The Care and Feeding...

[lasergal]

I recently got my first HeNe (a little Uniphase Novette) and was wondering if there are any particular rules to follow to proper care for my new pet so it lives a long and fullfilling life.

Is it fine being used infrequently? Or should it be regularly turned on? What about the best temperatures for use or storage? Anything else I should know about HeNe's or gas lasers in general that may not be obvious?

And I might add that I kinda have my eye on another HeNe... :undecided:

:crackup:

 

[JLSE]

I think for the most part they are quite durable.. In the old barcode scanners,
they would run pretty much continuous all year. I have tubes from the early 90's
been in a box for years, no special attention, and they still work fine.

 

[lasergal]

That's good to know!

 

[n2stuff]

Can you post a picture of your laser? Also any other info on it. I have a few hene's all of which hard sealed tubes and are fine just sitting around or running once every day.

 

[lasergal]

Can you post a picture of your laser? Also any other info on it. I have a few hene's all of which hard sealed tubes and are fine just sitting around or running once every day.

The one I have is identical to this one: Uniphase 4mW HeNe Laser Model 1507-0 12VDC w/ power supply | eBay

 

[n2stuff]

here's some info....Sam's Laser FAQ - Commercial Unstabilized HeNe Lasers

 

[icecruncher]

I've got a he-ne running continuous for 4 years as a night light (12" tube)

Just make sure you power them correctly with the right kind and output on the PS and they'll last a long time.

 

[lasergal]

I've got a he-ne running continuous for 4 years as a night light (12" tube)

Just make sure you power them correctly with the right kind and output on the PS and they'll last a long time.

Lol, a night light! That's awesome.

Well, mine is a self-contained unit and the PS is the original one that it came with, so I don't know how it could be done wrong.

 

[icecruncher]

Lol, a night light! That's awesome.

Not the first one to do it, lots of people on here have built them, but here are a couple of mine.

This is the bigger night light I did for the living room.

http://laserpointerforums.com/f43/copy-cat-46581.html

and this is a smaller 6" for the bedroom.

http://laserpointerforums.com/f43/6-hene-heres-what-i-did-63396.html


Never had a problem with either. The big one, runs 24/7.

Small one runs overnight whenever we feel like it.

My wife likes a light somewhere at night to see, plus she loves the plasma glow.