Just curious anyone?

[Eugene]

Is there anyway to power up a small HE-NE without the power supply? I have two HE-NE`s out of the older handheld scanner guns. Well actually one is out of a gun, and the other is new (never been fired). I have the one power supply that came with the gun, and can`t get either one to fire.

I got the wiring from someone else on here (can`t remember which thread now). It is the small, bronze looking power supply.

What do you guys think? Get another power supply, or can i fire them without somehow?

 

[LtKernelPanic]

Not sure if this will help but what you describe reminds me of one of the kits Sam sells on his site. If the PSU is the same he gives wiring instructions

Helium-Neon Laser Kit 0

There were some nice little PSUs on ebay awhile ago that were dirt cheap that would work perfect for a small 5-6" tube like that. They do pop up fairly frequently if you need one.

 

[Cyparagon]

I got one to lase with a flyback transformer, but it's certainly bad for the tube.

 

[Eugene]

oh it is? maybe i should get the right power supply then.. Right? Thanks for your input.. BTW.. I appreciate it!

 

[ShortyInCanada]

I had a little tube like that many years ago and I built my own power supply using a couple of simple components and an ignition coil from an old VW. (They ran on just 6 volts ya know.) The circuit and idea came from an old Popular Electronics issue that I just saw around here the other day while tidying up.
The home made pc board sat on top of half the coil and wired directly to it.
I found that the end of the tube fit perfectly into the center connection of the coil and a standard spark plug wire with a slight modification on the end snapped comfortably to the other end completing the circuit.
Hook up a standard 6 V.D.C. latern type battery and you had a small fairly portable laser.

While the tube was broken long ago I still have the high voltage power supply and occasionally drag it out to have some fun every now and then. (You know that an entire 800 foot row of metal pallet racking will carry enough of a charge to really ZAP someone on the other end ? :eg: )
Probably won't help you but it does prove that there are other options too.

 

[lasersbee]

The tubes that you have are probably <1mW HeNe Lasers.
A while back we built a few 3-4 mW Power supply to test
run the many small tubes we had back then..


Jerry

You can contact us at any time on our Website: J.BAUER Electronics

 

[PBK]

I have seen new HENE power supplys on ebay go for around 20-30.