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Thread: How to have a Heart Attack without really trying

  1. 02-22-2010, 08:06 #1
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    Default How to have a Heart Attack without really trying

    This is why I have a few grey hairs:

    Brian Bohan, Cambridge Lasers President, changing a SP 171 Tube.

    Not for the faint hearted , that is a almost 20,000$ mistake if you goof..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u007v...eature=related

    Ceramic disk tubes are easier, Lexel beo tubes are a bit less fragile...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u007v...eature=related

    If you've never done this before, hire someone who has... And never do it with a helper who who is not 100% devoted to the cause and trained...
    Actually best NOT to have a helper... And there are some details....

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 02-22-2010 at 08:14.
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  2. 02-22-2010, 08:32 #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by mixedgas View Post
    This is why I have a few grey hairs:

    Brian Bohan, Cambridge Lasers President, changing a SP 171 Tube.

    Not for the faint hearted , that is a almost 20,000$ mistake if you goof..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u007v...eature=related

    Ceramic disk tubes are easier, Lexel beo tubes are a bit less fragile...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u007v...eature=related

    If you've never done this before, hire someone who has... And never do it with a helper who who is not 100% devoted to the cause and trained...
    Actually best NOT to have a helper... And there are some details....

    Steve
    hehe, i might have done a few of those...

    I prefer that everyone leave the room and return in 30 minutes to a laser running at full spec power..kind of like the wizard of oz. Its not that I mind training someone, but too many details that you would do naturally as habit you might forget when training.

    great video!


    Haha had to edit, at the end of video 3 he installs the tube in real time about 3 minutes (the video is not sped up)..he is good - but really it is about a 10 minute job from start to finish if you arent shaking LOL...good job Brian...Bloody good job! I noticed he didnt tell you how to align it (get it lasing and optimized)...bloody brilliant brian...keep that job security!!!
    Last edited by Laserman532; 02-22-2010 at 08:57.
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  3. 02-23-2010, 04:04 #3
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    Cool

    I realize an I-90 is tiny when compared to a 171, (not the mention the fact that the I-90 tube is built like a tank), but Steve Roberts once talked me through removing the plasma tube on a krypton I-90 OVER THE DAMN PHONE!

    We were in Daedal's garage, and we had a medical I-90 krypton head that had been pulled from a Coherent 920 sled. Steve wanted the plasma tube and the optics, but didn't need the resonator rods or the heavy ass magnet and water jacket. So he wanted us to pull the plasma tube.

    I was completely freaked out by the idea, but I agreed to do it. I was *sure* I was going to break the damn thing (especially when he had me gently tug on the anode wire to get it started on it's way out). But little did I know that the brewster stems are made of solid quartz on those tubes (and are thus reasonably strong). I remember telling Steve several times that "I'm going to break it, I know I am", only to have him tell me to shut up and just pull the damn tube out. Sure enough, it came out smooth and easy.

    It's certainly not something that I want to do again, I can tell you that. So I can only imagine the stress one must feel when working on a tube as long (and as expensive) as a 171...

    Adam
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  4. 02-23-2010, 05:06 #4
    -=Jim=-
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    Default Yikes !!

    It really does give me a pain in the chest just watching it.
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  5. 02-23-2010, 05:15 #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by -=Jim=- View Post
    It really does give me a pain in the chest just watching it.

    The one that gave me a heart attack was the SP tech that trained me, Picking up a 171 at one end and letting it fall 2-3 feet, to demo that the tube is tougher then we though it is.. The reason being, a bunch of us in the room were moving so carefully that we might break something from nerves. It was the outgoing tube, not the incoming tube, but it was to be our spare....

    You have to have a certain level of confidence to work on this kind of gear..

    Not something you want to see at age 19 after your boss just showed you the invoice, told you you could do anything you like, but 1. let a show go down, 2. loose or forget your keys, 3. break a tube.. Those were the only offenses that were a certain career termination... He had added a now politically incorrect line about his boss's daughter, but don't break a tube...
    Steve
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  6. 02-23-2010, 05:19 #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by mixedgas View Post
    Picking up a 171 at one end and letting it fall 2-3 feet, to demo that the tube is tougher then we though it is.
    AAAAAAH!

    I actually *winced* when I read this. Had I been there in person I might have fainted... For sure I would have screamed.

    Adam
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  7. 02-23-2010, 11:51 #7
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    Default

    Cool video. I was quite near to bricking it when I had to swap an ALC68 tube.
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