Hey what do you guys think of these CO2 lasers?

[Xplorer877]

They are kinda expensive if you buy both PS and tube.

Whatcha think?

Oh and has anyone ever made their own PS out of an ignition coil or something?

-Tony

 

[Cyparagon]

Re: Hey what do you guys think of these CO2 lasers

Regular Chinese tubes - A little on the pricey side. They're about half on ebay. There's a 40W tube for $310 shipped and a PSU for $340 shipped at the moment.

A neon sign transformer (with a bridge rectifier and variac) is a common choice for a poor-man's PSU.

 

[Razako]

Re: Hey what do you guys think of these CO2 lasers

Wtf $500 for a power supply?  It's basically just a high voltage power supply that can be made from a 15/30 NST and some diodes :-/ The only tricky part is that the tube has a higher ignition voltage(something like 20+KV) that can't be supplied by the NST unless you use a voltage doubler or something. A good flyback transformer would probably work also.

 

[Xplorer877]

Re: Hey what do you guys think of these CO2 lasers

Yeah it's the trigger voltage that is the tricky part. Will the lifetime of the tube be cut short if it is powered by an NST?

-Tony

 

[Cyparagon]

Re: Hey what do you guys think of these CO2 lasers

I'm sure it will be. I think These Chinese tubes are only good for 1000 hours or so as it is. But you only use it for a few seconds at a time. You could cut 3 million matches in half during the life of the tube, but if you're not bored after 5 or 6, it may be more of a psychological problem . Even if the lifetime was cut in half, it would still last you ten years if you used it a full 8 minutes a day.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Re: Hey what do you guys think of these CO2 lasers

These tubes are on ebay for less $. There are some cheaper PS's too.
They require water cooling or they will crack. Tubes from "Drivine2000" can crack with water cooling so beware.
Fun to work with a gas laser. Careful of the voltage.

Mike