CO2 Laser Power Supply

[trwalters001]

Hi All,
Anyone have a DC supply for a CO2 laser they want to unload?
15KV-20KV, 20-25ma??
TIA,
Tim

[GooeyGus]

you can always use a neon sign transformer and rectify it. Might be a little cheaper than buying a purpose built CO2 laser power supply

[trwalters001]

Hi GooeyGus,

Thanks for the reply.

It's already powered by an NST (15KV, 30ma).

However:

efficiency is better with DC
I'd be able to adjust tube current independent of voltage
I want one end of the tube to be at ground potential

Any ideas?

Tim

[GooeyGus]

Are you using the straight output of the transformer right now? As in running the tube on AC?

A good bridge rectifier will get DC to the tube, I was going to suggest using a variac on the AC input side of the NST to allow for output adjustability, but I dont know enough about how the neon sign transformers work to be able to say if that is a good idea or not.

As far as having one mirror at ground potential, I'm not really sure on that either. I would think if you rectify your transformer into DC you should have one end that could be grounded but I'm sure someone here who knows a whole lot more than me will answer.

You can always pick up one of those cheapie chinese CO2 supplies on ebay for around 300 or so.

[daedal]

Neon transformers output AC?? I never knew that! Damn, that explains the annoying buzz I hear every time I stand under one! But I bet it keeps them cooler and living longer than being run at CW...

--DDL