New laser... My dreams have come true.

[GooeyGus]

lol no my house doesn't have 3-phase.

I'm running this off of my beefy phase converter

Trying to get my hands on a decent generator, but until then I'll just keep running it on the converter.

[Ed-laserproductions.ca]

haha!

I was scared for you

I just don't know you yet and you never know what peoples skills are!

[GooeyGus]

Well I decided to take a break from the laser today and mess with it tomorrow.

I went and got my spare argon optics, so I'll give those a shot.

Another reason I decided to not mess with it today, is that I wont have any good methanol for cleaning optics until tomorrow.

This laser was sitting for quite some time with no optics installed. The bellows were intact, but there were no optics to keep debris off the brewster windows. Also, I haven't been able to give my optics a good cleaning because I dont have any methanol. They look pretty clean, but looks can be deceiving.

Potentially dirty optics + dirty brewsters + low current = No lasing

Hopefully after I get everything cleaned up, and give the tube a bit more juice, I'll have some better luck!!!

[Laserman532]

How to Pressure check

Run at 30 Amps
Read the # off the Fill Scale
Multiply by 6
This equals your tube voltage
It should be in the green!

reading the scale is an inaccurate way of measuring TV. It is a calibrated pot that might be out of calibration. measuring the voltage right across the tube is the only real way to do it.

EDIT...besides...how would you callibrate the pot...

[GooeyGus]

reading the scale is an inaccurate way of measuring TV. It is a calibrated pot that might be out of calibration. measuring the voltage right across the tube is the only real way to do it.

This was the first lesson I learned from the spectra physics god that is Pat B.

[Laserman532]

This was the first lesson I learned from the spectra physics god that is Pat B.

well that is quite a stretch lol

[GooeyGus]

well that is quite a stretch lol

I'm trying to butter you up so I can call you in a couple weeks and get you to work on my new laser.



haha...

[Laserman532]

IIRC you had a 165 head that was in better condition than that one. I would take the tube out of that (older unit) and put it in the newer unit...but hey thats just me

[sugeek]

Just sayin'

Another LEM in Bend would be groovy, I should be in the area around July. It doesn't matter to me, I will go visit Pat either way! If there is a LEM I might be able to twist swamidog's arm to head up too!

-Adam

[dsli_jon]

Hey Jas -

RE: Pat, well, I'm sure that if a few 'appropriately-denominated dead presidents' were to make their way to him, it might be 'easier' for him to make such a jaunt - butter is great for toast and pancakes but all semi-retired laser-experts need to eat / cover gas, etc, knowhatimean?

RE: lasing - yeah, I was planning on chiming in last night, buuuut got a bit 'wifetracked'... so, Ok:

1 - yes, you will want at least 25A - 30 is not necessary, but at least 22-25A, so glad you got the 50...

2- when you did the HR-plasma glow-shoot - did ya reflect it back to paper on your end (expand it) like we talked? Cause if you just look for it 'up front', it's not nearly as easy to see the 'progress' of the 'hotspot' in the glow, as-when it's close to you and 'expanded' a bit... And yes, do it in as much 'total darkness' as you can still work safely in...

3 - DO try this with the 'spare set' of Ar optics I gave you with the other 'gas intact' head - those were SP optics, so *theoretically* should be a 'proper' flat HR and OC... The coherent optics should work for you, but you may have an easier time, at this stage, starting with the SP-Ar's...

4 - Can you hold the WL Optics I gave ya, up to a light-source, and tell me what you 'see'? I wanna be sure that somehow, I did not 'absentmindedly' give you 2 HRs or something - I don't think-so, but I was sorting-out like 6-pairs of WL optics, for both SPs and Purelights, the day I put those in there for ya, and I suppose it is possible that I mixed one up as I put the OC in (I'd be more 'suspect' about the OC, since when you were here, at the shop, we LOOKED at the HR - I would have spotted if an OC was incorrectly in the back-end in a sec...but we did not 'look at' the OC again, ya know?) I doubt I did that, but hey - I don't claim to be 'perfect', and 2 HRs would not give you much of a beam ....

Also, remember that those optics holders were from those other dead, 'U of R' heads - I suppose (though all SP-heads) there might be some wierd 'funk' with one (like it actually it 'seating' one optic at some tiny angle in the mount, though 'snug', etc)... just some extra thoughts... (if you still have nothing after all-this, you could try a different set of holders...)

But really, dude - if you use the 'retro-reflect' method I described to you (sorry we could not fire it up that day and I could have shown you...) so you are watching the plasma 'hot-spot' back, CLOSE to you, on the paper, now, 'expanded', you'll be at least able to be more-sure of your centering on that... You should be able to get somethin' a-flashin', pretty quick...

I'd be very surprized (unless you walked it out to kingdom-come ) if the front-plate was 'way' out of whack - those things had been sitting for so many years, I'd bet the grease in those threads was more like 'locktite' by now... so I'd keep at the HR-end, for-now... and yeah, 22-25A; 20A is even weak...
Field should not be a concern for now, like Pat and Steve said, just make sure your mag is working (those tips are awesome...) and focus on...well, focus...

Gimme a call if ya wanna chat... sorry I can't jet up there and help ya out... I'm sure we could make quick work of it... but hang in there - DEEP BREATH, don't let yourself get frustrated, and let's keep chatting, here..

...Now, imagine you did not HAVE 'PL', and it is like 4 hrs to showtime - and there's no one - but you - Use the Force, Jas... use the Force... you can do it....

kit
j