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Thread: Picked up a couple more CO2s, one was a bit toasty

  1. #1
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    Default Picked up a couple more CO2s, one was a bit toasty

    I picked up a couple more CO2s, a Rofin SC x30 (9.27um @225w) and a Coherent E150 (150W at 10.6um). The E150 works, the rofin... well, not so much. The 48v, 150A power was roasted. Best I can tell is the output inductor core cracked which ended up shorting out the output and frying itself. Luckily there was a second inductor of the same size in the power supply and I was able to measure it and determine the permeability of the core and wind a new one. After replacing a bunch of other components that were damaged from the heat and smoke the power supply works again. When this happened I found it also killed the dc/dc converters in the head and the RF power supply so I got to repair those as well. But it finally works after 2 months of working on it.

    Burning some wood here, measured output at 225w like its supposed to be, the laser has a much higher peak power at lower rep rates.

    Pics of the internals and repairs here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVebSR9

    Thread over on HSM where I logged the repair: https://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/fo...little-crunchy

  2. #2
    mixedgas's Avatar
    mixedgas is offline Creaky Old Award Winning Bastard Technologist
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    I'd call that an heroic save. Nice job, from flamed trash to flame thrower… Nice.

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

  3. #3
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    Im still a bit shocked I got it working. Luckily a few tips to look for why it fried and just got very lucky the damage to the head and rf power supply was limited to what it was.

  4. #4
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    I have 2 SC x30 also..
    Nominal power i think is 300w not 225w.
    Mine DC PSU and RF PSU are separate not combined.
    Do you have some info for gas mixture percentage for refilling ?

  5. #5
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    225w is at 9.27um which has lower gain than 10.6um so less power.

    DC power supply and RF power supply are separate modules in a single box.

    Nothing on the gas mix, Photovac says they can refill them.

  6. #6
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    photovac is in US so you must pay customs and a lot of shipping-return costs + repair cost.
    To get 3 cylinders of 99.999% pure He/N2/CO2 + 2 stage vacuum pump(used) costs less than send it to photovac.
    So in house refill is reasonable option

  7. #7
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    Three bottles of gas, mass flow controllers, barotrons, and you are really going to want to pump down with a turbo pump to keep oil vapor out and get a better starting vacuum. Plus the catalyst may need to be replaced and optics should be inspected. There also may be other trace gasses too. You could pump down with a mass spec connected and see what's in there.

    Found this on the web

    "Rofin-Sinar use 6 component mixture Xe/O2/CO2/CO/N2/He for their multikilowatt DC series lasers, typical composition is 3/3/6/4/19/65.
    Mixture H2/Xe/CO2/N2/He = 1/5/18/18/58 was also reported in literature.
    Optimal pressure is generally around 70-100 mbar."


  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by macona View Post
    Three bottles of gas, mass flow controllers, barotrons, and you are really going to want to pump down with a turbo pump to keep oil vapor out and get a better starting vacuum. Plus the catalyst may need to be replaced and optics should be inspected. There also may be other trace gasses too. You could pump down with a mass spec connected and see what's in there.

    Found this on the web

    "Rofin-Sinar use 6 component mixture Xe/O2/CO2/CO/N2/He for their multikilowatt DC series lasers, typical composition is 3/3/6/4/19/65.
    Mixture H2/Xe/CO2/N2/He = 1/5/18/18/58 was also reported in literature.
    Optimal pressure is generally around 70-100 mbar."
    Hey Macona, do we have any info on the composition of gas, and pressures, used in Coherent or Universal Laser Systems lasers?

  9. #9
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    Nope, those are generally pretty closely held "secret sauces". You would need a mass spec to figure it out and even then probably some experimentation to find out the right ratios.

  10. #10
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    Default Gas refills

    Quote Originally Posted by dannym View Post
    Hey Macona, do we have any info on the composition of gas, and pressures, used in Coherent or Universal Laser Systems lasers?
    I Know that Millennium Lasers in the UK does refills. Millennium Lasers - A Leading Laser Manufacturer

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