How the competition replaces a CO2 tube

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23

I’ll summarize in simplified terms, if I understand what @Sam is apparently so in an uproar about:

  • In the video they use Teflon tape
  • @Sam surmised that the use of thin tape was primarily because of the fragility of the CO2 connector, with a passing possibility of providing insulation from RF radiation at the wire connector itself, and very little chance of anything affecting the switching of the laser
  • I never disagreed that fragility was a possible reason, I recognize that given the thin nature of teflon tape… I just never acknowledged his public revelation. But in response to his question of “How and where would other plastics store a charge?” I raised the topic of ‘Static Electricity’ in answer to his question, either hoping he’d be familiar with the subject to see the relationship.
  • I admit I do not know the voltages and amperage involved with CO2 lasing, but various tapes have limitations that are well documented. Common electrical tape is one of them, making it inappropriate. One attribute I didn’t mention at the time was the rigidity of the tape itself, but I digress.
  • @Sam highlights that multiple layers adds a cumulative insulation for voltages. I agreed.
  • I mentioned the Tribolectric effect (at first without citing it by name) in which and had concerns charge/discharge is a factor in image quality, but no specifics because I had no experience relating to CO2 lasers or their specific power needs. @Sam at this point begins to want far more information than either of us can first-hand cite (even though he won’t admit it), except quoting web sites.

So @Sam, I apologize if you felt I was being condescending in tone towards your inquiries, but that wasn’t my intent. I truly, legitimately, have no time to research what you ask in order to engage you in a debate about the answers you seek. But realizing that neither of us had first-hand experience on the questions you were asking, I suspect your enthusiasm is less about seeking answers and more about being seen as the winner of any debate. (Edit: grammar)

24

I had almost spoken up at @dan_berry’s first response to speak toward the physics of the matter. But I couldn’t see anything in particular either of you said that would be strictly incorrect, and don’t have enough experience to be confident in saying these effects are quite minor. But I wanted to chime in at that point, because I did see the first post by @dan_berry as a bit unintentionally condescending, and predicted the thread evolving as it did. Hopefully everything has died down now (and I am not fanning flames)

Anyway, I am quite confident that the teflon tape is used 98% because of the fragility of the glass tube, and the other 2% because it is really hard to get anything else to stick in any reasonable way.

Using electrical tape is difficult because you need to keep the wire with the power strapped to the lead which goes into the tube. The multiple wraps you make to keep the wire in place make the electrical tape unable to reach (and thus stick to) the main post. Or with few wraps of the wire, you can too easily slide the wire right out under the electrical tape.

But… and this may be partially because of poor glass quality in chinese laser tubes… those tubes break to a stiff breeze. Look at them wrong, and you have a crack. So the easier any material is during that phase of attachment, the better. (I am overstating the fragility to a degree, but this is how you start to treat them after you do manage to break one doing something you thought was completely safe)

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29

Thanks for stressing the potential fragility of a laser tube.
Nothing like the voice of experience.

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