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Thread: ND:YAG Laser Head

  1. #11
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    hahaha you know you will buy one

    R
    If you need to ask the question 'whats so good about a laser' - you won't understand the answer.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Laserists do it by the nanometre.

    Stanwax Laser is a Corporate Member of Ilda

    Stanwax Laser main distributor of First Contact in UK - like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/FirstContactPolymerCleaner
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  2. #12
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    Jan 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by mliptack View Post
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJGxT2E1Bhk
    and it was made by our newer member Frothy Chimp!
    My fave bit is the music - just sweeeet

    Rob
    If you need to ask the question 'whats so good about a laser' - you won't understand the answer.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Laserists do it by the nanometre.

    Stanwax Laser is a Corporate Member of Ilda

    Stanwax Laser main distributor of First Contact in UK - like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/FirstContactPolymerCleaner
    www.photoniccleaning.co.uk

  3. #13
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Milwaukee WI
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    Quote Originally Posted by stanwax View Post
    hahaha you know you will buy one

    R
    Hahaha, I know.... ..... ...

    Quote Originally Posted by stanwax View Post
    My fave bit is the music - just sweeeet

    Rob
    And yeah, the music just make the video complete!

    -Max

  4. #14
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Milwaukee WI
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    Ok, so I bought one

    It looks basically brand new. And I also purchased the pulse forming network from MI.

    When I got the PFN I noticed there is a blue ceramic looking piece attaching to the top of the capacitor that is broken? (I will post pictures later, I am at school getting ready for an exam currently)

    Will this hinder the use of the PFN?

    Also, does anyone have any advice as far a hooking these things up? I have been browsing through Sams laser FAQs, but I am always overwhelmed by the layout of information. I guess I don't really understand how that site is structured yet, even though I have frequented it for years now

    I tried using the laser head with a strobe light assembly, and the cap in the strobe charged, but wouldn't fire the flash bulb. Would the grill igniter on the white lead solve this?

    The cap is rated at ~350v I think (Its at home too, so I don't remember the specs off hand) but I recall it was higher than the 330v cap in a disposable camera.

    Any help is greatly appreciated

    Thanks again everyone,
    -max

  5. #15
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    Mar 2006
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    900V, not 350V, for the big yellow polyester cap in the PFN. Safer at 850V though. SSY-1 laser should fire at 600V, maybe a tad less.

    The only bits of the PFN you really need are the cap and the inductor, and maybe a bleeder resistor. A tiny 6KV strobe tube pulse coil will trigger the flash. A grill ignitor might work, but make damn sure it's well insulated, because if the cap discharges to form an arc back along the flash trigger path, you could die fast.

  6. #16
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    I heard the Kodak style disposable camera flash units **could** get it to lase, hence the reason why I tried the strobe. The arc length is about the same in the strobe as it is in the ssy-1 so thats another reason why I thought it might work... But what do I know... thats why I was asking for advice in the first place

    -M

  7. #17
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    Mar 2006
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    I read that too. I think a photoflash cap is usually good for up to 450V though. Much lower volts can flash the lamp, after all, once an arc is triggered, the resistance drops, and a couple of hundred volts will flash it if there's a low enough resistance in the cap to get the current up in the arc, but if you want enough to fire the laser efficiently, best aim for more volts to overcome whatever resistance you have. Not that there is a lot if you're using the PFN cap, that has a VERY low ESR (which is why the inductor is needed to spread the pulse temporally to get a good drive to pump the YAG). Maybe it's still connected to enough other stuff to cause losses? Also, bear in mind that the pressure of the gas maybe has more effect than the length if it's different enough from a photoflash lamp.

    If in doubt, ask Sam on alt.lasers. He likes those things, and is probably always happy to answer questions about them. Steve Roberts might know too, I think he's experienced on flash lamps.

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