Lexel 75 questions

[Escher]

Hi guys,

I just found one of these local to me and its a good price...

Now - before I go and sell a kidney - what do I need to know?

I would be setting this up in a basement with access to water and I could probably add a seperate circuit for it, although I only have 20A...

Seller says its doing 100mw with about 3000 hours on the head. Comes with PSU, head and temp tuned etalon. I'm familiar with etalon's from some work in solar astronomy - so I assume you pick the wavelength by adjusting the etalon...

I assume I can just hook this up to the tap and run the outlet into the drain, correct?

what else do I need to know? Is this something I should be looking at versus say a JDSU argon air cooled?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bloompyle]

I know someone with an air-cooled 115VAC, 7 line argon doing 270mW.

So personally, I have no idea why you'd get an expensive water-cooled beast to do just over a third of that...

3000 hours isn't awful, but it's not great. I could be either poorly aligned, or EOL.

If you can go see the laser in action, and get permission to attempt a realignment, you may just be able to get some more powe out of it. Though right now, really doesn't seem like a worthwhile investment.

As far as tunability, I have an 8 line tunable that I snagged for $400 from someone who fully knew it's worth. Does about 25mW of 514.5, and 15 of 488. So not particularly healthy, but it is what it is. It's also air-cooled 115VAC.

 

[Escher]

hmmm.... that puts things in perspective a bit...

Thanks for the info! Maybe I'll shoot him a low number and see what happens.

 

[DJZ]

If this is the laser on eBay, something else to consider is that the power supply requires 3phase. Not sure why, I have an 85 that runs single phase. It might be possible to modify the power supply for single phase, just not sure. If it's tunable, you could also replace the prism and make the laser run multiline. Another nice thing about the water cooled ions is how quiet they are compared to the air cooled ions. And the Lexel brand is generally very reliable. There's a video on YouTube showing a running lexel 75, by ionlaserministries.

 

[Escher]

awww crud.... I didnt realize it was three phase - I thought all the 75's were standard 120V...

... just did some reading and now I get it - 120V / 208V is a WYE 3 phase... that sucks...

Foiled again!

 

[swamidog]

i'm the one with the 270mW 7 line air cooled argon (reliant).

i paid 150$ for it.

it is loud, tiny, and s-e-x-y. think of air cooled argon lasers as hair dryers that just happen to make pretty light.

 

[bloompyle]

Yeah, if it's water cooled, and ion, it's likely 3-phase. At least 208V. Though there is a plus side, you have a lot of internal guts to view and learn about.

Inb4 Swamidog ion appreciation thread

 

[MarioMaster]

IIRC the Lexel 75 is the little guy that runs on 240v single phase (or can be modded to run on it easily)

Either way 100mW is pretty pathetic. I have an air cooled JDSU cylinder argon here that runs on 120v and can do 160mW full tilt.

Honestly I wouldn't offer more than $100 for it unless twiddling with the alignment a bit shows large promise. (but I have a lot of argons already)

 

[Escher]

Thats what I offered on it... And I'm local so I mentioned the headache he would have trying to ship it... no response yet...

 

[bloompyle]

Actually, it's apparently a 115VAC laser, according to the FAQ. More on that later.

My edit didn't go through, bad airport wifi, I'll try again.

Ahem

I'm not one to discourage ion and gas purchases, however, if you're looking for an introductory ion, I'd steer away from this particular piece.

If you want starter ion, do what the most of us do, and get an air-cooled argon of some sort. Not only are they relatively plentiful, but they are also more or less plug-n-play, excluding a couple jumpered wires here and there for the remote or something. Not only that, but there is an entire bounty of information here, and plenty of us have one, myself included. Members here including LSRFQ (Steve Roberts) or Daguin, have been doing this for years (perhaps decades ). They have a whole wealth of knowledge in the subject of ion lasers. Your questions will not go unanswered, and we can put you in the right track quickly.

Then, later on, if you want a mid-large frame ion, then get a 75, or 85, or Linova equivalent. However for now, I recommend sticking with what we can help you with, and what won't take up several square feet to do the equivalent of something a fourth its size.

However, if you REALLY are hell bent to get this thing, read up on it here. Where you can read up on anything you could ever want to know about these.

 

[Escher]

Thanks guys.... I wouldn't say I'm hell bent on getting this my any means... It was just appealing since it was local.

It wouldn't be my first - I had a Multiline air cooled argon a couple of years ago... but this is a level up in complexity for sure...

 

[bloompyle]

After reading that it was 115VAC, I'd have considered buying it if it were local.

Though I'm slightly mad...

If you're aware of the challenges ahead of you, by all means, make that next step if not for the high output, but for the intellectual benefits.

 

[MarioMaster]

Looks like I was thinking of the Lexel 88 being the single phase 240v jobby. Still water cooling for such a small argon seems kind of a waste (quiet though)

 

[bloompyle]

For me, I'd like to have that gap between small and large frame. A so-called "mid-framed" water-cooled. When these are still hot, they can do almost half a watt. There is still a chance that it's simply poorly aligned.