Noticed that Dan did go back an edit the original March update Announcement. Thanks, for that.
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Yes although rather than under a misc heading in a forum announcement it should be an email to all customers when a major feature is dropped. I am happy to fit my own tube at my own risk but I can imagine a lot of customers are not, so losing the easy drop in replacement could be a big blow.
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Maybe eventually they can make the laser tube rechargeable from the small CO2 cartridges that are available at retail stores everywhere (for bicycles, pellet guns, etc.) or maybe the larger cylinders for paintball guns.
Then there are no tools, no additional parts to be manufactured and shipped, no waiting, no coolant lines to deal with, no handling the tube, less risk of breakage, less worries of alignment, reduced waste, etc. Oh and less cost.
For the cost of one laser tube replacement you can have a hundred CO2 charges.
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It isnât just CO2, it is an exotic mixture of gases.
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Rechargeable CO2 lasers have a longer existence on the market than disposable tubes, so the mixture is available in the wild regardless.
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Correct but theyâre generally metal tubes and far more expensive due to having to withstand the rigors of recharging & handling. If youâre a heavy user they can make sense but youâre still not recharging those at home - you send them to a recharging company. The glass tube is the laser printer cartridge of laser engravers.
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not to mention those recharges tend to start around $1500, and can occur as frequently as every five years - so all this pricing is near to standard.
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After looking around online a little bit I ran across this link. Yep, looks like the glass tube is the way to go.
http://www.laserlowdown.com/articles/the-three-rs-of-laser-tubes/
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As always @dan and the glow crew are top notch. Thank you for listening and responding with expedience and finesse.
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iâm not sure thatâs necessarily the case, but itâs definitely the right choice for a laser for under $10,000, it seems!
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That was my thinking as well. Unless itâs got something to do with separation of the gasses within the tube over time or something like that.
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Donât know if it is true, but a physicist once told me that when energized, a laser or neon sign shows non negligible quantum tunneling derived losses of gas molecules.
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I had never thought of that but it makes perfect sense.
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Does quantum tunneling work over macroscopic distances like the glass thickness of the tube? I thought it was over microscopic distances.
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Not certain, although I know some are saying some macroscopic phenomenon are just large scale manifestations of quantum scale events, namely the ER=EPR crowd.
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My limited understanding is that the distance can vary with energy levels so Iâm rating this as possible until our resident physicist chimes in and shoots it down.
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Hadnât been tracking this thread for a couple of posts. But on short review of the conversation at hand, it appears to be the question is, does the laser lose gas via quantum tunneling.
Unfortunately I have neither direct nor calculational experience anyhere near that field. Quantum Tunneling is typically approached in terms of energy requirements and electrons. Moving full molecules through solid barriers is rarely addressed as more than âWell, the chance is not zeroâ response, outside of those few people doing experiments with that specific phenomena.
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I thought it was gradual decomp of CO2 to O2 and CO as one of the factors.
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In searching for info on laser shelf life, I ran across a comment that itâs a combination of leakage at the electrode/glass interface, and corrosion of the electrode thatâs impacting laser life.
I wonder if Glowforge could look into tube refurbishment, and offer people the option to have their old tube refurbâd and sent back (or to just buy a refurb tube when you need a replacement for a discount.)