Argon!

[Things]

I'm kind of glad I live in Aus for this reason, even pumping 12A at 100V into the tube, I don't blow the breaker

Technically though, our extension cables and power boards are rated to 2400W. I think it's 1800W in the US?

 

[MoonShadow]

Yeah, have you seen US mains plugs? They're not very beefy.

 

[argon]

Just powered up one of my little ALC-60X tubes for the normal periodic burn:

Best regards
argon

 

[Helios]

Do the multiline argons appear a different color than the regular 488nm?

 

[icecruncher]

You guys are crazy (In a good way)

I really really want an Argon. But I'm in a 60 year old house with non grounded plugs in a 60 amp total for the house that I've had to upgrade once already, (in the USA of course). I asked my wife jokingly telling her she could either run the dryer or start the argon...

so far its a no-go on getting one. (I'm working on it though!!!!)

 

[LtKernelPanic]

Awesome! Does the last mirror/prism split the beam into the individual lines?

 

[Cyparagon]

I like the prisms

I don't see any separation of the lines from them in the first pic though. odd

Do the multiline argons appear a different color than the regular 488nm?

It depends on the condition of the multi-line head as well as the tube current. Old tubes will sometimes have less green and more blue. At low currents, there's more blue. At high currents, there's more green.

In most cases, a multi-line will be slightly more green since the 514 line is a big contributor.

On the right is a multi-line, and next to that is 488nm.

 

[daguin]

Do the multiline argons appear a different color than the regular 488nm?

Here you can see the original multi-line beam color crossing over the different color lines. The middle line is the 488nm line. You can see the difference in color between them

Peace,
dave

 

[LtKernelPanic]

Ok once I get moved to Phoenix in a couple months I'm going to have to get one of those.

 

[argon]

@Helios:

Do the multiline argons appear a different color than the regular 488nm?

In my case the multiline argon is more blue than 488nm, because there are more blue lines than green in the multiline beam, but this depends on the tube current and of course on the optics installed (my head is in a very good condition despite the blue lines). With low tube currents the multiline beam is with my argon-heads like 488nm, because 488nm is the strongest line and the first one.

@icecruncher:

I really really want an Argon. But I'm in a 60 year old house with non grounded plugs in a 60 amp total for the house that I've had to upgrade once already, (in the USA of course). I asked my wife jokingly telling her she could either run the dryer or start the argon...

My argon laser head draws just about 1kW power (in the pictures above), with lower output only about 500W. The selfmade power supply draws about 10% of the laser head in addition, so there's no more than about 1.2kW (incl. cooling) in the worst case.

@LtKernelPanic:

Awesome! Does the last mirror/prism split the beam into the individual lines?

Thank you. I've used a grating for splitting up the beam, but it would also be possible with a prism. Disadvantage of the normal 45° prisms is that the splitting is very narrow, so the different colors are all near together.

Best regards
argon

 

[icecruncher]

@icecruncher:

My argon laser head draws just about 1kW power (in the pictures above), with lower output only about 500W. The selfmade power supply draws about 10% of the laser head in addition, so there's no more than about 1.2kW (incl. cooling) in the worst case.


Best regards
argon

Thanks for the info on that.

That's a lot of power off the line. Which means at least a dedicated circuit (drawing over 10A on a 110V circuit or having a 220V line to connect) But still would be nice.

 

[argon]

That's a lot of power off the line.

It depends on what you compare with :yh: If you compare with a water cooled argon laser or with my argon-krypton mixed gas laser it is not really high power. With a water cooled argon laser you normally need three phase power 400V / 32A :crackup: Here you go with several kW...

My mixed gas ion laser needs up to 2kW if the tube current is set to maximum.

Which means at least a dedicated circuit (drawing over 10A on a 110V circuit or having a 220V line to connect)

Have you got 115V AC in your country? Here in Europe we have 230V AC / 50Hz single phase and 400V AC / 50Hz three phase, luckily there's both in my house :yh:

Regards
argon

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

Anybody here made their own 1-phase to 3-phase converter? Saw the few links in the FAQ, doesn't look too hard, but it's looking like it'll be at least $300-$400 to DIY. Probably gonna test the laser on mains if I can find some first.

 

[james1095]

1kW from a 120V circuit isn't a big deal. Space heaters, microwave, toaster oven, hair dryer and many vacuum cleaners draw more than that.

As for 3 phase, sometimes you can get away with running 3 phase equipment from single phase if you derate it accordingly. Anything that rectifies and filters the AC into DC before using it doesn't care how many phases is feeding it, but you have to be careful not to overload the diodes in the rectifier and the ripple will be much greater for a given size of filter capacitors. If in doubt, consult the schematic.

I've seen 3 phase motors used as rotary phase converters but they're big and heavy, and not particularly efficient. I have access to 3 phase power at a friend's shop if you happen to be in my area. I'm sure the guys would be up for playing with a big ion laser.

 

[icecruncher]

You're right. Maybe I can run that off the standard plugs, as long as I don't use anything else.

That at least gives me an excuse to look :drool:

1kW from a 120V circuit isn't a big deal. Space heaters, microwave, toaster oven, hair dryer and many vacuum cleaners draw more than that.

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

james,

I appreciate the kind gesture. I will have to look around in my area for someone who has the proper power to start this sucker...