It Arrived! My Omni 543 Argon.

[GR3EN]

Well I got it at work today and waited patiently. Very patiently. To get off of work and see if it would even fire up after it's 3,000 mile journey from Cali to here in NJ.

So I got home not too long ago and after unwrapping probably 6" thick of big bubbled bubble wrap I was able to test it. I only tested it as about 40% power but was it sure glorious. Definitely my favorite laser I own now. I snagged it for just over $200 with a little over 1,200 hours on it.

Here are some photos. Today was just a test to make sure it ran. Tomorrow I will hopefully get some better photos.

Please excuse the mess that is the spare room/what I have dedicated as my laser room.

Now for line output. It seems as though it is putting out 8 lines. For these photos I just grabbed the first CD I could find so please excuse quality. I still need to find out what the lines are.

Also a big shout out to ultimatekaiser for his patience with my questions and providing so much help.

 

[icecruncher]

typically a healthy and newer argon will have more lines than an older argon.

8 lines is great - especially if they are consistent down to lower power

what is the make, model and output of this?

 

[jeffreythe00]

Awesome laser man! You just reminded me that I have an omni 532 with 7 hours on it that is in need of some heavy troubleshoting and repairs. Some day!

Those Argon lasers are the BOMB! Glad to see there are still people interested in gas lasers.

 

[GR3EN]

typically a healthy and newer argon will have more lines than an older argon.

8 lines is great - especially if they are consistent down to lower power

what is the make, model and output of this?

I more or less have no info on the head itself other than the fact ithat is a omnichrome or melles griot 543 head. It isn't marked melles griot or omnichrome. The power supply is a melles griot 176b made in 2003, but the power supply is much cleaner and newer looking than the head. The seller said he owned it for a year and exercised it every month for 30mins or so

Awesome laser man! You just reminded me that I have an omni 532 with 7 hours on it that is in need of some heavy troubleshoting and repairs. Some day!

Those Argon lasers are the BOMB! Glad to see there are still people interested in gas lasers.

7 hours? Sweet. Will be great to see it running. I am interested in the gas lasers for sure. More so the argons. They simply amaze me, but I'm learning still. And have definately learned that they are very space consuming. I literally spent 3 hours just figuring out where I was going to store this new one haha, but I made it work. Now just must resist buying another one, but if the price is right it is hard to resist.

 

[icecruncher]

I more or less have no info on the head itself other than the fact ithat is a omnichrome or melles griot 543 head. It isn't marked melles griot or omnichrome. The power supply is a melles griot 176b made in 2004, but the power supply is much cleaner and newer looking than the head. The seller said he owned it for a year and exercised it every month for 30mins or so

I guess I need to read better Oops Omni 543 in title

Congrats - Argons are fun. - Wait until you see the big boys, if you haven't already.

You think finding a place for that is hard. One of the guys in NC has an entire storage facility JUST for Krypton, Argon and White Lights.

That and power consumption/connections are the main reason I've stuck with the baby air cooled ones.

There was a post for an ebay listing of a 377 DNA sequencer for $59.99 and pick up in PA. But thats a ways for you. Decent Argon inside.

 

[GR3EN]

I guess I need to read better Oops Omni 543 in title

Congrats - Argons are fun. - Wait until you see the big boys, if you haven't already.

You think finding a place for that is hard. One of the guys in NC has an entire storage facility JUST for Krypton, Argon and White Lights.

That and power consumption/connections are the main reason I've stuck with the baby air cooled ones.

There was a post for an ebay listing of a 377 DNA sequencer for $59.99 and pick up in PA. But thats a ways for you. Decent Argon inside.

Yea I posted it in the ebay thread already. Its pretty deep into PA. About a 4 hour drive unfortunately. Would be nice to get though.

 

[icecruncher]

Yea I posted it in the ebay thread already. Its pretty deep into PA. About a 4 hour drive unfortunately. Would be nice to get though.

I considered but its a 5 hour trip,each way, for me
Another time of the year I would have jumped on it.

The 373 versions I've taken apart are a lot of fun and have some extras you can use in this hobby. Including a couple newport mounts, nice alum plates, mercury switch, optics and a couple good rails and leadscrews if you wanted to build a CNC or equiv.

I'm sure the 377 would be similar.

But on the two I've pulled they did 6 lines and 7 lines.

 

[Encap]

wow $200!! Nice find.

Looks very well cared for/clean---have fun with it.

 

[crazyspaz]

Nice! The spectrum those argons put out is beautiful. I miss my multiline for sure!

 

[GR3EN]

wow $200!! Nice find.

Looks very well cared for/clean---have fun with it.

I almost missed out on it haha. I didn't bid on it the entire time it was up because I didn't want to draw attention to it. My plan was to do a last minute bid, but guess who had a long week at work and ended up falling asleep and missing the end. Yea. Me. Luckily no one else bid and I emailed him right away and he offered it to me at the same price it ended at. So got very lucky. Almost lost it.