Experimentonomen´s first argon

[Experimentonomen]

And heres the laser running with its new fan: YouTube - Spectra Physics 161B Argon Ion Laser

 

[jaycey]

Theres alot of fingers near big looking wires in that video!
and at 1:22 I think you step on a frog

Well done, I love the colour of the argons.

 

[Experimentonomen]

Now i just need to finish the psu which will be put in a different box and the transformer doesent fit into this one.

 

[Experimentonomen]

Now the laser have had a good 1.5 hour run on around 6A of tube current, any lower and the dot started flickering.

Tube voltage was measured to be 85V and filament voltage was measured to be 2.6V with 3 turns on the transformer under load, with the laser lasing.

Here are some new pics:

 

[timelablasers]

How bright do you think it is now after the extended run?

 

[Experimentonomen]

Not sure, yesterday i put the dmm on the light sensor and got 25mV on full power, im gonna get a laserbee lpm that you hook to your dmm to check the output power.

It still stops lasing below 6A so i think it needs some more hours or running.

 

[timelablasers]

Hi mate,
Looking forward to seeing how your power supply will all be packaged up. How are you going with it?
Cheers,
Rob.

 

[Experimentonomen]

The new psu is under construction, here are a few pics:

Thats the exterior pretty much done, whats left is the light/current toggle switch, the current/light control pot and some indicator lights.

 

[vk2fro]

I really love the way you recycle stuff Magus. You turn junk that you have in your basement into an artform, in this case, a case for a laser power supply. Well done

 

[Experimentonomen]

It's been a year since i last ran this thing, so heres a new video of this old gem running:

YouTube - Argon laser startup


This time it uses a buck converter type smps psu.

 

[budabob07]

All of your photobucket picture links are dead.