Ar ion tube replacement

[ultrasmurf]

Just curious if there is a source for ar ion tube anywhere in the world ? Reason for asking is I have a dead JDSU 2214 laser on my table courtesy of talking about laser in a group of friends... I only have experience with he-ne laser so far (and a diode laser pointer), so everytime dead gas laser pop up all I can think of is replace the tube, and this time round it seems like everywhere I see, company like JDSU/MG/Lasos etc only sell ar ion laser as a package. Is the tube something like a very integrated things with the rest of the package that can not be replaced by itself ?

 

[diachi]

Just curious if there is a source for ar ion tube anywhere in the world ? Reason for asking is I have a dead JDSU 2214 laser on my table courtesy of talking about laser in a group of friends... I only have experience with he-ne laser so far (and a diode laser pointer), so everytime dead gas laser pop up all I can think of is replace the tube, and this time round it seems like everywhere I see, company like JDSU/MG/Lasos etc only sell ar ion laser as a package. Is the tube something like a very integrated things with the rest of the package that can not be replaced by itself ?

A new tubes is going to run you $$,$$$ - that's not really an option I'd imagine. May as well just buy a complete functioning head off of someone here, or off of eBay that's a similar model to what you have. Saves you the hassle of swapping them out then.

What's wrong with the one you have? What are the symptoms?

 

[ultrasmurf]

Have not tried anything with it yet, so not sure what is wrong with it. I was just browsing the net looking for info on it. As mentioned, i'm more familiar with he ne than this ar ion stuff, and was just wondering why I can't find any info on tube replacement, while he ne or co laser tube is almost everywhere..

 

[Cyparagon]

You don't think you're jumping to conclusions? Maybe the question you should be asking first is "how can I tell if my laser tube is dead"

 

[ultrasmurf]

Guilty as charge sir... Though I'm not trying to troubleshoot this laser yet. I'm just trying to see what information are available in the net, and one thing I am trying to gather is where to get parts and stuff (power supply, controller seems to be everywhere in ebay and other places, used laser head with all in seems to be popping up every now and then as well). What strike me is that the tube itself doesn't seem to be as freely available as hene (or I'm looking at the wrong places).

 

[Cyparagon]

They're totally different beasts. An ion laser tube is literally 100 times the power of a HeNe. Beryllium oxide versus glass, 25 amp tungsten filament versus cold cathode, 10 amp anode current versus 0.006A anode current. As such, they're typically sold as heads, not bare tubes.