Recommend a good fan for a small argon?

[steve-o]

I'd love to see what happens if you do that with a tube with fins at potential like a NL or NEC?

What would happen, Steve? The ignition arc would jump the gap I suppose?
I have the thermometer well insulated from the chassis, btw..

[GooeyGus]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I bought a few rotron patriots for this laser, as well as for the HGM5 that is on it's way to me. I have a temporary fan setup that keeps it cool-ish. To be honest, I'm afraid to really run it for more than a few minutes until I'm ready to run it for a few hours at a time. Right now the hour gauge is on zero so I could let it sit for a few months without much of a problem, but as soon as I start running it for longer periods I have to keep up on my bi-weekly maintenance

[steve-o]

I'm not sure (chime in Steve if I'm wrong) but wont it go high-pressure even with low (or zero) hours on it if it sits too long?

[Lasernerd]

https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...ductId=695527&

good Cooling fan!

[steve-o]

That says 550cfm on the page top then below it reads 235 cfm

[Lasernerd]

That says 550cfm on the page top then below it reads 235 cfm

I have these fans on my chiller,,I am sure they are 235cfm

[GooeyGus]

Just thought I would post that I got the laser going with a little squirrel cage blower for the time being. The 2500 remote interface that a friend loaned me is a 'broken' one, so it will only allow the laser to idle. I haven't had a chance to see what the laser looks like when its turned up, but it sure is cool at an idle. Much more 'blue' looking than my multi-line, which has a greenish look to it. Even though it is a bit more blue looking than my multi-line, this 488 sure is trying it's very hardest to be green. Depending on the environment I've been in, I can come in and the laser looks green or I can look at it and it looks obviously blue. What a weird color. When compared to 532nm it looks really blue. Anyway, here are some pictures! The pictures make the beam/dot look a bit more blue than they actually are.

(I should add that in this picture, it appears as if airflow may be blocked by the blanket it is laying on, but the laser is actually suspended above the blankets and no air inlets are blocked)




I have one question about this picture. As you can see, the main spot has a little 'satellite' dot. It is very dim and actually appears to be dimming as I put a few more hours on the tube (when I got the laser, the hour meter was offset to 0 by maybe 1mm, so maybe 1-2% useage).

[steve-o]

Well, it looks like your argon has a comfy place to stay . 488 is one of my favorite colors - an aqua-marine turquiose/ cyan.. yeh it looks green compared to blue and blue compared to green, somewhere in the midst of 473 and 532 land..
One of my argons has a stray-beam just like that.. I dont know what causes it.. I was thinking Brewster window fracture but I really dont know.

[mixedgas]

Well, it looks like your argon has a comfy place to stay . 488 is one of my favorite colors - an aqua-marine turquiose/ cyan.. yeh it looks green compared to blue and blue compared to green, somewhere in the midst of 473 and 532 land..
One of my argons has a stray-beam just like that.. I dont know what causes it.. I was thinking Brewster window fracture but I really dont know.

Ghosts are caused by a fresnel reflection as the beam passes through the outside surface of the output coupler. OCs have a bit of wedge between the two faces so the ghost angles off and doesnt cause interference patterns with the main beam. Bigger lasers have a AR coat on the output face to eliminate the ghost.

Steve Roberts

[GooeyGus]

Another question I had, is what determines the lasing lines in these heads? is it solely the HR and OC optics or is there some other mechanism?