Sealed tube gas mix...

[WilliamD]

Is this a top secret mix or something? If not, I would be interested in making my own tubes, and not having to worry about other countries manufacturing inadequacies. Just throwing it out there to see if anyone knows.

[Clyde Crashkop]

From 35 Watt Flowing Gas CO2 Laser Tube Kit.PDF
For the gas supply you will need a suitable high pressure bottle of CO2 Laser Mix (Mixture 9.5% CO2, 13.5 % N2, and 77 % HE), a regulator for same with both high and low pressure gauges, and an adjustable flow meter that has a scale of at least 0 to 4 Liters Per minute. All of these items can be purchased from any good welding supply shop. Some can even mix the gases on site, but most will send out your bottle for filling to the required.mixture. Be sure to also ask if they have generic CO2 Laser Mix. Sometimes they carry CO2 Mix on hand that is very close to the percentages above and should be used if available. If they do not have any pre-mix, just have the bottle filled according to the percentage above.

[ViperTX]

Okay guys....you are hurting me....search the internet...search this site....search first then ask for help.

Here's one link...good luck...keep us in the loop.

http://www.altair.org/CO2laser.html

[Chivo]

There 2 types of CO2 LASER:

1)Sealed.-

Gas MIX very complex, because you never have to change the gas mix,(depends the brand; chinese will give you 4 000 hours; good brand "Synrad" will give you 50 000 hours o more, but it will cost you 7 times more )
So, the real bussines here is to create the perfect mix gas, because the gas will recycle for a long time.

2)Flowing gas.-

You can buy the mix gas or you can mix yours.
You will heve to discard the gas mix every time, it doesn't recycle.

[greybeard]

Originally Posted by Chivo You will heve to discard the gas mix every time, it doesn't recycle.

Not 100% correct.
It is possible to recycle the gases, but if it is an economical proposition is a different question. The mix will become contaminated with various breakdown products, and these will reduce the efficiency of the laser quite rapidly.
There are ways to convert some of these back to their original form, but losses will have to be made up continually. This in turn leads to quite a complex "plumbing" system, all of which means more capital to set up. and more things to go wrong.

However, if you can come up with a simple way to remove everything but the Helium, recycle that, and input fresh CO2 and N2, you will have found a way to reduce the major cost of the gas supply.

When you do find it, please email me, because that's my main stumbling block.

Here in the UK the cost of Helium is about five times the price in the US, and the cost of hiring the bottles plus gas mix is prohibitive for the small consumer like the hobbyist, or typical diyer.

John

[WilliamD]

Just to clear up any misunderstandings, I'm well aware of how to CONSTRUCT the tube, just not on exactly what the SEALED gas mix is made of. I know I can get the flowing gas working, but I don't want to have to deal with that. Does Synrad by any chance publish the gas mix and process they use? Apparently it's more of a trade secret, so I'll probably leave it at that. Although, I just found out about the SLS (Selective Laser Sintering), and that looks AWESOME! That would be one great prototyping machine!

[ViperTX]

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/knapp/sealco2.htm

If you're looking for the gas mix of any of the commercial laser companies....then it is probably safe to say that it's most likely a trade secret...but here's some more information....guess you don't really want to search for it?

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserco2.htm