Spectra Physics 164 Argon 3Phase Requirements

[MrNIFty923]

I've got a SP 164 that wants 3 phase power. There is plenty of that available at my work, however I would like to bring this classic argon tube home and run it in my shop for holography or as a dye pump. Is there any way to run this laser on not 3 phase? I looked into rotary phase converters, but they are expensive. Maybe a static phase converter? I also, have a Vietnam era 3phase generator, but I don't think it's rated for continuous duty at the power level that's needed.

[masterpj]

Get in touch with coherent directly. they respond quite fast and will send you the documents with the information you want. Do note any documents they send you are confidential and should NEVER EVER be uploaded online.
Tim and saskia at coherent both sorted me out when I needed help.

[turbohead]

If you can find a surplus 10 HP three-phase motor, you can build a rotary phase converter fairly inexpensively:

http://www.laserfx.com/Backstage.Las...seConvert.html

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/ph...converter.html

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Phase-Converter/

[NobleGas]

I can concur that a 3PH RPC is a relatively cheap and easy way to get 3 phase; the only costly item is likely to be the transformer if you need 208V

[mixedgas]

I've got a SP 164 that wants 3 phase power. There is plenty of that available at my work, however I would like to bring this classic argon tube home and run it in my shop for holography or as a dye pump. Is there any way to run this laser on not 3 phase? I looked into rotary phase converters, but they are expensive. Maybe a static phase converter? I also, have a Vietnam era 3phase generator, but I don't think it's rated for continuous duty at the power level that's needed.

My friend gets about three watts with a old 7 HP Ronk Rotary converter. The SP PSU is not phase sensitive, but it does want to see at least all three of the phases wired. When you run a large Ion off 220 AC at home, you are in danger of drooping the cathode voltage down, which can lead to sagging and excessive wear on the tube. If you have well water with a deep submergence pump, be aware that when the pump kicks on, the laser power is going to drop drastically.
(
I used to get ~4 watts in my garage, but I had to build my own specialized PSU to do it.
)
The SP PSU is anything but efficient.
(

First check, make sure your not in a apartment or allotment which runs each house/unit off of one phase of a 208V line.. 208 single will barely get you lit. Been there, done that, got the Tee shirt from taking the laser over to a friends place and failing miserably, with a Lexel.
)
Steve

[MrNIFty923]

Well a 3 phase rotary is what it's gonna be then. What about the 3phase military generator? Would that be an option at all? It's a camo colored beast with an updated digital governor.

[mixedgas]

Grounded properly, with proper ground stake and bonded to the house ground to protect your laser show gear, a military generator will be the way to go. If its quiet...
I'd consult an electrician about bonding it to the house ground. Only issue with a genset is if you have poor soil conductivity or a bad governor.
Make sure your line voltage fits within the specs in the 265 manual.
The Ronk will break your back, my friend's ancient Rotary is on a cart.

Steve

[NobleGas]

The only thing to watch with generators is that they don't like loads with a power factor far from 1; we were running a transportable radio station from a 15kVA genset and it would stall the generator if we connected it with the load OFF; it turn out there was a large transformer before the main circuit breaker and it was pulling huge amounts of current, so that it exceeded the kVA rating of the generator; with the load on, the generator didn't complain!