Old Red Laser find help.

[mstary1]

Hello everybody, registered on this forum to see if I could get some information on a laser I found in council cleanups. Got a lovely old Kriesler TV and
some other stuff but the laser has me stumped. Can't find any info on it.
Length 15 inches.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Should I open it up to find out
more info or is that a no no?

Thanks everyone.
Mark.

 

[Cyparagon]

That is a helium neon laser, or HeNe for short. Wavelength is 632.8, and power will be somewhere around 1mW. Should be worth $50 at least. If you open it, you'll find a laser tube, a high voltage power supply, and not much else.

 

[hwang21]

I'm sure there's people interested on here... I am, if the price is good :beer: we all seem to be a bit short on money though...

 

[mstary1]

Thanks very much for the replies. I was able to track down what model it was with the information provided. Spectra-Physics model 132 Laser.

Thanks everyone, very much appreciated. The things people throw out these days!

 

[lasersbee]

Here's a link from Sam's FAQ with some pics...
Photos of Spectra-Physics Helium-Neon Lasers


Jerry

 

[AJ Pierson]

mstary1,

Did it fire right up for you, or did you need to wait a minute or two before getting a beam out of it?

 

[mstary1]

mstary1,

Did it fire right up for you, or did you need to wait a minute or two before getting a beam out of it?

Hi AJ.

Yes it fired up straight away, produced a beam in a second or two. Took a pic of it opened up.

 

[AJ Pierson]

Well if it fired right up, then it seems to be in fine shape. That's no small matter, because I believe you have a "soft-seal" tube there. There are "soft-seal" and "hard-seal" HeNe tubes, and those of the former category tend not to last as long as the others. The difference between the two involves how the mirrors are affixed (and sealed) to the plasma tube.

If you plan to keep that laser, then you should run it regularly (like at least once weekly, for as long as it takes to warm up......probably ten minutes). That will promote its longevity.


If you plan to sell it, I'm sure you'll find some interested folks here.....That's a classic SP tube.

Nice find