Hi Claudio, Your story is amazing: we had EXACTLY the same thing since the last few months. Same laser type, same brand and same symptoms: both the output as well as electric current would drop to zero unexpectedly in the middle of a data acquisition (we usually run at 50 mW / 12 mA). The next day everything would seem normal, but next time problems would arise again. Just as you observed, there is no interlock alert and I checked the water cooling circuit thoroughly. The techs at BD cannot provide a "coherent" working hypothesis for what might be wrong. Some techs say the gas tube is ageing (our Spinnaker was first installed back in early 1995) and we should start looking for a whole new system. Then I noticed a problem with the reset switch, asked to fix it and the laser would be working fine for a couple of weeks. So then the same people at BD advised us to wait before ordering a new device. But the reset switch had probably nothing to do with it all: 3 weeks ago the Spinnaker went comatose: output would drop down after 30 sec in "run" mode. Another BD tech came by and suggested the tube's probably OK, but a problem with the power supply would be more likely (e.g. one of the transistors could be down). So he took the laser to Spectra (Eindhoven, Netherlands) and we haven't heard any news since then. I'm sure they must have a diagnosis by now. I would even expect a quick repair in case it's a power supply thing... or am I too optimistic? I guess we'll just have to wait and make phone calls to BD every once in a while. The thing that surprises me the most is that it takes so long to make a single diagnosis or at least a restricted set of possible explanations. I may be biased by my background as a medic, but usually a combination of symptoms, interview with the user(s) and approriate tests (some already within the cytometry lab) should fit in a sensible standardized flowchart quickly leading to some answers and clearly excluding others. Some expediency from their part is important when you as a user have to look for a budget. Good luck. We'll keep you posted. Karim Claudio Vallan wrote: > Hi, > > I am experiencing some problems with our Spinnaker Laser (from > Spectra-Physics) and would like to ask if somebody can tell me what is > happening. The Spinnaker is a water cooled 1 Watt Ion Laser. It's maximal > output is 272 mW as measured on the multimeter of the remote controller. I > usually use it at 30 mW, where it consumes 7.8 AMP. > > After coming back from Holidays (Laser has been 3 Weeks without running) > the laser started to give troubles. It would turn up, but after a certain > period at 30 mW it just would stop lasing (more than 30 minutes). The same > effect could be reached in a few seconds if turning the power higher than > 150 mW. Though, it did not completely stop leasing, as there were sparks > of blue light generated. The indicators on the remote control did not show > anything unusual even when the laser was sparking (AC ON green / Emission > white/ Sum Fault, Interlock and Water Flow OK). The only unusual thing > which I had noticed was that some weeks ago, when putting the laser at > maximum output it took it some seconds to reach 272 mW while usually that > is not the case. After I let it run for a 30 Minutes at full output this > behaviour had disappeared. I do not think the problem I have has to do > with cooling as there seem to be no problem with the water (Though I can > not be 100% sure). > > BD told me that I have to buy a new laser and while searching money to do > that I replaced the Spinnaker with the second Laser (I am working on a > Vantage), so we can at least work with 3 colours in the meanwhile. But when > I tried to turn on the Spinnaker the next day (just for fun) the laser was > working normal again. On the third day I had again the problems, but just > once, when turning it on a second time it just worked normal. Since then it > seems to have no problems. > > Can somebody tell me what happens? Will I need a new laser very soon? Could > the laser be repaired? Does Spectra-Physics still exist and what is their > address? Is there a good book out there about Lasers with the topics: how > they work, how you maintain, troubleshoot and repair them? > > Answers to any of above questions very appreciated > > cheers > > Claudio > > =================================================== > Claudio Vallan PhD Phone Lab: 031 / 632 88 76 > FACS-LAB DKF Phone Office: 031 / 632 99 68 > University of Bern E-Mail: vallan@dkf7.unibe.ch > c/o Institute of Pathology > Murtenstrasse 31 Insel hosptial area only: > 3010 Bern Beeper: 181 67 59 > Switzerland > ===================================================
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