Argon JDSU 2214 ML help

[Silvershot]

Hi,

A picture of Your setup would be welcome.
Does Your PS have two separate switches for voltage selection ? (HI/LO, 115/230)
Do both red and green LED lite upon power-up and interlock close ? (the keylock)
Do plasma discharge ignite after ca 40 second delay from power-up ?
Does voltage on pin 8 (current monitor) follow the pot from 4 to 10Amps ?
Is it a rectangular or round laser head ? (fan atop or via air duct)
How many starter ticks does the plasma start require ?

Piotr.K

It has only one switch for LO and HI mode ( 200-220 V/230-240V )
Both used to lite but now the green one( interlock ) does not I shorted the 2 wires after i removed them from the red cylinder inside the psu. For some reason the green one does not lite as I said, though i didnt make any changes. The fuse on the panel breaker now drops even at LO setting.
The plasma turns on after 10-15 seconds and stays as-is without the laser to lase
I was told that current monitor can be achieved with pins 9 and 22? I got a reading of max 10 amps.
It's a cylindrical laser head with separate psu.
The plasma tube starts with the first tick!

An electrician is visiting us tomorrow. I will ask him what can I do to avoid the fuse problem!

[LesioQ]

That's sounds strange.

If only HI/LO is present on the outside, then most likely 115/230 will be soldered in one of PCB, close to PS output sides. I'd suggest having a look at it - if it's on higher voltage setting.

If no interlock is lit - the laser should not start. To satisfy the interlock You need keylock, DB-25 jumper, thermal fuse shorted inside laser head. Only if these all all closed - the laser will (should) proceed to ignite (start to tick).

I asked if You can regulate laser current from 4A (idle) to full on (10.5A) because when MOSFET is PS fails - the PS feeds full line rectified current to laser head. Then the current is limited by Your mains wiring (hot extension cord

The laser current monitor is pin8 & pin 11=GND, 0.1V/A, so it should vary from 400mV to 1V upon pot turn. If You cannot get this on pin 8, check on pin 9, but this should be power monitor.

Cyllindrical head ... You have the big fan with air duct installed and running ?

Piotr.K

Errata: You're right - pin 9 is for current, ref to pin 11=GND
Keylock is not a part of interlock chain, green will litght even when key is OFF.

[Silvershot]

EDIT: I forgot that the green led interlock only lights when the laser is connected. I was just trying the psu without the laser. thats why it didnt lit.

I also found out that there is a separate circuit( i hope it is separate, but it should be ) for the kitchen. The breaker panel has a breaker with ratings of 20A and 380 V. the electrician will help me install a socket on that end, without problem of a breaker tripping.

[Stoney3K]

EDIT: I forgot that the green led interlock only lights when the laser is connected. I was just trying the psu without the laser. thats why it didnt lit.

I also found out that there is a separate circuit( i hope it is separate, but it should be ) for the kitchen. The breaker panel has a breaker with ratings of 20A and 380 V. the electrician will help me install a socket on that end, without problem of a breaker tripping.

Keep in mind that 380V is a THREE phase hookup. For 230V you will need a single phase to neutral connection.

In most European installations, 3-phase enters the house at the breaker panel and is split into 3 (or more) separate circuits feeding from one phase each.

[Silvershot]

Keep in mind that 380V is a THREE phase hookup. For 230V you will need a single phase to neutral connection.

In most European installations, 3-phase enters the house at the breaker panel and is split into 3 (or more) separate circuits feeding from one phase each.

I guess that means I can't use that circuit?

[LaNeK779]

well, in a common household the only place you can find a three-phase socket is in the kitchen, behind the electric cooker. maybe it is worth a go? but i understand from the above descriptions that your laser is not 3phase...

so maybe the 380v mention, is somewhat irrelevant?

[Silvershot]

The electrician paid me a visit just minutes ago and said the electric kitchen is 1 phase. I was powering the psu from a 1 phase socket anyway. He suggested to trip the breaker, then plug the device( psu in my case ) and then turning on ( sorry i dont know the word) the breaker so there is no spark and danger. Indeed we tried it and the psu powered up nicely and smoothly.He also mentioned( when I asked ) that there is no real different with the voltage ranges, and it should be ok for the device. Since the laser seems to get enough current, the only conclusion into I come is that the laser is misaligned. I'm sending it to someone for realignment. Hopefully mixedgas accepts to do the work for me

[mixedgas]

Mixedgas is in no hurry to accept the work because as he reads this thread, he has not yet seen proof that you have either stable plasma or actual current control. You should not attempt to run the power supply without a head attached.

Steve

[Silvershot]

Mixedgas is in no hurry to accept the work because as he reads this thread, he has not yet seen proof that you have either stable plasma or actual current control. You should not attempt to run the power supply without a head attached.

Steve

I used the basic setup for current control. I think I mentioned this before. pins 1-3, 2-13, 5-11(current control enable), 6(wiper)-11-13. I also checked the current and the max was 10+ A at full turn. I can see the plasma change brightness when I turn the pot ( 47k ) and the purple dot being easily visible in a lit room. I mean,what else could be, apart from misalignment?

[LesioQ]

10+A is not a symptom of current regulation. What would be welcome is to confirm that You can go from 10A down to 4A with the pot.

Maybe Your 10+A is actually 19A, limited by line cables, with no means of regulation by pot. I don't know if the tube would lase at this current, but I'm almost sure it would go off from overheat protection in a minute or so.

Piotr.K

[Silvershot]

10+A is not a symptom of current regulation. What would be welcome is to confirm that You can go from 10A down to 4A with the pot.

Maybe Your 10+A is actually 19A, limited by line cables, with no means of regulation by pot. I don't know if the tube would lase at this current, but I'm almost sure it would go off from overheat protection in a minute or so.

Piotr.K

It gets hot when I turn the pot all the way around.

What would be welcome is to confirm that You can go from 10A down to 4A with the pot.

Going down to 4A has to do with the value of the pot I am using doesnt it? For example, using a 47k pot( like I do now ) and a 10 k one would give you different less current. Or am I wrong?

[LesioQ]

The current regulation is done via voltage on pin 6, so when pot is at min, voltage is zero, causing minimum current. How much is it - measure at pin 9.

schema

Piotr.K

[Silvershot]

The current regulation is done via voltage on pin 6, so when pot is at min, voltage is zero, causing minimum current. How much is it - measure at pin 9.

schema

Piotr.K

I just measured it, min current is 4 amps and max is 10.6, between pins 9 and 22.

[OzOnE]

Sorry for bumping an old thread. (I wasn't sure this warranted a new thread?)...

I just wanted to point out that there may be a small mistake on Kevin's diagram that LesioQ linked to...

I see there is a note on the diagram saying "FIXED SWAP OF PINS 8 AND 9 - Sam" - The circuit looks fine, but I believe the labels on pins 8 and 9 need to be swapped too. ie...

Pin 8 should be the Power (Light) measurement at "10 mW/V".
Pin 9 should be the current measurement at "10 A/V".

I then wondered if the switches (SW1,SW2,SW3) would work without pull-up resistors?... The JSDU 2010 series manual suggests that the newer PSU's have internal pull-ups on pins 2, 4, and 5, and only the old Model 2010 PSU doesn't. So, we should be good to go. (apologies if this is common knowledge, I'd thought I'd throw it out there anyway).


Secondly, I wanted to say that I just received my very FIRST Argon today! I've wanted one for a long time, but they were often a bit too pricey to get hold of in the UK.
Also, I assumed that because gas lasers were being phased out in many places that the novelty of owning one would decrease over the years. Well, I was wrong!

I'd previously only played with diode lasers (and the old Maplin He-Ne!) and I built an RGB projector with 20K galvos last year (after the little 445nm "surprise" came along),
but when I saw this nice multi line JDSU with PSU on eBay last week, I just couldn't resist (also a 2214-40MLAM)...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190626468159

I managed to win it for GBP £56 ! (plus £20 postage).

It arrived this morning and was very carefully packed. It's in excellent condition and virtually dust free.
(I have a hunch that it was out of a DNA sequencer which had lots of air filters, and the laser was possibly only run near idle most of the time).

According to the voltage on the remote connector, it's outputting around 80mW at 10.5 Amps. Is this pretty good considering it's 9 years old?

I'm only running it in Light mode atm. I don't think I want to push any more current through it. The room is warm enough as it is!

btw, I've just checked my 2114P PSU, and it does indeed have internal pull-ups to +15V on pins 4 and 5 ("Run" and "Light mode").
I haven't checked pin 2 ("Discharge") for a pull-up since it's wired directly to pin 13 atm.

I bought a few cheap diffraction gratings which also arrived this morning - The laser is running six very pretty lines, is this fairly typical?

I can upload some photos later if anyone's interested?

OzOnE.

[Silvershot]

Wow it seems you got the deal of the year. Fully working multiline argon doing 80 mW for only 56 gbp? hell I would pay 3x what you paid to be mine.

[OzOnE]

I know , I think I only put around £100 on it not expecting to win. It was quite a surprise.

tbh, I do think that a lot of people are more than happy with diodes now, so gas lasers maybe aren't getting as much attention these days.

Almost forgot - After winning the JDSU, I thought "Oh, a bit of money saved", so I took a bit of a chance and won this too...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130629947028

Of course I wasn't going to tell him that "Sun Ace 120, model 109R1224H102" is in fact the FAN. lol

It looks fairly old, but it's not a bad price for 150 WATTS either.

OzOnE.

[LesioQ]

Hi,

You may wish to locate the hourmeter so You know how long it's been ran. In cyllindrical head this should be beneath the output paperture assembly. This would be the mercury-line-type.
Piotr.K

[OzOnE]

I was tempted to check the hour meter earlier, but I didn't want to break the nice stickers.

I've just discovered that the stickers peel off quite easily and are not the security type...

I'm guessing you read the black blob on the central wire? - It's almost exactly in the middle, so around 5000 hours (not too bad, me thinks).

OzOnE.

[LesioQ]

Yeah, not bad if it wasn't abused. Actually this is manufacturer warranty period. When ran easy these would close the hourmeter, i.e. hit 10khrs.
This goes along with lower anode voltage <100V, and perhaps ... higher output power !
Piotr.K