Correct method of hooking up a chinese laser tube?

[sandro]

Hi all,

I just got my 40w laser tube from love-happyshoppping on eBay. Of course it comes with no instructions, so I thought I'd ask here for any help that is available on the correct way to connect it up.

Here's photos of my tube.

One end of the laser tube.

The other end.

Mine appears to be missing the small hoses that usually come connecting the fittings on each end. Does anyone know if it matters what hose I use? Can I just use the same hose that gets used for PC watercooling?

[bdring]

I suggest using 1/4" ID Tygon tubing. Be careful installing it so you do not put much force on the fittings. I wet them a little to lube them. The tubing that they gave me between those fitting went bad after about 3 month and started to leak so be happy they did not include it. The positive side is the mirror side and the ground side is the beam exit side. I run the water from positive side to ground side. I do not know if that matters much. With a good flow the temp difference is not that much.

Be really careful powering it up.

[r691175002]

I got some 1/4" vinyl tubing from home depot. I was really worried about getting the tubing on the glass fittings since it looks like a tight fit but it was very easy.

Boil a pot of water and take it off the heat.
Cut the length of tube you need to bridge the gap (around 2").
Drop the entire piece of tubing into the hot water.
Slobber all over the glass that the tubing will touch. Seriously, the welding guys taught me this trick. Saliva lubricates really well and dries sticking the tube in place.
Fish the tubing out with a fork and slide it into place. It will be super easy.

Here is the best picture I have of my tube set up:
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/9632/dsc0160ub.jpg

I used red zip ties to be extra safe but they weren't necessary.

[sandro]

Thanks for the information so far, it's cleared up quite a bit for me.

One last question, how are people connecting the power supply to laser electrodes? My understanding is that soldering has the potential to damage the glass tube. Is there some sort of high voltage safe connector or wire clamp?

[bdring]

Do not solder. You will wreck the tube.

Some people use Mill Max pins, but they did not work real well for me.

See this topic

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=43

I prefer to use a wire binding technique. See the build instructions under Wire Tube. (needs a picture)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iVQ ... dit?hl=en#

[macona]

You can also use Fahnstock clips. Also I think the sockets for AMP CPC connectors will slide fit on the tube pins. I need to check this out myself.

[StigOE]

Resurrecting an old-ish post.

Why is it a bad thing to solder the wires to the laser tube? I've seen other places where it is recommended to solder the wires and on the video that accompanied my chinese laser, it was shown to solder the wires when replacing the tube. Does anyone have any experience that it damages the tube or is it just assumtions? If it was damaged, could it be because the electrode was heated for too long?

Stig

[lasersafe1]

It is only an assumption as far as I can tell. The pin was put through molten glass at the time of manufacture, so I personally doubt that you could heat is with an iron high enough to spring a leak, but on the other side of the coin, there is no "need" to solder it. You can simply wrap the stripped wire around it and tape it up. I like to cover mine with hot glue since the hot glue is a superb electrical insulator. You might also find if you try to solder it that it is made of a metal that does not readily accept solder.

By the way, when you hook up the tubes for water flow, make sure the direction of flow around the output coupler is clockwise and the input coupler is counter-clockwise. Of course I should have mentioned that this is only if you live above the equator. It should be the opposite if you live below the equator where the toilets spin counter-clockwise.