Garage sale Uniphase HENE w/ PS - now what

[thinksnow]

My maglite died and I figured it'd be a great host for a hand-held build, but stumbled across this at a garage sale down the street yesterday afternoon.

The wires are not pretty, and there is no plug. I'm not really sure what to do with it, so for my very first post here, I'm asking y'all- what can I do with this?


(They we just going to give it to me, but felt they needed to charge something, so it cost me $0.50)

 

[bobhaha]

Put it in your maglight

No seriously you could... make a nice 12V pack up with some 18650's... or even 2 packs paralleled. Mount the PSU on the outside of the host with the tube inside.

It should run for a quite a while... they usually require only 2.5A or so at 10-15V.

 

[jcranmer]

Looks like you still have the ballast resister on the high voltage (thick red) wire, so short of 12VDC source and some clips to attach the high voltage output to the tube you should be good to get it powered up.

Don't solider directly to the tube or you may damage it. There are little brass clips that snap around each end of the tube that you solder to and then attach to the tube. I can't tell from the photo if you have those already or not.

www.laserdrive.com/pdf/henehook.pdf

 

[thinksnow]

Put it in your maglight

No seriously you could... make a nice 12V pack up with some 18650's... or even 2 packs paralleled. Mount the PSU on the outside of the host with the tube inside.

It should run for a quite a while... they usually require only 2.5A or so at 10-15V.

Well, now I'm intrigued. I happen to have a couple (5) 18650's sitting around, left over from a portable power pack I built for my Android phone and tablet (store-bought ones were usually limited to 1A, and the tablet needs 2.1A)...and thanks to the wiring diagram from jcranmer, I'm not entirely shooting in the dark.

Let me see....

Yup, it fires right up with 2x18650! Cool.
Interesting, though, that it lazes out of both ends. And am I reading that label right that this is putting out 5.55W:
Output: 1500VDC @ 3.7mA


Thank you, both. Perhaps I will model up a host for this thing after all!

 

[thinksnow]

Update: 3x18650 is quite a bit better. 100% less high-pitch whine from the unit and a nice glow, to boot.

And, in case you wondered and didn't want to figure from the photo: it's a 1"dia x 8" tube.

 

[bobhaha]

Yup... 3 should put you into the 12V range... the whine was from the PSU boosting the voltage up because ur input was too low.

Looks good mate!

Now workout how to put it into a host

 

[icecruncher]

And am I reading that label right that this is putting out 5.55W:
Output: 1500VDC @ 3.7mA

Probably not, but the only way to know for sure is with an LPM.
Otherwise its just guessing

Have fun with the gas lasers, they can be very, very addictive.

You start with a 8" hene and before you know it you've got a water cooled 6' monster that requires 3 phase! Don't say I didn't warn you...

 

[bobhaha]

am I reading that label right that this is putting out 5.55W:
Output: 1500VDC @ 3.7mA

Sounds about right.... 5.55W input and only 4mW output.... Gas lasers are extremely inefficient!

 

[thinksnow]

Sounds about right.... 5.55W input and only 4mW output.... Gas lasers are extremely inefficient!

Ahhh, that makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it: the driver is putting out 5.55W, but the laser body itself is only outputting 4mW. I didn't consider the energy loss in the tube and was briefly thinking I had somehow gotten a 5W beam!

Okay, back to reading FAQ's, ordering goggles, and whatnot before doing anything else.

Thank you again, everyone.

 

[bloompyle]

What's the model number of the tube? It's just a hunch, but I'm about 90% certain you're going to need another PSU. Even the lowest rated JDSU tubes require 1.25-1.35kVDC and 4mA. Your next highest is 1.7kVDC and 4.9mA. Surprisingly, even UNDER running a HeNe can be just as detrimental as OVER powering it! Just food for thought. You can get any and all info you'll ever need on just about anything gas related from Sam's Laser FAQ. And for more information on operating requirements, give this a scan Commercial HeNe information. Enjoy the world of gas!

For a prime example of how a small change in power to a HeNe can make a large difference, click one of the links in my sig that say multiline (they all take you to the same place )

Probably not, but the only way to know for sure is with an LPM.
Otherwise its just guessing

Have fun with the gas lasers, they can be very, very addictive.

You start with a 8" hene and before you know it you've got a water cooled 6' monster that requires 3 phase! Don't say I didn't warn you...

Or you spend over a year trying to get a 612nm unit only to end up getting the HeNe of your dreams, and 2 paychecks later it's still not enough!

 

[thinksnow]

I'm not sure what the model number is, though the foil wrapper has that sticker marked

MODEL 098-2.

Uniphase has a pdf for 098 models, so that seems reasonable.