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FrozenGate by Avery

Dirty HeNe Dot






Some "speckle" is normal with laser light. However, that looks like a dirty mirror ;)

Peace,
dave
 
daguin said:
Some "speckle" is normal with laser light. However, that looks like a dirty mirror ;)

Peace,
dave
Click to expand...

Well, I used 91% isopropanyl and a microfiber cloth and got off some crap that was on the mirror. There's two very tiny dings (not scratches) that remain after I cleaned it. I'm not sure if I created them during cleaning or if they were already there.

It now looks like this: http://devcrate.com/laser/photos/HeNe/0511001320.jpg

This laser was given to my friend's high school from a VCU medical research lab, his physics teacher passed it on to him, and he passed it on to me because he had no use for it. I figure VCU must've gotten rid of it for *some* reason. :p

Made a pretty rookie mistake while cleaning it and got bit pretty bad by the caps in the power supply. Lesson learned.

-Trevor
 
twhite828 said:
Well, I used 91% isopropanyl and a microfiber cloth and got off some crap that was on the mirror. There's two very tiny dings (not scratches) that remain after I cleaned it. I'm not sure if I created them during cleaning or if they were already there.

It now looks like this: http://devcrate.com/laser/photos/HeNe/0511001320.jpg
This laser was given to my friend's high school from a VCU medical research lab, his physics teacher passed it on to him, and he passed it on to me because he had no use for it. I figure VCU must've gotten rid of it for *some* reason. :p
Made a pretty rookie mistake while cleaning it and got bit pretty bad by the caps in the power supply. Lesson learned.
-Trevor
Click to expand...

Well -- It's better ;)

It is pretty tough to chip a mirror by cleaning it. Residue is the more likely culprit. It is also possible (but not as likely) that the "deposit", on the mirror, is inside the laser. However, since the first cleaning improved it, I would suggest some lens cleaning fluid and a lens cloth. Sometimes the cloth gets contaminated at a level we cannot see with the naked eye. Lastly I'm not sure what ispropanyl is, but if you are referring to isopropyl alcohol, it is not really designed to clean glass. ;)

Keep in mind that the tube itself also acts as a capacitor. It can bite you even after it is unplugged from the PSU

Peace,
dave
 
daguin said:
Well -- It's better ;)

It is pretty tough to chip a mirror by cleaning it. Residue is the more likely culprit. It is also possible (but not as likely) that the "deposit", on the mirror, is inside the laser. However, since the first cleaning improved it, I would suggest some lens cleaning fluid and a lens cloth. Sometimes the cloth gets contaminated at a level we cannot see with the naked eye. Lastly I'm not sure what ispropanyl is, but if you are referring to isopropyl alcohol, it is not really designed to clean glass. ;)

Keep in mind that the tube itself also acts as a capacitor. It can bite you even after it is unplugged from the PSU

Peace,
dave
Click to expand...

I think my dad has lens cleaning fluid in a camera bag somewhere, but it's probably from the 70's, so I'll grab some new stuff and a good cloth. I used alcohol because it evaporates nearly completely. I guess I'll open it up again and give it a better go, since it *is* glass, and isn't AR coated on the outer surface.

It was plugged in when I was working with the mirror with my cloth, and my finger touched the contact. Like I said - rookie mistake, lesson learned. :)

-Trevor
 
I use Isopropyl alcohol (the 99% kind) to clean lenses and it does a good job removing oils from sticky fingers. It does a good job also on primary mirrors and does not leave a film on it. I wouldn't use it on exprensive coated optics too much, although I have used it on a splitting cube with no ill effect.

To avoid getting zapped by HV caps and assemblies, I have a plain alligator clip wire with a 1 megohm resistor in the middle, and I just clip one end on the cap (or hv supply) and the other to ground. Much better than just shorting directly (caps don't like that in the long run). ;)

- Robert
 
Also, must be considered what can be that dirt the mirrors ..... not all the things are soluble in alcohol :p

Alcohol is a lipides solvent, but some substances can require different solvents (also just water .....)
 
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