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Thread: The craigslist argon

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    DC area
    Posts
    53

    Default The craigslist argon

    I've made it a habit to check craigslist for anything interesting before I drive anywhere, and while I usually turn up empty handed, I might have used up all my luck for a while on a recent find - a complete Coherent I-90 with only 840 hours on the tube! Everything appears to be in pretty good physical condition and the tube looks gas intact (I don't have an Oudin coil, but holding a plasma ball near one of the Brewster stems produces a deep purple glow inside). I've been gradually assembling parts to build a phase converter for my garage, but since that won't be finished for a while I figured I'd bring it down to SELEM to tinker with. Is there anything commonly faulty/missing that I should take a look at or test in advance before bringing it down? I can post pics of any parts if needed.

    The head has a shorter umbilical than I'm used to seeing - the electrical cables and water hoses are less than a foot long. Was this a factory option meant to be paired with longer male to female cables and hoses (that I might be able to locate somewhere), or am I likely stuck finding some matching connectors and making my own?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    373

    Default

    You'll be making cables. 1-2' (or just really short) umbilical usually means the laser was "OEM'd" into a larger piece of equipment/assembly.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

    Default

    Suggest you contact Jeff (RGB-gas) here on PL and see if he's got any dead I-70 or I-90 heads lying around. If so, you might be able to scavenge the umbilical...

    He will be at SELEM this year, so if he's got what you need you guys can make a deal and maybe get that thing running.

    Adam

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    DC area
    Posts
    53

    Default

    I'm definitely not averse to making cables either; I'll poke around tonight and see if I can locate some matching connectors. If anything, being able to pick the length would be pretty convenient. The water fittings look like standard garden hose connectors attached to pipe nipples on both the head and power supply; if there are any quickconnect fittings that are more standard I'll look into swapping those out as well.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Atlanta
    Posts
    87

    Default

    I purchased an I-90 locally on craigslist a few years back. Seemed like a good deal, it was a very clean system with right at 1000hrs. Turned out the power supply was totally cooked. It can be a risky buy in my opinion.

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