This is my second co2 laser , it appears to be water cooled, but a friend of mine said that it is probably flowing co2 gas , in wich case it would not be water cooled as there are only 2 hoses on the tube. Does anyone know for sure what this tube is? Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it is water cooled, and I dont have water running in it, I'm sure it will self destruct instantly. If on the other hand it is gas cooled, I could damage it by trieng to run water though it. Also, one more question, does the water have to be any special kind of water? (de-ionized, distilled) or can I just use tap water? :-?
It's hard to tell from the pix but that coil of glass tubing usually leads to a sealed gas chamber. Look closely at the tubing and follow the glass.
That looks like a short version of my 20 W water cooled laser which is precharged with lasing gas. The way the plastic tubes run from the mirror mount and back indicate a water cooled unit. Look carefully for a plasma tube in the center with a slightly larger tube around it for water then the large gas "tank".
If it is water cooled, use distilled or similar to prevent ugly lime build-up. Always run it with water in there if it is water cooled. I don't know of any flowing gas lasers that small. Usally, that is for LARGE lasers.
From the picture, that is a sealed CO2 tube with water cooling. Tap water is fine for cooling these tubes as no water actually comes into contact with any important component.
You confirm my suspicions that it is a sealed tube ;D I, however, don't have soft water and I hate the lime buildup on glassware. Those are super looking tubes. Running tap water through to drain is better than no water at all. The glass will snap if un cooled for long.
Be careful where it's pointed when you power up. Mine burned through a crappy dump in a second and started smokeing my coffee table 6' away AND with raw beam - no optics The tube will light up pink inside when running. Don't try to "feel" the beam.
My 20 watt tube is about 18" long and about 2" OD. As I recall, it needs about 18 kV to trigger and operating current of about 12 mA at 12 kV. I use 25 Kohm ballast resistors to control the current but there are also occasionally power supplies on ebay made for the 20 watt tube.
Moniter your tube current in the - (near ground) leg of the power supply.
A PS for a 5 mW HeNe to power a 20 WATT tube ? ;D ? Guess again !! Why isn't the HeNe water cooled !!!!
You have to move the decimal point a couple places.... You are running with the big dogs here ENJOY THE POWER
That is definitely a sealed tube with water cooling. Might I recommend a simple loop of cooling water with a small reservoir?
I use distilled water in a loop with ~1liter of reserve water and a radiator. I only turn on the fan to the radiator if the water gets hot enough and that only happens when I give long demonstrations or cook marshmallows.
As long as the water temp doesn't get hotter than 110 degrees you'll be fine. It takes at least a minute to get that hot in the first place, and there's really no need to keep one of these bad boys on more than a few seconds anyway.
I have the co2 laser's power supply that was originally used in the medical laser which is a "DermaK". I have been unable to locate a pin diagram for it. It has a sticker which says "co2-100" on it. There are the two hv leads, and a 9 pin connector on it. Does anyone know or have any idea what the 9 pin connector requires? :-?
is the 9-pin connector like a logic interface or are you supposed to apply the main power for the power supply there??
If it's just logic stuff (interlocks etc) I would try joining a few together until it powers on. If it's power stuff, maybe try contacting the manufacturer.
To be safe, I would talk to the manufacturer first.
, it appears to be water cooled, but a friend of mine said that it is probably flowing co2 gas 
, in wich case it would not be water cooled as there are only 2 hoses on the tube. Does anyone know for sure what this tube is? Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it is water cooled, and I dont have water running in it, I'm sure it will self destruct instantly. If on the other hand it is gas cooled, I could damage it by trieng to run water though it. Also, one more question, does the water have to be any special kind of water? (de-ionized, distilled) or can I just use tap water? :-?
If its good, itl be awesome to power this baby up for the first time! 
