Argon Ion Laser (Worth the Gamble?)

[ultimatekaiser]

Yeah I like the melles griot argons. the Cyonics models are nice too. I was actually selling mine, but I want a bit more than that for mine. I can look up the model properties for the one you got if you want. I have a list somewhere of most of them.

 

[hakzaw1]

Sam'sLaserFAQ
he has a 'guide' for buying from FeeBay..(& it is very funny) he may have ps and there is a lot there on making your own.
He hardly ever comes here unless someone sends him a link..
He actually like to get links to lasers FS..he said to avoid the HeNe I was looking at AND found a better deal for me.
I watch for 'local pick-up' if close to me or someone picks it up for me. For some tubes I found that
You can make it glow (as a test) a little with one of those party 'plasma ball' lights..also most say to never ship tube and PS in same box...& I agree.
cold here tonite.. & overdue on 'exercising' them.
Mark burned up his shop-vac..on the ML he got from me.
get a squirrel cage fan and build A box enclosure around it .. (I only cool mine by pulling air thru .. NOT blowing air into the laser.
I made a 3x3 9 fan set-up . all from Kasio fans.. not all that good. but 'free' lol
My fav gas laser is the HeNe I have with the lowest output --~7 mW-- 594.1 nm from
Sam while at SELEM.. not cheap either.. it looks nice between two green HeNes.

 

[Unpairedelectron01]

Yeah I like the melles griot argons. the Cyonics models are nice too. I was actually selling mine, but I want a bit more than that for mine. I can look up the model properties for the one you got if you want. I have a list somewhere of most of them.

After some more digging and trial and error, I have been able to figure out basically all of the operational information I need for this laser (pin-outs, power and current etc.), but I have not been able to find anything that references this particular model directly. If you have any information about this model specifically, then I would love to know about it. Thanks!

 

[Unpairedelectron01]

The long wait is over, I am now the proud owner of an argon ion laser!!! It arrived yesterday, well packed and fully functional. The laser appears to be a BLUE multi-line laser, outputting six of the eight common visible argon wavelengths. Using a CD as a crude diffraction grating, they were matched to be the 465.8, 472.7, 476.5, 488.0, 496.5, 501.7nm lines, meaning the internal optics are filtering out the purple 457.9nm and the green 514.5nm. The hour meter of this laser has 477.6 hours logged, so it's practically brand new. Using the power and current meter built into the power supply, the maximum output was measured to be around 52mw at 8.2A of tube current.

I will be following up with a new thread that will include a much more detailed write-up, but that might be in a few days since this is my first time using a DSLR camera and I want to include some really nice beam shots. For now, here are the best quality photos I have been able to get:

 

[diachi]

Sweet! Good find Glad it arrived working and in good shape. Very low hours!

Good quality pictures too.

On the output wavelengths, it's more likely that the output mirror just passes the missing lines entirely, thus preventing them from lasing at all, rather than having them lase then filtering them out. Be interesting seeing what a multiline without the 514nm looks like in person, that's one of the more powerful lines and often gives the beam a very greenish tint.

 

[chloderic]

The long wait is over, I am now the proud owner of an argon ion laser!!! It arrived yesterday, well packed and fully functional. The laser appears to be a BLUE multi-line laser, outputting six of the eight common visible argon wavelengths. Using a CD as a crude diffraction grating, they were matched to be the 465.8, 472.7, 476.5, 488.0, 496.5, 501.7nm lines, meaning the internal optics are filtering out the purple 457.9nm and the green 514.5nm. The hour meter of this laser has 477.6 hours logged, so it's practically brand new. Using the power and current meter built into the power supply, the maximum output was measured to be around 52mw at 8.2A of tube current.

I will be following up with a new thread that will include a much more detailed write-up, but that might be in a few days since this is my first time using a DSLR camera and I want to include some really nice beam shots. For now, here are the best quality photos I have been able to get:

Hi, it seem so as you have the same as mine ..... but my fuses at home do not like the device .... maybe it is caused of the step-up converter to 220V i have to use .... I have to look to convert the psu .....?

 

[diachi]

Hi, it seem so as you have the same as mine ..... but my fuses at home do not like the device .... maybe it is caused of the step-up converter to 220V i have to use .... I have to look to convert the psu .....?

What size fuses?

 

[chloderic]

What size fuses?

My main flat fuse ..... 16 A main power supply ... one of them in my house

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Not too shabby. Although I wouldn't trust the reading from the internals unless it's a matched head and power supply, as they have to be calibrated to one another IIRC. I know the Cyonics ones do. Looks like a gorgeous tube for a pretty good price. I love Melles Griot and Coherent stuff with a passion. It's often of very high quality.

Edit: also, I found your tube, it's rated 30mW (no big surprises there by the model number) at full output. so that's where it's intended to be run. Which seems to make sense based on your measurement. Most small air-cooled tubes top out at 8-10A and tend to be comfortable/rated-power at about 7.5A or so.

 

[diachi]

Not too shabby. Although I wouldn't trust the reading from the internals unless it's a matched head and power supply, as they have to be calibrated to one another IIRC. I know the Cyonics ones do. Looks like a gorgeous tube for a pretty good price. I love Melles Griot and Coherent stuff with a passion. It's often of very high quality.

Edit: also, I found your tube, it's rated 30mW (no big surprises there by the model number) at full output. so that's where it's intended to be run. Which seems to make sense based on your measurement. Most small air-cooled tubes top out at 8-10A and tend to be comfortable/rated-power at about 7.5A or so.

Seconded on the internal power meters, I never trust them. Good in light control mode if you need a fixed output though.