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Thread: 10W CuBr Vapor laser wreck, reanimate or cannibalize?

  1. #21
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    Thanks for these good news!
    I'll take it into consideration when I am able to afford it...
    Thank you very much again!

    All the best!
    Giovanni

  2. #22
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    cubr runs off 10-20 amp 220-250V single phase.Cost new from the Bugarians is 5-7K$ and offers a big advantage over solid state in some ways if you dont mind a 2 cm beam diameter. You can even scan simple graphics if yor careful. It has a beam that is best decribed as bluish gold. It cannot be used for safe audience scanning due to the pulses beinga few nanoseconds in duration.

    whitelight ar/kr to about 2.0 watts is single phase with special power supplies. I've gotten 4 watts of argon off single phase CW for short periods of time , and medical argon systems go to 7 watts pulsed off single phase. The limit is when the cathode transformer voltage starts to sag from the power line being pulled down. If the cathode gets too cold, at around 700'C the tungsten gets brittle and soft , undergoes a phase chage and deforms. So you want your cathode at 1180 C or so
    which is out of the phase change region. This is why it is extremely important to correctly set up a single phase laser's cathode transformer, and one of the reasons the 88 and 75 psus have buck/boost transformers and 3 cathode switch taps.

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 09-28-2008 at 19:57.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by absolom7691 View Post
    You could always try a Lexel 75 or an 88. One is 1/2 watt, although, running ArKr, might only be about 200mW. The 88 will get you 1W or ArKr, maybe about 1/2W. The 75 is a 120v unit (in the US). Both are water cooled, but don't need 3 phase to operate and you'll get decent power out of them. You could probably find one used for less than an RGB SS setup.

    A question for Steve. I know that apart, Argon and Krypton have their particular output properties and mixed, the gasses conflict, greatly reducing output. What if you used 2 tubes, say, 60X tubes, one Ar and one Kr and aligned them and lased through both tubes with broadband optics? You would have a greater output of white, no? Has anyone tried this? I know a mixed gas 60X gives you about 75mW and an Ar gives up to 200+mW and a Kr gives about 50mW. Am I talking crazy talk here??
    mixed gas 60Xs have helium added because the return bores on a small 60X cant return the KR fast enough and the gasses seperate across the discharge , reducing gain and causing oscillations. Helium drops the tube voltage and quickly gets burried in the walls, so lifetime is limited. The Germans claim 110mW @12A of whitelight when they reprocess the tubes, however the fctory design limit for a X tube is 9.5 to 10A. So I have my doubts about lifetime.

    Pure krypton in a 60X for red has to run at a pressure so low the power supply wants to explode. When we tried it, were were at about 85 V for 80 mW of red without helium, and the argon is 106 or so volts, so the PSU was straining. Commercial ALC kryptons that were factory made were for 20-30 mW of blue and yellow, no red and ran at much higher , safer, pressures. If you want whitelight with a omni or alc, get a diode.
    Professionally refurbed 250 mW 60X tubes with a warrenty for high power are 700-800$ for tubes only. Besides a 640 nm diode gets you a heck of a better color gamut then the 647/676 mix, and at low currents you get 676 way before you get 647 in a short tube.

    Whitelighing a X requires knowing that you had a high power tube to begin with, a 1100$ (single set coating order) set of optics and a bit of prayer.

  4. #24
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    @All: This one needs 240V/10A. Also a CuBr has no resonator, one pass is maximum gain.

    @Mixedgas/Steve: Yes, there is a thyratron, Ill attache a overall power circuit schematic, giving a good understanding of how it works.

    I have all the schematics of this laser, so this is no issue. Hopefully the picture is readable, in the upper right corner there is the tube environment..

    The caps shown there are actually 20kV types, see the other schematic.

    I think I understand the complexity of this laser better now My idea was to use the existing boards to try to fire the laser.

    To tesla the tube to ignite the noen sounds like a must do to me, before putting in more work. I surely would like to try that, but I have no tesla generator. The only HV sources I have is a standard neon-sign transformer (have to find it to look up the data) and a PS of a huge HeNe laser (third pic) which I think has 13kV at 14mA, but this is just from my weak memory. Do you think I can try one of those?

    All the best!

    Jo
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  5. #25
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    there is a mirror in the back and it is affixed to the tube. it drastically effects output power . It looks just like a bulgarian tube. why do I get the feeling norseld licensed the Petrash technology.

    If your carefully disconnect the tube from all wires leading into the glass, you could use your NST if its hot enough. Dont leave any path for the NST HV to leak back into the electronics. And if its a 2.5KV 20 mA little tranny, all bets are off.

    make my day, I've been looking for good cvl schematic for years!
    please scan relevent schematics as pdfs and zip them, then send to:


    oscar sierra romeo at oscar hotel india oscar dot net

    of course change nato standard phonetics to alphabet first. I hate spam!

    I'll clear my inbox and we might have to split it accross several mails.

    Steve

  6. #26
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    Default hene

    Jesus, that is a huge HeNe. I haven't seen one of those for a while now. What is that pushing, 30mW? 40mW?
    If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.

  7. #27
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    Hi!

    Steve, pls check your inbox for accessing the scans.

    The back mirror is actually not sealed, see first two pics. I havent shown that on my first pics, sorry.

    Any idea what that 'dust and dirt' in the tube on the 3rd pic is? Normal?

    When I do the neon test, do you think I also have to disconnect the three heating elements underneath the tube? Its hard to access them. But I hope they are outside of the tube and wont be in scope?

    @absolom7691: The warning singn says, max. 120mW. I was told, a rule of thumb is, the real max output is 50% of that, so 60mW. The guy who sold it to me said it was measured 80mW. But I have no clue, as I have no meter (yet). See the other pics how it compares to the measured 100mW AR+ via various gratings. The beam isnt as great as the AR+ though.

    The HeNe dominates a lot from the naked eye, dont know if the pictures really demonstrate.
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  8. #28
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    Default NEON around :o)

    Hi, it took a while to get a decent HV source to test for the presence of neon gas in the tube, but I finally got one, and it looks like there is neon in the tube.

    So I think I will go ahead and see what happens when I turn it on. Of course, I need to get all the anode/cathode wiring back in place first....
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