Argon laser

[steve-o]

What the avg. life of a argon?


djmatt

Depends on how you drive it... the higher you drive it, the shorter it lives... If left at idle, I think a tube should live to over 10,000 hours... If driven to full spec, this can go down to ~4000-5000... If over driven, if can be down to less than 1000 hours.

BTW- -- that is with forced-fan cooling!! Without a fan, probably about 10-20 hours!! lol..

[daedal]

What the avg. life of a argon?


djmatt


BTW- -- that is with forced-fan cooling!! Without a fan, probably about 10-20 hours!! lol..

Absolutely!

Thanx!

--DDL

[djmatt]

I would thank with out a fan....ehhh. can we say melt down...
Ive trying to treat this one just like my power spot 250s, keep them clean,always check to make sure the fans are on, then start them, let them warm up before homing them. Then let them cool down before powering down.
It may sound like overkill, but I need them to last!!
So Im going to do the same with this one!!

Thanks!! for answering another of my million ?s!!!!



djmatt

[buffo]

I would thank with out a fan....ehhh. can we say melt down...

Nah... If it's wired correctly, the thermal switch will open, which kills the power supply. They can be cycled like that quite a bit before they fail.

Of course, if the switch ever failed to open on high temp, then some very nasty things could happen!

Adam

[Things]

The switch should stop it before it does anything too bad, although those switches wouldnt like switching that kind of power all the time, they are sort of a 1 time backup thing so you need to fix it.

[djmatt]

I hope I never find out what happens when it doesnt work....


djmatt

[daedal]

I hope I never find out what happens when it doesnt work....


djmatt

Digging the new avatar you got there!

--DDL

[buffo]

The switch should stop it before it does anything too bad, although those switches wouldnt like switching that kind of power all the time, they are sort of a 1 time backup thing so you need to fix it.

The temperature switches don't interrupt the tube current directly. They switch a low current interlock signal which tells the power supply to shut down. As such, they're good for years of cycling. (Many medical argons actually run this way, cycling on the high temp interlock.)

Still not a smart thing to do though, as it does stress the tube a bit, but so long as the switch works it won't destroy itself.

Adam

[Xytrell]

My HGM is actually turned on/off by completing/severing the thermal overload interlock.

[djmatt]

Thanks!!


I would think that there would be alot of stress in that case!!!

djmatt