you might say i have a problem. i claim it's for my art and maybe it is, but i find myself collecting air cooled argons. four.. well, five if you count the ArKr, which you kind of have to.
i window shop on ebay and pounce if there's a deal i can't refuse. a week or so ago i spotted a accucure 3000 with a "buy it now" price of 65$. the accucure's are little argon dental lasers for curing epoxy and whitening teeth. they've been obsoleted by high intensity leds and they're on ebay from time to time.
here's a data sheet: http://www.tzsupplies.com/dental-arg...cure-i4068253/
they're usually around 300$ on ebay. this one was 65$. i pounced.
i fought with ups for a week.. my address is esoteric and they give up easily.
i finally got it home and unpacked. it was beautiful.. white, no marks, no discoloration. smelled like alcohol and disinfectant.
![]()
the fiber coupled wand was included, but not the keys, the foot pedal, or the rear interlock.
i made some coffee and rolled up my sleeves. a dozen hex screws later and she showed me her goods. inside was a laserphysics reliant 300b.. and it was totally clean. no dust bunnies. no yoda hairs.
![]()
i had a key switch left over from another project and i like to do neat work instead of just hack and slashing, so i disassembled the control panel and replaced the switch.
the control panel was connected by a number of connectors which i photographed to keep straight.
luck was with me and my spare key switch fit perfectly.
![]()
next was the rear interlock connector. since this was redundant, i traced the wiring to j5 connector on the control board and shunted it.
![]()
i powered it on. the computer showed a run time of 16 minutes. practically brand new.
turned the key, let it warm up, and shorted the foot pedal connector with a paper clip.
beautiful!
since i'm not a doctor, although i do play one on tv, the dental wand is not useful. i removed the fiber coupler and packed it away as it will be handy later.
![]()
the beam specs appear consistent with my other reliants, but it appears to be suppressing one of the green lines. i assume it's to optimize for the useful blue lines. the color is a beautiful turquoise. a little different than the expected cyan and very pretty.
six lines and 286mW according to the built in power meter.
![]()
![]()
all in all a good day.