Old spectra physics ~35mW HeNe laser

[tribble]

I have an old spectra physics HeNe tube of unknown pedigree... got it off eBay in the mid 90's, and it ran great for a while, but it's been in storage a good many years and doesn't currently start. Since I haven't used it in ages and it's taking up space, I was thinking of bringing it down to SELEM to see if anyone wanted to give it a good home. I'm going to spend a little time trying some of the tips in Sam's HeNe repair page, but if that doesn't work, is it still worth anything if it won't start?

I can post pictures later this weekend if there's interest. It looks like one of the embedded units without a nice external case.

[kecked]

Zap it with AC. Does the tube even light? Is it up to atm?

[Eidetic]

Running, they go for between $800 and $1500. Dead, they're useless.

[tribble]

Roger. Well, sounds like it's worth cleaning off and poking a little to see what the story is. I won't have time for that until Saturday, but I will come back here and update after I get a chance to clean and try a few things.

Thanks!

[mixedgas]

Better tell Sam he needs to bring a known good PSU with the right connector.
The big PSUs die as often as the tubes do.

Steve

[Eidetic]

I had one of those on the top of a 4' high stack of laser filled crates after a show once, riding another foot off the ground on a fork lift on the way to the dock as I walked along side. The driver of the lift saw a girl he wanted to talk to, hit the brakes, and I saw that head roll off the top, slam into the concrete floor and roll out another 8' before it stopped, tube intact.

[142laser]

LUCKY AS HELL!

Send pics of cathode; if getter is bad forget it.

[buffo]

The driver of the lift saw a girl he wanted to talk to, hit the brakes, and I saw that head roll off the top, slam into the concrete floor

AHHHHHH! Noooooooooooooo! I think my heart just stopped...

and roll out another 8' before it stopped, tube intact.

Whew!

Adam

[tribble]

I am planning to take the outer shell off Saturday and get a better feel for what the issues are... I will report back! The weekend can't come soon enough. :-)

[swamidog]

I am planning to take the outer shell off Saturday and get a better feel for what the issues are... I will report back! The weekend can't come soon enough. :-)

it's always weekend... somewhere.

why wait?