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Thread: co2 tube problems

  1. #21
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    peterklos, do not waste our time. And do not listen turboidiots.
    This laser is already dead.
    You should fire it every month for an hour or more to keep it alive.
    But you did not.
    Now you need new one.

  2. #22
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    Your first post and you disparage two other members, classy...

    I dont know what running one of these tubes an hour a month is going to get you, the tubes are disposable and go bad due to their soft seal and running it is not going to make it any better.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by macona View Post
    I dont know what running one of these tubes an hour a month is going to get you, the tubes are disposable and go bad due to their soft seal and running it is not going to make it any better.
    You dont know, but I know.
    I am laser machine serviceman for 12 years.
    This laser is a junk.
    And not because of seals nor alignment.
    Because of incorrect storage.
    The end.

  4. #24
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    mixedgas is offline Creaky Old Award Winning Bastard Technologist
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    He means the nickel or gold catalyst, if the Chinese were ever kind enough to place one in the bore, was not active for a period of time.
    It recombines CO in the plasma into CO2. He may also suspect a slow leak.

    Some lasers have it, some don't. Some need it, some better ones do not.

    Still, "The End" is not a explanation.

    Steve
    Qui habet Christos, habet Vitam!
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    When I still could have...

  5. #25
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    What`s the difference what type of chemical or physical reaction made this laser scrap?
    Advice is one.
    If you are going to keep spare chinese CO2 laser TURN IT ON once-twice a month.
    This will save your money.

  6. #26
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    Do you service chinese lasers or real lasers? I work on our Bystronic and Mitsubishi lasers at work too.

    These tubes are just bare tubes, no catalysts. What can you expect for $100-$150 for a 40 watt laser tube?

    Cheap and junk is not always synonymous, these tubes are a great value for the price. You just have to remember that they are disposable.

    cinematic2, just what is the mechanism that leads you to believe that the tube will go bad without firing it up once a month?

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by macona View Post
    cinematic2, just what is the mechanism that leads you to believe that the tube will go bad without firing it up once a month?
    12 years experience.

  8. #28
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    The gas mixture in the tube changes over time. these tubes have a shelf life due to the breakdown of some gasses. When the tube is fired there is a mechanism by which some of the gas is re-formed to prolong the life of the tube.

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nemo222 View Post
    The gas mixture in the tube changes over time. these tubes have a shelf life due to the breakdown of some gasses. When the tube is fired there is a mechanism by which some of the gas is re-formed to prolong the life of the tube.
    What gases "breakdown" over time? The CO <-> CO2 equilibrium isn't "breakdown" per-say.
    Isn't the primary cause of tube deterioration loss of helium over time?
    That was my understanding of tube failure due to time. Isn't that why the tube plasma glow in a failing tube changes from Pink/purplish to white? Loss of Helium gas (which of all the gases in the tube is the smallest and most likely to find it's way out through porous joints such as glued optics), no?

    Nitrous

  10. #30
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    Helium diffuses out rapidly through the plain borosilicate glass that the Chinese use. Better tubes use an expensive 7052 or 8052 glass with less helium diffusion. Carbon Ion is removed from the plasma and deposited on the tube's cold spots. Oxygen scavenges materials and forms an oxide on the optics and bore. Low cost mirror seals leak helium and allow extra oxygen to diffuse in. The small electrodes favored in the low cost tubes tend to sputter metal which buries gasses selectively.
    .
    Pure Nickel and/or Gold in large amounts, need to be in contact with the plasma as recombination catalysts, this is expensive and probably not installed in a Chinese tube. Preferably you have a ring or cylinder of the metal every few centimeters down the bore and at least one nickel electrode.
    .
    I doubt these tubes receive the trace amounts of Xenon, Carbon Monoxide, and other gasses added to prolong life tube. These gas mixes are proprietary, and very little has been published on their makeup for obvious reasons.
    ,
    The darn things are physically short and are driven hard, so reactive mechanisms are sped up
    Example, a Classic 40 watt DC excited Co2 will be 40-48 inches long and have a 20 mm bore so the plasma density is lower.
    .
    A PhD. named Hochuli worked most of this out years ago, how to maximize tube and sealed mirror lifetime and published it. Hochuli's self regenerating cathodes, in one form, are a custom copper oxide and gold alloy mixture on the inner surface. That is NOT cheap. He will also have taught the use of including molecular sieve in the tube to slowly release tiny traces of water vapor, which adds a few production steps and plasma processing steps that require extreme care to implement.
    .
    The cheap tube manufacturers seem to have ignored his work or do not have access to it. Some of their designs are little better then what is published in beginner's "build your own laser" books.
    .
    ENJOY, this is outdated, but you get the idea:

    http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...9730020748.pdf
    .

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 11-10-2015 at 06:19.
    Qui habet Christos, habet Vitam!
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