Gas laser find

[Vidal Wolf]

Well, I was looking thru the internet and saw a promising looking argon laser. I called the company up and asked if I could buy it & they said yup, So I went & looked at it. It was in San Jose, not too far away. I asked if they would take three hundred for it & they said *yup*. It looked in really good condition, the PS didn't smell of failure & the head had no broken glass in it, although there was a ton of rust in the cooling jacket.
For 300 out the door, I figured, why not. I loaded it up & brought it home. I dunno why Ive always wanted one of the SP systems, but I have, probably the glass work & colors inside when its running. I saw my first ones at Laser Fantasy back in 1987 . The image of what was going on inside stuck with me ever since, the argon and the Krypton systems doing blues,greens and reds.


I used C-L-R to remove some of the rust in the water jacket. No leaks anywhere to be seen.
I also got a bunch of optics and holders for this unit from Junktronics, (thank you sir!) and replaced the prism assembly with a straight HR.
Tomorrow I will pull out the violet ray wand and check the tube and see if its gas intact.

[Galvonaut]

Nice looking bargain!

I've never seen a laser in a bathroom - the kitchen at the UKLEM but never a bathroom

Keith

[Eidetic]

Very nice. Ion lasers have class!

[turbohead]

What are the voltage and amperage input requirements? Please document and add pictures of your adventure to get the laser to work.

[mixedgas]

That SP165 runs off 208/220-Three.

Steve

[Vidal Wolf]

Well, its like stevs said, 208/ 3 phase at up to 40 amps, max. Ive got the buck boost so I can run it at 208 and keep the cathode happy.
Theres a field control knob for the magnet. Do the argons have a field control knob? I thought that was for the kryptons and mixed gas or uv systems. I thought the argons were just current and light controlled only?

[mixedgas]

Well, its like stevs said, 208/ 3 phase at up to 40 amps, max. Ive got the buck boost so I can run it at 208 and keep the cathode happy.
Theres a field control knob for the magnet. Do the argons have a field control knob? I thought that was for the kryptons and mixed gas or uv systems. I thought the argons were just current and light controlled only?

SP sensibly made a one size fits all PSU, so you have a variable field. Two or three of the Argon visible lines are somewhat field sensitive, so set the knob to about 50% rotation. Disconnect the fill solenoid in the head at first, least the autofill board go crazy because the tube has not ran in a while. You'll see a little connector at the fill solenoid, just disconnect there.

The tube needs to run for about 20-30 minutes before the tube voltage/gas pressure meter is valid.

Steve

[142laser]

These were great lasers; better then the metal ceramic ones that replaced them by far. May work fine. Phil

[lasertony]

If anybody in Europe needs a Coherent Purelight or Highlight (argon) in working condition. Let me know. Still have some of those standing around.

[LightningStalker]

I can't wait for some beam shots and LPM testing.