EEVblog 1412 - Argon Ion Laser TEARDOWN!

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  • Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
  • Dave tears down the 10W Coherent 300C Argon Ion laser. All 42kg, 1.2m and 24kW worth!
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    PSU teardown: • EEVblog 1381 - Argon I...
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    #ElectronicsCreators #Laser #Teardown

КОМЕНТАРІ • 457

  • @VintageTechFan
    @VintageTechFan 3 роки тому +448

    It's a water heater (25kW) with coherent power on indicator (10W).

    • @szeptaczsprezarek
      @szeptaczsprezarek 3 роки тому +21

      Turbo kettle

    • @gustavrsh
      @gustavrsh 3 роки тому +29

      This thing is more efficient than the average politician!

    • @jenniferwhitewolf3784
      @jenniferwhitewolf3784 3 роки тому +9

      I see the sticker on it from AvE channel. " Not to be operated by... "

    • @wobblysauce
      @wobblysauce 3 роки тому +4

      One of the most intresting water heaters around.

    • @TheExileFox
      @TheExileFox 3 роки тому +1

      @Stephen Ferree lol. perfect.

  • @SarahKchannel
    @SarahKchannel 3 роки тому +92

    and 30 years ago, we carried several of them, around the world... For stage shows and performances... 20W was small, we had up to 100W.
    The water cooling was the nasty bit, since it had to run at all times, every day in different venue - different fittings, drains and distances.
    Plus I do remember having had huge transformers, beside the main PSU, huge = 200kg++.

    • @tylerethernet8610
      @tylerethernet8610 3 роки тому +4

      100 W? Wow, great stuff! In the 90's, I used 30 W Ar+ and Kr+ ion lasers in a lab. We had 125 A / 400 V three-phase wall sockets and 2-inch power "cords" for it. 10 W lasers are in fact just for sissies... ;-)

    • @SarahKchannel
      @SarahKchannel 3 роки тому +4

      @@tylerethernet8610 This was for shows like pyramids in Egypt and stuff. One brand was great on Krypton (I think Spectraphysics) and the other one on Argon, where the Argons where the power houses.
      I do remember how one flight case with tube, just about fit the length of a 3.5t box truck.

    • @tylerethernet8610
      @tylerethernet8610 3 роки тому

      ​@@SarahKchannel We too had Spectra Physics (Ar+) and one Coherent (Kr+) lasers. The latter one sucked a bit (not just electricity) and was acting up once in a while, including its power supply. Ar+ indeed lases very powerfully and was fun to work with.

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому +8

      Yes, I had the opportunity to get the transformer with this, but it was several hundred kg and on a shipping pallet.

    • @SarahKchannel
      @SarahKchannel 3 роки тому +4

      @@EEVblog yep because this things run predominantly 110V and single phase on the PSU... so we always had 240/380V 3LNPE to 110V 1LNPE transformers...
      packing and unpacking on a daily basis.
      But I still sometimes miss those days !

  • @NIOC630
    @NIOC630 3 роки тому +70

    The thing you thought was the powermeter is actually a selenoid. Larger argon tubes have a built in refill reservoir since some of the gases get embedded into the tube so the pressure drops over time. The attached tube is pinched off on one and and contains some gas that can be added by sequentally opening the two valves, every time giving a small pulse of gas until the reservoir is depleted and the tube needs a complete refill.

    • @VintageTechFan
      @VintageTechFan 3 роки тому +4

      But those valves often leak just a little, rising the gas pressure over time of non use, up to the point where the tube can't be ignited anymore.
      There is a sweet spot of hours/day to get the maximum life out of a tube.

    • @NIOC630
      @NIOC630 3 роки тому +7

      @@VintageTechFan Either they leak or you dont know what they are and play with them. Not like i ever ruined a perfectly usable I90 tube when i was a kid....

    • @VintageTechFan
      @VintageTechFan 3 роки тому +4

      @@NIOC630 We have an Innova 400 "Sabre" at work, but don't use it all the time. At idle times, we have to regulary run it to keep the gas pressure from rising too high.

    • @philipweser8774
      @philipweser8774 3 роки тому +5

      In the smaller Version (4w if I remember correctly), they don't use a vale, instad there are four glas ampules inside soft copper tubes. To refill you just crush the tube with something.

    • @NIOC630
      @NIOC630 3 роки тому +1

      @@philipweser8774 Yes, im not entirely sure but i think i have one like that somewhere....

  • @fuzzybobbles
    @fuzzybobbles 3 роки тому +63

    The tube thingie over the brewster window is to keep dust out. High power laser optics can be damaged by dust burning in the laser beam. This damages the glass optics/mirrors and causes them to further heat up and cause more damage by thermal runaway.

    • @theonetrueanthonylong1843
      @theonetrueanthonylong1843 3 роки тому +8

      Just lick your finger and wipe it off. All good.

    • @TheVictorLudorum
      @TheVictorLudorum 3 роки тому +13

      Yes indeed. Some argon-ion lasers (I don't know about that particular model) use a nitrogen gas purge for all parts of the beam path outside the actual laser tube, to prevent dust ingress and oxidization of the optical coatings. Bellows tubes like that are common, as the mirror mounts have to be free to tilt a bit to align them, so you can't use a solid tube.
      The circulating optical power inside the cavity can be 100x the output power, so you don't want dust falling on a mirror that's reflecting 1000W of light in an area of a few mm^2.

    • @tomteiter7192
      @tomteiter7192 3 роки тому +4

      @@theonetrueanthonylong1843 Nice try, Kent!

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому +1

      Yeah, but why does it look like that with o-rings on the outside.

    • @RminusOR
      @RminusOR 3 роки тому +1

      @@EEVblog Maybe it's done that way so you can attach it after assembly... you squeeze the spring and you can put it and out afterwards as opposed to having a tube?

  • @dtewksbury
    @dtewksbury 3 роки тому +10

    Hey Dave, nice taredown. I believe we used to pull the six strongest lines out of this one, but because it doesn't have krypton there are no red/orange lines. But plenty of lines in the blue green and violet range. The main beam with all the lines has a greenish cyan colour, that any ion laser user will remember. That rear mirror adjustment is super sensitive, the difference between output and no output at all from memory. I believ that the output mirror and the rear mirror are specially formulated dichroic mirrors to optimise the lines that the laser was designed to produce which is why they don't look as reflective as you would imagine. But they certainly are in the frequencies desired. Cheers Dave.

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому +2

      Thanks Daryl for donating the gear, very enjoyable and interesting downdowns.

    • @hastypete2
      @hastypete2 3 дні тому

      They optics were hella expensive. about $500 or more per optic in todays $$$. They were not only custom coated for the desired wavelengths, but also curved. The HR (High Reflector) had a curve to it based on the length of the laser tube. The OC (Output Coupler) was flat.

  • @frankderks1150
    @frankderks1150 3 роки тому +47

    For the first time: Don't take it apart, Turn it on!

    • @Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer
      @Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer 3 роки тому +10

      Plug it into the Hopi, I want to see the power factor.

    • @rgarito
      @rgarito 3 роки тому +4

      ... in other news... Widespread power blackouts throughout Australia! :)

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому +16

      Small problem of a 24kW supply.

    • @glasslinger
      @glasslinger 3 роки тому +1

      @@EEVblog You MIGHT be able to run it at noon from the solar power grid there. But if a cloud happened by the laser would quit

    • @gorkushka
      @gorkushka 3 роки тому +3

      @@EEVblog I had one in my lab back when I though science was a noble life..... It had 208V 3-Phase power and we had it coupled to our buildings chiller water feed through a heat exchanger... If you work in Big Science - all Lab Spaces come with multiple wall outlets with the following: (1) 208V 3 Phase Power, 240V Two Phase power (2) Nitrogen (3) Vacuum (4) Water - and in the chemistry building they still had wall taps for (5) Distilled Water and (6) Steam as well as a safety shower for when you spilled your work on yourself... There was once a time when I thought my greatest achievement was working in a lab hood for three weeks straight , weekends included - to produce 2.25 mg of a target molecule needed for a publication. LOL!

  • @changeagent228
    @changeagent228 3 роки тому +77

    Donate it to Photonicinduction to derive maximum tolerance values 😄

  • @clorky2
    @clorky2 3 роки тому +78

    Dave 2021: It's shiny, shiny equals expensive.

  • @kmax67max48
    @kmax67max48 3 роки тому +3

    Thanks for sharing, spent many hours re-tubing Kryton (413nm) Innova laser heads in a previous job, used for CD/DVD mastering equipment as a light source. Kept the system service eeprom and service manual to repair heads/PSU, as was certified by Coherent many years ago. The device you highlighted as monitor diode is actually Ar or Kr Gas reservoir. Which will add gas as pressure deviates from ideal based on tube voltage. Noble gasses become trapped under sputtered Cu inside the plasma tube, which lowers the pressure. The AlO ceramic plasma tube has dozen's of Cu cups which have a holes where the narrow confined plasma passes thru. This sputtering eventually leads to lowering of the output power as the sputtered by products deposit on the back of the brewster windows. In our application the tubes only had a 6-8k hours life on time and cost >$20k. Fascinating technology (wasteful) to generate less than 1 W output @ 413nm!

  • @Chris_Grossman
    @Chris_Grossman 3 роки тому +12

    The flexible metal tube is to seal light in and dust out and take up thermal expansion.

  • @Lucky32Luke
    @Lucky32Luke 3 роки тому +101

    The AvE label makes this worth twice as much and also twice as exciting.

    • @edmundscycles1
      @edmundscycles1 3 роки тому +23

      When they were getting it calibrated do you think they muttered "focus you ffffuck"?

    • @microbuilder
      @microbuilder 3 роки тому +9

      I hate that dang sticker, always excluding me from the fun! lol

    • @BenHeckHacks
      @BenHeckHacks 3 роки тому +8

      "Let's see how she chooches!"

    • @edmundscycles1
      @edmundscycles1 3 роки тому +4

      @@BenHeckHacks them is lot of pixies in there .

    • @brucejones2354
      @brucejones2354 3 роки тому +2

      One of the first things I noticed ! ! !

  • @j1952d
    @j1952d 3 роки тому +25

    They use Invar rods between the mirrors for stable lasing. The optical cavity length (distance between the mirrors) must be a fixed number of wavelengths at the resonant frequency, so obvs if the cavity length changes it buggers up the output.

    • @cambridgemart2075
      @cambridgemart2075 3 роки тому +3

      That tube is a multiline version as it has 2 brewster windows, so the exact multiple of the output wavelength thing isn't true for this particular laser. It would be the case for an SLM version of course.

    • @tylerethernet8610
      @tylerethernet8610 3 роки тому +1

      @@cambridgemart2075 Do the single-line versions have the intra-cavity wavelength-selection prism _instead_ of the rear Brewster window? (I don't remember the details after 20+ years).

    • @j1952d
      @j1952d 3 роки тому +1

      @@cambridgemart2075 - thanks. My memory's fading.

    • @cambridgemart2075
      @cambridgemart2075 3 роки тому +1

      @@tylerethernet8610 I believe they do, I don't think these lasers used an etalon unless single longitudinal mode is required.

    • @tylerethernet8610
      @tylerethernet8610 3 роки тому

      @@cambridgemart2075 We had single-line the version with _may_ have employed a prism (IIRC) and/or an etalon. It didn't matter that much, anyway, as we were just pumping ring lasers with them.

  • @davideldridge5852
    @davideldridge5852 3 роки тому +2

    Dave, you just took me back to uni days with Brewsters Angle, I’d have to go back over notes and lectures I’ve still got to remember it all again! Thanks for the trip down memory lane 😊

  • @varunsingh.varunsingh
    @varunsingh.varunsingh 3 роки тому +9

    Sir, your channel content and information delivery is unique..
    I must say, it is very pragmatic... thanks for everything you do for your followers....🙏🙏🙏
    From India

  • @wakkowarner7391
    @wakkowarner7391 3 роки тому +9

    The multi-line argon lasers have gorgeous beam colours.

    • @tylerethernet8610
      @tylerethernet8610 3 роки тому

      especially when split up by a prism :-)

    • @michaelcalvin42
      @michaelcalvin42 3 роки тому +1

      I've actually got one (a much smaller, 40mW laser) and it's quite a sight to behold.

    • @hastypete2
      @hastypete2 3 дні тому

      Yes, the AR/Kr lasers used in laser light shows had about 8 lines of color. Some produced real yellow as well. The had softer colors, but you can tell the difference. SS Lasers are much harsher, but the blue from SS is superior to the darkest Ar line. That line was awesome, but one of the lowers powers. SS lasers have a more "electric" look due to the blue wavelenght used.

  • @marcreynolds7948
    @marcreynolds7948 3 роки тому +2

    Good video. I'm one of the manufacturing engineers at Coherent for the Ion laser product line.

  • @DownTownDowns
    @DownTownDowns 3 роки тому +13

    Take a drink every time he says "for those following along at home"

    • @Digital-Dan
      @Digital-Dan 3 роки тому +1

      And five if he ever says "beauty" without shortly thereafter saying "forever."

    • @trentland
      @trentland 3 роки тому +1

      or "choob"

  • @lironmtnranch4765
    @lironmtnranch4765 3 роки тому

    In the 90s I did amateur laser shows for my Brother's band. Started with a red he-ne tube, later got my hands on a blue + green argon that was only a few watts. Then had a super rare, beautiful deep purple helium-cadmium laser. This had a more complicated separate power supply unit than the Argon, and on startup a big fat tungsten filament started glowing brightly to vaporize the cadmium before it would fire the gas discharge supply. Both of these lasers were temperamental as hell, with the mirrors going out of alignment and requiring long warm up times before they really started humping. These cost well into five figures new, and the salvage guy I knew was selling them for 1500+ used with thousands of hours on the meter. Nowadays, diode lasers are available up into the UV range and lasers comparable to these gas giants are cheap as sand in comparison.

  • @adilsongoliveira
    @adilsongoliveira 3 роки тому +14

    You now just need the freaking shark to attach it to!

  • @CatsMeowPaw
    @CatsMeowPaw 3 роки тому +7

    I love the warning sticker on the side. It needs to be applied to more gear.

    • @martinkuliza
      @martinkuliza 3 роки тому +1

      IT NEEDS TO BE IN THE MERCH STORE

    • @Zipppyart
      @Zipppyart 3 роки тому +3

      @@martinkuliza it's available on AvE's merch.

    • @thegreatoutagesign9204
      @thegreatoutagesign9204 3 роки тому +1

      AvE made them and sells them on his Esty, "AvEwerkz"

    • @martinkuliza
      @martinkuliza 3 роки тому

      @@Zipppyart
      thanks , i'll be sure to get a few

  • @leoatreides1
    @leoatreides1 11 місяців тому

    I used the bigger brother of this for my masters but for the phd follow up we replaced it with a diode pumped solid state laser. much more efficient. 56kW for 32 W laser light (all lines) or 12-15 W single line. The brewster window has to be covered as this is within the laser cavity (those end at the mirrors) and thus the laser power there is much higher and it will burn in any dust quickly. And we had a service contract with coherent as the tube needed to be replaced about every two years. Once the service techincian tried to bring it back to spec by cleaning the brewster window with an acid, but then it was even worse and they had to replace it eiitherway. Nice to see it again.

    • @hastypete2
      @hastypete2 3 дні тому

      yes any contamination on the window can be devastating. The intercavity power is immense, but it is also virtual as it disappears as soon as you put something in the path. But dust would only block a small spec of the beam diameter and around it's edge it would burn the dust. It's one of the coolest things to stick your hand in the intracavity beam to stop the lasing (that's how many of the shutters worked, by blocking the intercavity beam) At Lexel we used a magnetic shutter that flipped a "spoon" into the beam. It's also awesome to see the intercavity beam as it is VERY visible even with completely clean air as the photons are difused by the air particles at that virtual power level.

  • @JonnyFix
    @JonnyFix 3 роки тому +1

    I'm only guessing but the flexy tube on the Brewster window provides protection from dust etc while allowing adjustment of the output mirror.

  • @cambridgemart2075
    @cambridgemart2075 3 роки тому +1

    There's no filament at the anode end, it's just a block of tungsten embedded in copper.
    The I300 series have a personality module which is on that PCB in the head, it talks to the PSU to supply the stored configuration data for the individual tube.
    The water flows in at the cathode end and out at the anode end as that's the hottest part; that's why the thermostat is at the anode end.
    The filament feedback lines are fused because the filament runs at 50 to 60A, you wouldn't want a short on the feedback lines as it would cause them to glow if they weren't fused!

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому

      Did I say that? If so, yeah, obviously no filament.

  • @seanmartin7551
    @seanmartin7551 3 роки тому +1

    I can't get over the AvE / EEVBlog crossover

  • @andrewphi4958
    @andrewphi4958 3 роки тому +1

    When we see such massive things, what we expect to hear:
    Photonicinduction: "Let's fire it up!"
    EEVblog: "Let's tear it down!"

    • @alexanderthomas2660
      @alexanderthomas2660 3 роки тому +2

      And of course at the end of the Photonicinduction video: “I popppped it!”

  • @djvanzz
    @djvanzz 3 роки тому +19

    I have an HeNe laser with that polarizing angled window. I’ve noticed that you get a beam that comes out almost perpendicular to the main beam. I’m guessing the metal spring is there to absorb the stray beam and dissipate the heat from that

    • @LutzSchafer
      @LutzSchafer 3 роки тому +7

      Thats correct, this beam has orthogonal polarization direction of lesser power. But you still dont want that to go out in case someone works on it.

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому +6

      That makes sense, thanks.

  • @hernancoronel
    @hernancoronel 3 роки тому +1

    Let’s do a gofundme campaign to have this sent to Ben @Applied Science. He will surely make good use of it for the benefit of us all! Thanks for the great video Dave!

  • @davidkennedy3050
    @davidkennedy3050 3 роки тому +1

    I love the AVE style warning label!

  • @TheHouseBlog
    @TheHouseBlog 3 роки тому

    Fun watching you try to figure out all the parts in there, it's always a good time being exposed to something new, even if it's something old. This brought back fond memories of spending hours pouring through Sam's Laser FAQ, interacting with some super smart laser physicists and technicians online and messing with and building all sorts of lasers as a hobbyist.

  • @emanggitulah4319
    @emanggitulah4319 3 роки тому +1

    You will need the "safety squint" sign as well to operate it.
    Great video!!!!

  • @FranLab
    @FranLab 3 роки тому +14

    11!

    • @nndorconnetnz
      @nndorconnetnz 3 роки тому +1

      My car is red so it goes faster!!!
      You know there are people out there at that level.
      Blank face. What do you do?

    • @cannesahs
      @cannesahs 3 роки тому +2

      11! = 39916800

    • @johnmorgan1629
      @johnmorgan1629 3 роки тому

      @@nndorconnetnz Well cars used to have go faster stripes, made it faster and sportier apparently.

  • @button-puncher
    @button-puncher 2 роки тому

    Those invar rods....WOW that's neat! Reminds me of the CRT days. Sony had invar shadow masks in the Trinitron CRTs. Very low thermal expansion to reduce convergence errors as a tube heated up. Then there were the NEC monitors that used aperture grilles where if you smacked the monitor on the side, you'd see convergence go nuts for a second as the wires vibrated.

  • @Lazy_Tim
    @Lazy_Tim 3 роки тому +4

    Love the mix of mechanical and electronic. I actually think you could do a part 2. Cheers Dave

    • @lordjaashin
      @lordjaashin 3 роки тому

      how many charged caps have you thrown at others since we last met?

    • @Lazy_Tim
      @Lazy_Tim 3 роки тому

      @@lordjaashin None that was in my younger years. If your a patreon Clive has a few new vids out. :)

  • @tonydarby9096
    @tonydarby9096 3 роки тому +2

    Invar was also used for Synchronome master clock pendulums due to its excellent low expansion characteristics.

  • @xXTehPacoXx
    @xXTehPacoXx 3 роки тому +4

    "if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?"
    "Put it up to eleven."

  • @emmettturner9452
    @emmettturner9452 3 роки тому +8

    Best. Thumbnail. Ever.

  • @TheWWLighting
    @TheWWLighting 3 роки тому

    Also, on these models, if the “Laser Radiation “ light is out, the system will not start, thought of switching out mine with an LED, instead of a filament, and found that it measures the current thru the existing lamp, to verify that it is on, for a safety factor. No indicator light, no Lase!!🤗 page 6-1
    Photo output sensor is that black sensor at front of Laser Mirror too with a beam splitter that you unscrewed at beginning.
    Bellows for keeping Dust out of optics.
    Also inner jacket is water cool for plasma tube, outer jacket is for the Magnet cooling. You can change output mirrors to other nm, to select light frequencies
    Excellent Tear down!!

  • @klipk7296
    @klipk7296 3 роки тому +6

    "If you let all the vacuumie out, THEN.... Your laser don't work so good anymore!" - EEVblog

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому +2

      Fact.

    • @omgwtfpwnd
      @omgwtfpwnd 3 роки тому

      @@EEVblog *EEVblog* I'll never forget the video you made from 2009 about audiophools and snake oil! By the way, how's it going in Australia with the lockdowns? ;-)

  • @michaelmazzen
    @michaelmazzen 3 роки тому +2

    The Ave sticker is more appropriate than ever ....

  • @christopherleubner6633
    @christopherleubner6633 10 місяців тому

    Holy moly I remember using those, one argon for 488 and 515nm and one for 658nm red krypton. Beams all mixed together with dicro mirrors then piped into a PCAOM. Eventually got a set of yellow green optics for the 560ish line of krypton. Yup they make great space heaters if it's chilly where you are doing the show if you use a water to air heat exchanger. Built my own using automotive radiators and the cooling fans. Because 480V 3 phase at 50A per phase and plumbed water is a horrifying combination. Early 2000s. Also the lasers cost about as much as a new car when they were new. None of mine were new though. The assembly you thought was a photodiode is the gas replenishing module. A valve that dumps the argon into the tube as it gets buried. I disconnected those as the psu would fire it too much if it thought the tube was too low on voltage or no reason at all. All that white ceramic is beryllium oxide as well. I modified these heads to run on SP 451 exciters as well. Kilowatts for miliwatts. 😂

  • @josugambee3701
    @josugambee3701 3 роки тому +6

    I need to find an excuse to use "polychromatic acousto-optical modulator" in conversation now.

    • @hastypete2
      @hastypete2 3 дні тому

      No one called it that. It was a PCAOM

  • @georgeabraham7256
    @georgeabraham7256 3 роки тому

    Discovered the Midas touch while building the XR2206 function generator.. touching around the circuit(on safe circuit) and if it works(the pin on the peaks go away) you measure the capacitance of your finger the distance of the contacts.. so I installed a 201 cap between the frequency and amplitude pin and its gone with no distortion.. We have Muncing.. Now we also jave the Midas touch...

  • @teddytiger5217
    @teddytiger5217 3 роки тому

    Coherent, were competitors of Specra-Physics, both in the Silicon Valley, California. They also made mixed-gas Argon/Krypton that outputted a 'white' output. Cool stuff.

  • @howardhiggins9641
    @howardhiggins9641 3 роки тому

    At my college, the physics dept. had a LASER that as far as I know was only fired up on parents day.
    I don't remember what class of LASER it was, but it had big warning signs that said "Warning Danger of Decapitation".
    It burned holes though firebricks very quickly - what fun.

  • @_a.z
    @_a.z 3 роки тому

    We had several Coherent lasers that were purchased as scrap.
    We never did get them working in spite of pumping one down to vacuum again and having a 3 phase supply on hand!
    (One was Spectra Physics)

  • @mytubedude532
    @mytubedude532 3 роки тому +1

    Teardown argon laser - thumbnail shows red beam. I started working at Spectra Physics in 1978 on lasers, good times!

    • @flaviospedalieri8707
      @flaviospedalieri8707 3 роки тому

      Hey Pat, I’m actually working on two SP-124 lasers that are still working (in some ways ;).

  • @classicaudioadventures
    @classicaudioadventures 3 роки тому +1

    Oh man, Dave...you gotta turn it on for us!

  • @Digital-Dan
    @Digital-Dan 3 роки тому +1

    We had some devices that looked a lot like this in the first research laser printers. A decade or so earlier, used an invar pendulum to precisely measure the local value of G, the gravitational "constant."

  • @MrTridac
    @MrTridac 3 роки тому +2

    Interesting. But why didn't you tear it down completely? I was hoping to get all the cooling system goodness and a look at the plasma tube. Detail shot of the board. Inside of the main monitor diode.

  • @randomelectronicsanddispla1765
    @randomelectronicsanddispla1765 3 роки тому +2

    That laser is still more efficient than the solar roadways.

  • @hastypete2
    @hastypete2 3 дні тому

    So late to this...
    I worked in Ion lasers for 15 years. We mostly worked on the 165 and 171 Spectra Physics. We serviced Coherents as well, but not tube replacements. What a rush down memory lane. I also worked in lights shows for most of that time as well. If you think the power used was ridiculous it pales in comparison to the water waste. The water could not be recirculated because you just needed to get all those watts out. The water from the laser was HOT. We used to joke that if you drank from it you would live forever... mmm laser water.
    At the laser repair lab I worked at we dumped upwards of 16 gallons per minute down the drain.... 24 hours a day. That's near 25,000 gallons per day. I'm not sure how we got away with that other than we paid the bill. You'd think the city would have shut that down. I'm sure the electric bill was frightening. We were manufacturing new tubes and part of that process was running them for many hours.
    When Lexel went out of business we bought it and built new Lexel lasers for many years.
    When Spectra Physics shut down their glass tube ion lasers division, we bought that and supported those lasers for years as part of the deal.
    Working on the 171s was my favorite. I used to go out the Crazy Horse memorial annually to service their 171s for their laser shows (they have SS now). So many amazing memories. I did laser for so many bands and events over the years. We did all the openings for the San Jose Lasers womens team. We did game openers for a few seasons of the Sacramento Kings and the Warriors. Did lasers for Sabercats and for the Sharks too.

  • @soniclux
    @soniclux 3 роки тому +1

    Love the AVE Sticker!

  • @NINEWALKING
    @NINEWALKING 3 роки тому

    On my engraver Laser there is a LED that uses like 30 Watt's and outputs 7.5 Watt optical. Times have changed. Sure you can't get same wave lengths and can't do same things but still efficiency is awesome. There is also a model with two of those diodes and it has limited optical power of 12,5 Watt and uses 40 Watt. Have had to correct numbers I have checked them up.

  • @TrevorsBench
    @TrevorsBench 3 роки тому +1

    Awesome teardown, thanks for sharing!

  • @DrakkarCalethiel
    @DrakkarCalethiel 3 роки тому +1

    What a timing to open YT. Giant ass Argon LAZER? SIGN ME UP!

  • @j.adamwegs2882
    @j.adamwegs2882 3 роки тому +4

    I spot an AvE warning label 😏

  • @omgwtfpwnd
    @omgwtfpwnd 3 роки тому +1

    *EEVblog* I'll never forget the video you made from 2009 about audiophools and snake oil! By the way, how's it going in Australia with the lockdowns? ;-)

  • @NINEWALKING
    @NINEWALKING 3 роки тому

    BTW in old IBM printing machines we have had about same size lasers. Those where those printers where paper rushes true the few machines. Laser would polarize letters onto the drums and drums would pick up toners with that charge and press it and baked it on the paper. Drums were hot to.

  • @HuntersMoon78
    @HuntersMoon78 3 роки тому

    Styro Pyro would be drooling over this laser

  • @berndb542
    @berndb542 3 роки тому +1

    The O-ring bellow contain some platinum catalyst to break down the Ozone generate from the plasma - also it is to keep the Brewster super clean

  • @ErikBongers
    @ErikBongers 3 роки тому

    I would think those mirror adjustment screws are 'differential screws' - 2 screw threads in one, cancelling each other out. One screw thread has a thread width (pitch) that is just a little bit different than the other one, thus the cancellation is just a tiny bit off. And so, one rotation of the screw results in a tiny displacement.
    (then again, you could see quite a displacement as Dave turned one of those screws...so I'm not sure)

  • @mscir
    @mscir 3 роки тому +1

    Great opening scene, very funny. I'm looking forward to seeing it operating. Maybe you can bounce it off the mirror on the moon.

  • @jaye1967
    @jaye1967 3 роки тому +3

    Love the sticker. I wonder where that came from... perhaps somewhere in Canada?

  • @tullgutten
    @tullgutten 3 роки тому +1

    16:52 I am certan that this is for decoupling the laser from the housing as a flex joint.
    And also looks to be dustproof since if you get a little dust on it thet absorbs light it will heat up and burn/crack the light output glass puncturing the whole tube.

  • @lachlanlau
    @lachlanlau 3 роки тому

    These are the companies no one knows but everyone loves

  • @StubbyPhillips
    @StubbyPhillips 2 роки тому

    Fun fact, the lighting console that Spinal Tap toured with (in reality) had all of its faders relabeled to go to 11. I assume they did the same for their audio gear, but I did not see any of that.

  • @JoeGoesXtreme
    @JoeGoesXtreme 3 роки тому

    The photodiode is on the front. The metal bellow is a dust cover. Some of the thick wires are for the electromagnet

  • @paulkocyla1343
    @paulkocyla1343 3 роки тому +3

    What a complex evil thingy. I remember those were expensive as a sports car back then.
    Is there a chance you can get this one to run - or is it a museum artefact?

    • @cambridgemart2075
      @cambridgemart2075 3 роки тому

      A very expensive sports car at that!

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому +1

      Nope. The PSU is gone, and it needed a 24kW supply.

    • @VintageTechFan
      @VintageTechFan 3 роки тому

      @@EEVblog Also after it sitting for so long, most likely the tube is dead. New tube has a 5 digits pricetag for sure.

  • @JWimpy
    @JWimpy 3 роки тому

    A movie scene comes to mind here. "Find out why these red lights go back and forth" - William Shatner, Airplane 2

  • @theforthdoctor7872
    @theforthdoctor7872 3 роки тому +1

    "No Mr Bond, I expect you to die" lol

  • @cdrom1070
    @cdrom1070 3 роки тому

    spec of dust on that dither optic I think, careful with taking those apart without a filter cabinet when it gets to higher levels

  • @theteenageengineer
    @theteenageengineer 3 роки тому

    Great use for the AvE sticker!

  • @TrevorsBench
    @TrevorsBench 3 роки тому +1

    Pass it on to Photonicinduction and he'll power it up

  • @pev_
    @pev_ 2 роки тому

    I wonder why both of the ends look crooked, like visibly out of alignment. The output end, that metal spring/fin thing that goes over the Brewster window seems to need the springyness because it is like the axes do not align. And the back end, those white plastic tubes seem to be at different angles!

  • @Monkeylum1
    @Monkeylum1 3 роки тому

    Very amazing Laser! Thank’s for the teardown!

  • @WacKEDmaN
    @WacKEDmaN 3 роки тому

    what a beast! cheers Dave
    that springy tube thing.. looks like ya cant actually see through the "coil" it would block any light that is scattered off the output lens..ya dont get 100% pass straight through some is scattered off at right angles.. ...its extra eye protection...the o-rings probably go through to the middle ..for grip on the shaft when mounting....

  • @nameless5413
    @nameless5413 2 роки тому

    remarkably efficient heater, also emits some light for strange reasons .)

  • @SimonTschuor
    @SimonTschuor 3 роки тому +1

    7:23 There's also another acronym for LASER: Looking At Source Erases Retina 😁

  • @bladeronner01
    @bladeronner01 3 роки тому +1

    Maybe Photoninductions will power it on!!

  • @SaberusTerras
    @SaberusTerras 3 роки тому

    I can totally see a partly stripped version of these being used as a prop in a sci-fi flick as a laser bazooka. just like your thumbnail.

  • @jamess1787
    @jamess1787 3 роки тому +1

    "Chargin' mah lazers, shoop da whoop"

  • @Zenodilodon
    @Zenodilodon 3 роки тому

    Loved the amp hour podcast, I recommend listening to it! Just a note/question... why make the beam in the thumbnail edited to be red when they make a more cyan color at the 488 peak or green at the 514nm peak usually?
    The metal tube is probably just an off the shelf metal hi-vac flex hose, but it's job in the laser is to keep the dust and moister off the optics. You don't want to fire up a laser with dirty optics.
    Ion lasers are awesome, I need to own more of them eventually!

    • @Zenodilodon
      @Zenodilodon 3 роки тому

      @EEVblog I am 100% down to chat on an amp hour episode, I have plenty of optical knowledge and anecdotes!

  • @marcelhh2101
    @marcelhh2101 3 роки тому +4

    Dont take it apart, turn it on😂😂😎 Why the hell do all the office in the building have a gaping hole!

    • @simontay4851
      @simontay4851 3 роки тому

      Small problem of no 24KW power supply.

    • @marcelhh2101
      @marcelhh2101 3 роки тому

      @@simontay4851 He has the power supply also somewhere in the storage! Dave showed it in a video. the only thing missing the the controller.

  • @ArnoldSommerfeld
    @ArnoldSommerfeld 3 роки тому

    Perhaps a brief mention of the idea of a population inversion might be mentioned....It is true the internal multiple reflections of the beam inside the laser and the subsequent interaction of the beam with the lasing medium results in an amplification of the beam, but that in turns relies upon the population inversion in the lasing medium...

  • @Orbis92
    @Orbis92 3 роки тому

    I got a small unknown Argon Laser from eBay for cheap like 15 years ago. It had 150mW 448nm for about 850W input... I don't want to sound like "audiofool" but it was beautiful compared to those 445nm diode rubbish ;)
    Those rubber ring spring thingies are just there to prevent dust burning on the optics I think

  • @bsvenss2
    @bsvenss2 3 роки тому

    That thumbnail is rather cool. Would easily buy a printed lifesize one and put it on my wall beside the other nerdy superheroes.

  • @LBCAndrew
    @LBCAndrew 2 роки тому

    I love the AvE sticker on it.

  • @swamidog
    @swamidog 3 роки тому

    point of note: argon lasers don't have red beams. they lase with blue and green lines with 488nm (cyan) being the predominant wavelength. it's all dependent on the optics, but you'll never get red.

    • @hastypete2
      @hastypete2 3 дні тому

      Krypton makes red. A mix of Ar/Kr makes all the colors you need for white light, but at a big cost to efficiency and thus lower overall power.

  • @kevincozens6837
    @kevincozens6837 3 роки тому

    Nice DANGER warning label. :) I'm almost disappointed that Dave probably won't fire up this bad boy due to the power supply requirements.

  • @TinLethax
    @TinLethax 3 роки тому

    This is what I'm waiting for 😤

  • @Ispike73
    @Ispike73 3 роки тому

    The device on the small tube that you called a diode looks like a double-acting solenoid valve. I've seen similar ones on some of the smaller equipment in our lab.

    • @EEVblog
      @EEVblog  3 роки тому

      Yes, someone mentioned that bove in the comments, the tube on the other end contains gas.

  • @MoreCharactersThanNeeded
    @MoreCharactersThanNeeded 3 роки тому

    You should have put the laser braille sticker on it instead :D
    Would have been perfect.

  • @stardustastro
    @stardustastro 2 роки тому

    Thought you were in the TV for a sec lol

  • @mehedihasan6073
    @mehedihasan6073 3 роки тому

    I wished you to fire this thing up. How cool it would have been!

  • @mrtech6644
    @mrtech6644 3 роки тому

    27:35 was gold :D

  • @Speeder84XL
    @Speeder84XL 3 роки тому

    That's a whole new level when it comes to low efficiency, LOL! But cool and interesting laser anyway

  • @TonyFromSydney
    @TonyFromSydney 3 роки тому

    Thoroughly interesting enlightening entertaining stuff you are talking about that I got no idea about what you're saying. but I always like watching your videos anyway because of your joy la vivre and the little bits of stuff I do learn I suppose.

  • @Bluelagoonstudios
    @Bluelagoonstudios 2 роки тому

    This doesn't look like a clublaser, because in the most clublasers, the laserlight goes sideways, and the front is full of optics, like dichroic filters. I'm also not sure, this laser has to heat up in steps? And to cool off the same. I also don't see a bypass, laserlight stays emitted, even if it likes the laserlight is off on the front. I did work for years with such baby's. The black knob, on the front, is a safety precaution. If the laserlight is accidentally emitted, you have that black knob that protect your eyes. The optics in the little tube, is a dichroic filter or a triad (which makes 3D effects), and that change the colors. Green lasers go way further than red. So green it is at night.

  • @00Skyfox
    @00Skyfox 3 роки тому

    Makes my 1.2mW helium neon laser look like a cap gun next to a Howitzer.

  • @luthmhor
    @luthmhor 3 роки тому

    I love that clip of the amplifier lol