Coolant temp

[Robert Silvers]

I have gone back and forth with RECI, asking if 10C was better than 15C for either power output or longer life. All they will do is quote from the website which says 10C-40C. Yeah, I read that. I want to know the most optimal temp.

Also they are reiterating that the tubes are tested at 30 mA and must not be used over 28. It does seem hard to believe that they say to not use the tubes at their rated power.

[Dan Hintz]

Also they are reiterating that the tubes are tested at 30 mA and must not be used over 28. It does seem hard to believe that they say to not use the tubes at their rated power.

My S2000's engine is rated for 9k rpm... but if I drove it like that all of the time I wouldn't expect to get 200k miles out of it.

[Rodne Gold]

My S2000's engine is rated for 9k rpm... but if I drove it like that all of the time I wouldn't expect to get 200k miles out of it.

Agreed , if you want to run on the limit , accept the consequences

But I disagree with Dan re the Honda

I had a Civic hatch (not the same as the US civic , 2 door with a slightly modded 1.6l motor rated to 180hp - 9200 RPM limit) I thrashed it to an inch of its life from day one , using the 9200 rpm limiter as a gear change indicator..drove it for 89 000 miles , then sold it on, the new owner who also caned it and drove it like he stole it , it is still currently going at almost 200 000 miles years - the engine has NEVER been opened.
Those motors are indestructible.....amazing that a street motor can do that , I used to go to the race track and watch some of the highly modded stuff pop and f-rt trying to get above 7500 rpm....

[Robert Silvers]

My S2000's engine is rated for 9k rpm... but if I drove it like that all of the time I wouldn't expect to get 200k miles out of it.

For sure - reduced life at the full rated power makes sense. I know there is no budget for this in a Chinese laser, but what would be nice for a US laser is an intelligent monitor like my car has for oil - where it factors in run time and power, and calculates how many hours until you need a new tube.

But to be nit-pickey - they actually say to never operate it at the test power. It would be like Honda saying "Your engine is 200 HP at 9K rpm, but never exceed 8400 rpm.

What would be great is if there were a chart that says "If you run it constantly at 30 mA, lifetime will be approx 900 hours" or whatever it is.

[Joe Hillmann]

What would be great is if there were a chart that says "If you run it constantly at 30 mA, lifetime will be approx 900 hours" or whatever it is.


The problem with that is getting that information would be expensive. They would have to run several of every type of tube they make at every possible combination of mA settings and water temps for years on end to see at what point they fail.

Also I would assume most tubes would fail for other reasons so the chart wouldn't be anything more than a guess.
There are many ways a tube can fail. Most of the failures have nothing to do with what settings you use.

The tubes have helium in the gas mix, helium can leak right through glass. So a tube just sitting there can go bad that way, you can argue that higher temperatures inside the tube will cause the gas to expand and allow the helium to leak out faster.

The tube could be bumped and cause one of the mirrors move slightly.

The tube could be bumped and crack.

Something could short out inside the tube and cause arcing.

You could have a water leak and run the tube dry and over heat.

With that said, you have a Chinese machine, tubes are cheap. If you budget for having to replace one every three months and have a spare on hand it won't really matter. Run it at high power, make money and don't worry how long it will last.

[Robert Silvers]

With that said, you have a Chinese machine, tubes are cheap. If you budget for having to replace one every three months and have a spare on hand it won't really matter. Run it at high power, make money and don't worry how long it will last.

Oh - is that what people do? The cost of the tube is small compared to the money lost by running more slowly, so you just run at a high power and don't mind if it lasts 1000 hours?

If a tube is $500 and lasts 1000 hours, that is only 50 cents an hour.

Running it at 70% power to make it last 10,000 would would save 45 cents per hour, but you would lose about 30% in time, and have to pay employees about 30% more to babysit - which could be $10 extra to save 45 cents.

[Joe Hillmann]

That is what I do, but my tubes are much more expensive.