Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!sunic!tut!kaakkuri!kp74615
From: kp74615@kaakkuri.tut.fi (Karri Tapani Palovuori)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Kludged Laser Power Supply
Message-ID: <13494@etana.tut.fi>
Date: 7 Jun 90 12:40:50 GMT
References: <5395@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> <2667547f-214.1sci.electronics-1@vpnet.chi.il.us> <5452@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> <808@sagpd1.UUCP>
Sender: News@tut.fi
Reply-To: kp74615@kaakkuri.tut.fi (Karri Tapani Palovuori)
Organization: Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Lines: 27

In article <808@sagpd1.UUCP> jharkins@sagpd1.UUCP (Jim Harkins) writes:

>Too bad my He-Ne tube quit
>lasing and I'm too cheap to buy another.

Try immersing it into pure Helium (from balloons, for example). This is
a known (desperate) method to repair 'aged to death' HeNe -tubes.

If the reason for malfunction in your case (in your tubes case  ;-)  )
is the slow leaking of helium through the tube walls, this could work.

A day or so should be enough to let some He 'leak' back into the tube.
Remember that the atmospheric pressure (which you should use) is MUCH
greater that the partial pressure of He in the tube, so also the change
is much faster.


>-- 
>jim		jharkins@sagpd1
>
>I hate to see you go, but I love to see you walk away.


Karri


Not in my case, I hope.