Humungo 30 watt laser - not 30mw - questions

I am asking for help on this as I have a chance to buy it but I don't know much about it. Pictures below. It's a 30 watt (yes watt not milliwatt) laser. It does not have a power supply so I want to know if one can be found for it or built (I can build power supplies but would need to know some output specs for it). That is a AA battery next to it for size comparison. Any other help on what this was used for etc. would be helpful too. Is this thing even legal to buy?? Thanks

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is it a gas laser or a dpss laser? also, where are you purchasing it from? any idea as to where it came from new?

red\green ?

wow thats powerfull

It's a CO2 laser, it's marked on it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
The power supply will be huge, thousands of volts...
And you have to cool the laser head with a water circuit.
You can look at Sam's laser faq, there is certainly some schematics of power supply...

ahh didnt look that much into it... just at the MASSIVE laser lol... yeah youve got quite a task on your hand finding a supply for that thing... try one of the major manufacturers like CNI... im almost positive they will have something for you..

SuperBert, I'm not very knowledgeable on lasers at this point so I don't know what a dpss laser is. It says CO2 on the label but I assume that it may need CO2 to keep it cool beyond very brief power up. I'm not sure what color it is but it says "Invisible Laser radiation is emitted when open" (the shutter) It also says Class IV Laser product on it if you can't read that on the pictures label. Also says 'continuous and pulsed' on the label. The other label on it says 'Directed Energy, Inc.' and 'Model L25T-PI'

sbk - Is Sam's laser FAQ's on this forum somewhere or ?
Superbert, Can you let me know what/where CNI is?
Thanks for the quick responses!

http://www.eio.com/public/lasers.2001/0262.html

just something i read on a forum.. dont know if thats you !
But the guy says:
The head model number is L25T-PI and the power supply is P400-AM.

I'm also interested in whether anyone has any thoughts on what this might be worth. BTW it's not on Ebay - I just bumped into someone and started talking flashlights when they saw my Arc hanging on a carabiner and that lead to talking about lasers. When he told me about it I asked if I could take some pictures and write down info before deciding if I wanted to purchase it. I don't know what I would do with it beyond try it out very very carefully but might offer it up here eventually.

liteglow, thanks - not me but I'll try contacting him to see if he has more info on it. They guy that has it now said he picked it up at a big electronics surplus store.

www.cnilaser.com .... you will need to contact them via email to get any price quotes and model info... just tell them what you have.. give them all of the specs and be very specific... i hate to say it, but keep the proper english to a minimum, they have a hard time with translation i think.

This is a very powerful and very dangerous laser.

It's a CO2 gas laser, emitting invisible infrared radiation. 30 watts of IR is a hell of a lot of energy, easily enough for cutting / burning / welding / starting bush fires. Also enough to blind and seriously injure should it get reflected in the wrong direction!

Power supply - as stated by others, you're well into the thousands of volts to get this baby going, and you'll need a specialised power supply - not something you'll be able to pick up in your local Maplins, unfortunately.

And yes, cooling is going to be needed.

Be careful with this - this beastie is no toy!

Thanks badhorsey - I had assumed all of that and not sure I even want to deal with it but if I can get it running or resell it as is it might be worth it. Not saying what I can get it for but it's potentially a deal I think /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Keep in mind large unidentified tubes from junk stores tend to get battered around some and that CO2 lasers are built with somewhat fragile glass envelopes and cooling tubes.

I'm not certain, but I've read that the power supply packs enough juice to kill you.If you don't have experience start smaller and read up. Another place to post is Google Groups alt.laser. Like the previous poster said "this beastie is no toy!"

comozo, Thanks - I'm a tech. class HRO and have played with high voltage supplies - radio, neon, Tesla and so on - also wired my own house and installed a large inverter - not really new to dangerous voltages but other than little handheld lasers I've never been around anything like this. As badhorsey said even a reflection off something from this could be real trouble. I'll check out alt.laser - Thanks

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif I thought I would be scrolling all night to reach the end of that laser....

IR Lasers are only good to observe on CCTV equipment...that way the beam would be visible...I imagine that cutting is the only application for this.

Unless...hmmm, we get on to Casix and ask them for a humongous Nd/KTP MCA for 532nm.

We're looking at serious distances for a green laser like that...LOL /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

A used 30W CO2, I wouldent pay over 200.00 myself. The power supply is pretty straight forward, HOWEVER. If it is a DC bias tube, it can be powered by high voltage AC. The presence of a BNC connector looks like it might be set up for RF excitation. A RF PSU would be more complicated. The CO2's I worked on (3500W) were cross flow CO2, Meaning a large chamber with CO2 laser gas mix, and an upper and lower electrode. The gas would ionize between these two rails by alternating DC at 5Khz or so, and the beam was generater in this plasma. Sealed tubes are easy by comparison. IIRC CO2 sealed tubes CAN be excited by AC. And yes, water cooling IS needed, cool tap water at a few liters per minute should be sufficient.
Jeff

OH yes, from my marking days.... YAG (1064nm) mark good on metals. CO2 (10600nm) are needed for plastics and organics ie wood, paper... Eximer (>400nm) is for glass.
Jeff