. At worst it can even sputter electrode material. I always run my Argon between 25% above idle and 90% of tube maximum just to be safe.
 
I did not know this.

In this run, I've been lasing at the threshold right before another line comes in, then I go to the next line. This one though might be a bit high for this fan to handle, so I may just sit idly at around 6A.

Idle (lowest setting for pot) is about 3-4A for this one, but I don't get lasing until about 5A. Though I've seen improvements since the last check, so perhaps it's lowered.
 
Just keep it above min current and run it in light mode to prevent oscillations it sounds like. Krypton is touchy about tube pressure so I'd get a good fan on it, and bake the tube a short time when you find it's nominal temp without stressing it.
 
ultimatekaiser said:
Just keep it above min current and run it in light mode to prevent oscillations it sounds like. Krypton is touchy about tube pressure so I'd get a good fan on it, and bake the tube a short time when you find it's nominal temp without stressing it.
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I've been running it for about an hour and a half at like a third past idle, getting like 3.5 lines. Noticing a steady increase in power. Slow, but increasing. The extra 2 blues are very sharp now, probably 1-2mW each, and the three main blues come in very quickly.

Remember before how I could go for a bit with just 568 up to like 8-10mW? Yeah, no. 568 and 488 come in at the same time now :)

Slowly but surely, we're getting there :)

Just what the doctor ordered :)
 
I'm under the impression you've had the argon and krypton seperated since the head has been sitting. By running it, you're slowly causing them to interact again and lower the tube pressure. If you can, try running it at higher currents for a short time too, it will help free up the stubborn gas atoms, and perform electrolytic cleanup in the power supply. You might notice further recovery.
 
ultimatekaiser said:
I'm under the impression you've had the argon and krypton seperated since the head has been sitting. By running it, you're slowly causing them to interact again and lower the tube pressure. If you can, try running it at higher currents for a short time too, it will help free up the stubborn gas atoms, and perform electrolytic cleanup in the power supply. You might notice further recovery.
Click to expand...

I do this from time to time to check progress, once the fan starts getting to that danger zone (Archer) I turn it back down.

Bout time for a progress check now.

Just cranked it up to full, and managed to visually double the amount of red with a bit more alignment! This is extraordinary!

Not the best pic, but I was rushing it as I wanted to go back down to lower current. I'll get a better one later tonight :)

p3nv.jpg
 
11 lines using an external argon OC.

I am now getting:
501.7
514.5
520.8
530.9

Good times :) Not only is the spectra beautiful, but the beam is extraordinary :)

ee30.jpg
 
We have I think it was a coherent at the lab :)

3.5watts with 3gallons per min water cooling
 
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ultimatekaiser said:
We have I think it was a coherent at the lab :)

3.5watts with 3gallons per min water cooling
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Once I have a larger room to play in, I will be getting something like this. Or a Lexel of some sort.

A large framed water-cooled ArKr is still on the to-do list :)
 
bloompyle said:
Once I have a larger room to play in, I will be getting something like this. Or a Lexel of some sort.

A large framed water-cooled ArKr is still on the to-do list :)
Click to expand...

Yes it was quite majestic when it was working. The cooler broke however so it has been retired for now. The tube and exciter are in storage. I want it so bad!

:lasergun:
 
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