laser glasses safe?

[peterlzhang]

Hello, i'm new to lasers and I have a Spectra Physics Stabilite 2017, 5 watt argon laser that has 476.5nm, 488 nm, and 514.5 nm wavelengths. I want to make sure that I have the proper glasses for them so that I don't hurt myself. This is the table for the laser that was given in the manual


Table 3-1: Argon Output Power
λ (nm) _______________________ Model 2017-AR
----------- Multiline (W)2---------------
333.6–363.8 __________________0.100
457.9–514.5 __________________6.0
------------Single Line (W)2-------------
514.5 _______________________ 2.00
501.7 _______________________ 0.30
496.5 _______________________ 0.60
488.0 _______________________ 1.50
476.5 _______________________ 0.45
472.7 _______________________ 0.17
465.8 _______________________ 0.12
457.9 _______________________ 0.20
454.5 _______________________ 0.10






Currently I have 4 pairs of safety glasses

1: OD 4+ @190-532nm

2: OD 4+ @190-532nm and OD 6+ at 10,600 nm

3: OD>7 @5,000-11,000nm
OD>7 @860-1080nm
OD>5 @750-860nm
OD>3 @ 710-750nm
OD>9 @ 190-420nm

4: OD 2.6 @488nm
OD 2.1 @514.5nm

Number 4 was given to me as alignment goggles. I'm pretty sure 3 is not safe to use with this laser. Will it be safe to use the laser with any of these glasses or should I buy some glasses that have a higher OD? Thanks for all the help.

 

[Fonduman]

your first laser is 5 watts? i dont think any1 would recommend that lol

 

[Bluefan]

Nice laser! I have the same laser, but I don't have user manual or the electricity to power it.

I recommend you get familiar with laser safety, 5 watts is a huge amount of light. Diffuse reflections are dangerous at that level and it even is a fire hazard. Read around here for laser safety and look at the laser vision guide.

With these power levels it is not only important to have the right OD, but also to have glasses that can protect against a direct hit and not melt right away. Based on the OD's #1 and #2 are fine, #3 doesn't cover the right wavelength and #4 has a too low OD.

What brand glasses are these? Does anyone of them has an EN207 rating? The EN207 rating also includes how much power the glasses can withstand for 10 second in case of a direct hit. You'd something like D315-515nm L4 or D315-515nm L5.

 

[DJNY]

Go for the goggles with ARG filter, there is a GB you can join if you´re quick enough

 

[LSRFAQ]

Pairs 1 and 2 are acceptable with that laser if you terminate the beam properly, ie a cinder block or a proper beam trap, but what you have is no toy. The beam is typically .65 mm in diameter and the power density is huge. Far more dangerous then your average DPSS pointer, due to the beam quality.

You need something ceramic, or heavy anodized metal, with shielding around it, to stop the scatter, as a beam stop for that argon.
In other words a enclosed beam stop with heatsink fins.

When you have that kind of laser, safety is done in a lab situation by having it on a table at waist height, keeping the beams parallel to the table, and terminating the beam so it cannot leave the optical table. IN fact, we would enclose the beam paths in metal tubing.

In laser show service, back about 1992, I charred and ignited a wood night club wall 70 feet away with a new 6 watt version of that SP, so you have no choice but to be careful and think before you act. This was during off hours testing when they were building the club, and the wall material got changed quickly.

This is NOT a hold something in the beam and burn things laser, even the scatter is a hazard to at least a meter.

This is NOT a show it to your friends laser. You must have 100% control of the environment that this laser runs in. Ie locked doors, warning signs, and a great deal of self control. When running these at a university lab, we train everyone who can come in contact with the laser, including the janitors. We basically build a windowless vault around the laser and keep it locked up. Safety violations are zero tolerance offenses when using one of these. While we wear them, we do not depend of safety glasses as our first line of defense, we configure the experiment to be safe.

The tiny spot size does a wonderful job of searing flesh, wounds take a long time to heal, and it goes in deep and kills nerve tissue, so it takes a while for you to react to a flesh hit.

You have to avoid putting reflective objects near the beam. Even diffusely reflective objects like business cards.

Make sure the HV safety covers are installed inside the head, 250V at 35 amps is a nice way to die slowly, in a nursing home, crippled. Make sure the PSU has proper grounding, parts of the head are floating at HV compared to ground.

A local tech here a few years ago leaned his head against a metal cabinet holding a similar laser and reached onto the dc to the tube. It took him a year to pass, and the sudden onset brain damage was NOT fun.

USE THE CURRENT CONTROL WHEN YOU SET UP YOUR EXPERIMENTS. Keep Itube down!

Be very careful, you know own a rattlesnake that moves at 186,000 miles per second. Keep the tube current down, they do NOT last long at what the power supply is capable of at max setting, as delivered.

If this is your first laser, go to a mall, get a 10$ red laser pointer, and learn about how laser light behaves before running the argon.

This is certainly NOT a first laser show laser, either.

Even the most mundane task must be planned. Grad students and PhDs often wear ties with dress clothes on presentation days and then go work in the laser lab, adjusting things. This can result in smoking, burning ties! While funny the first time.......

Also avoid things like SLR cameras, ie optically aided viewing, where you get some magnification in front of your eye while taking measurements.

Please be careful. I hope you have a "day job" use for this device, its really, really not a toy. High power argons are a great learning experience, but they demand R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Steve

 

[peterlzhang]

Thanks for the help with the laser. I am operating in a university lab and we are in a room with key card access only. Also there are lights that are placed outside the lab to indicate when the laser is running. I understand that this is a dangerous laser and I am doing all I can to make it safe and it is taking me quite a while. Thanks again