Disassembly of imagesetter containing Class IIIb laser

[Chuck_Revised]

I have not began taking the imagesetter apart yet. I'm looking for safety guidelines in regard to the laser and capacitator(s) (if any). The unit has been unplugged for a week and not used in 3 months. I have an operator's manual, but not a service manual. The manufacturer is uncooperative (I wonder why..).

Is the "laser radiation" referred to in the op. manual only generated when power is applied? If so, to confirm my analysis, there is no danger, unless a charge is retained somewhere in the system?

Do capacitators retain charges indefinitely? How do I safely dissipate the charge in a capacitator (with no regard to the usefulness of the cap. for its original purpose)?

As I tear it down, I photograph the parts and circuit boards.

Thanks for your help!

 

[lazersteve]

Chuck,

The laser is safe when the power is removed.

The only caps that pose a threat to your safety are the large can style electrolytics. They typically are found in the power supply sections of the unit. You can discharge them with a low ohm (10 ohms) value high wattage wire (5 watts >) wound resistor shorted across the positive and negative leads.

Steve

 

[SapunovDmitry]

What type of laser was it?I used to deal with lasers,so maybe i can help.
I hope it's not a dye laser.Because dyes like rodamine or some others are really stinky(not dangerous but stinky),and they are hard to wash off the clothes.

 

[Chuck_Revised]

Steve... thanks! Does a cap retain a charge indefinitely?

Dmitry....

It's a visible red laser, used to expose photographic, silver-based film in an imagesetter for commercial printing purposes. It'll be interesting to take it apart. I'll probably leave the laser assembly alone at first.

It's a 1997 unit costing originally $30,000 and up, so it may have some PMs. The unit weighs approx 160 pounds, mostly metal.

I'll post some photos as I go, probably with some ID questions too.

 

[lazersteve]

The caps can hold a charge for varible lengths of time. Be safe and discharge the larger ones as a habit.

The laser sounds like an old low wattage HeNe variety, or a solid state diode variety, both are pretty common.

Steve

 

[macfixer01]

Steve... thanks! Does a cap retain a charge indefinitely?

Dmitry....

It's a visible red laser, used to expose photographic, silver-based film in an imagesetter for commercial printing purposes. It'll be interesting to take it apart. I'll probably leave the laser assembly alone at first.

It's a 1997 unit costing originally $30,000 and up, so it may have some PMs. The unit weighs approx 160 pounds, mostly metal.

I'll post some photos as I go, probably with some ID questions too.

My previous job was working 7 years for Heidelberg and I had a few years before that doing service for graphic arts retailers. Heidelberg had bought out Linotype I guess a year or so before I started with them to get into the postscript imagesetter market. I have also worked on some AGFA imagesetters such as the Accuset and Studioset. There is nothing to worry about with a typical visible HENE laser imagesetter as long as the power is off. The larger capacitors in the power supply perform filtering functions, and they're part of a circuit so charges bleed off quickly after the unit is powered off. You're not likely to find too much in the way of PGM's other than the typical edge connectors and header pins except maybe on the oldest units like the Lino 330.

The big old Linotype-Hell film recorders which were pre-Postscript and operated coupled directly to a drum scanner may be a better bet. I didn't work on them myself, and I don't recall what I was told was contained in the laser tubes on those. I do recall though that they had to be shipped Hazmat. I'm thinking it was rubidium? Those also had a lot of large circuit boards, and a good sized backplane with some wire-wrapped pins. The old Linotype-Hell drum scanners too had a similar complement of boards.

Their vertical drum scanner (Tango) still used photomultiplier tubes but was much more modern electronically, and had little visible gold anywhere. Most of the electronics were contained on one large Maxi board. The newer CCD type Heidelberg scanners such as the Topaz or Nexscan would not have much to offer from a PGM standpoint either.

macfixer01

 

[Chuck_Revised]

Thanks MacFixer! I see where you get your handle. This unit is a Prepress Panther Plus. I just sold a working Agfa StudioSet 2000 (infrared laser, mfd in 1990). I operate a typesetting co. and am getting out of film output. The Panther needs repair and wouldn't eBay, so I'm going to scrap it just to get rid of it.

 

[Anonymous]

Post Deleted

 

[SapunovDmitry]

I fully agree with the previous post. Don't break the 30000 $ toy :wink: .It can be useful for some people,dealing with such stuff.
As for me i've never seen HeNe laser that costs 30K.They are typically 1000-3000$.
Can you post it's photo?

 

[Chuck_Revised]

It's not a HENE laser, for sure; the HENE use a different kind of film then I did. The $30,000 was a guess in 1997 prices. This unit was on the leading edge of technology in 1997 (but no more!).

I haven't torn it down yet... probably tomorrow. I'll post pics then. Right now it's just a box from the outside. But I'm not intending on breaking the laser, just disassembling the unit for scrap purposes.

Thanks for your suggestions! Can I find holographic and CNC hobbyists on eBay? Or would you have more specific ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

Chuck Revised PM me.

Copy with quotation marks into google "holographic forum" same here "cnc forum" then from what you learn from these searches you may have found yourself a new hobby to go along with refining precious metals.

 

[macfixer01]

It's not a HENE laser, for sure; the HENE use a different kind of film then I did. The $30,000 was a guess in 1997 prices. This unit was on the leading edge of technology in 1997 (but no more!).

I haven't torn it down yet... probably tomorrow. I'll post pics then. Right now it's just a box from the outside. But I'm not intending on breaking the laser, just disassembling the unit for scrap purposes.

Thanks for your suggestions! Can I find holographic and CNC hobbyists on eBay? Or would you have more specific ideas?

Chuck,
For low end capstan imagesetters (even some drum imagesetters like the Herkules and Signasetter), helium-neon lasers were common. Otherwise it's probably an IR laser diode. Still no great shakes compared to what's available today. I see much higher wattage laser diodes for sale on Ebay all the time.

macfixer01

 

[SapunovDmitry]

It can be ruby laser as well. And the price is ok for that one.
You were speaking about capacitors?
There are some huge ones in laser for flash lamp operation.
Does it have a water cooling?
If yes it is probably not a HeNe.
If you post the image i will say what it costs for sure.

 

[lazersteve]

If it's a powerful enough ruby laser (YAG - Yttium Aluminum Garnet) it's has many uses. These lasers are found in many industrial marking systems.

The bank of capacitors from the booster pack are 4-6" tall and a 1-2" across. The booster pack in one of these lasers can kill you if you get zapped by it.

You can tell a YAG laser by the flash lamp cavitiy and a set of Galvos (motorized palno mirrors for directing the beam) on the exit end.

Another feature of the powerful YAGs is the Q-Switch unit located behind the flash lamp assembly where the laser rod is housed.

Steve

 

[macfixer01]

It can be ruby laser as well. And the price is ok for that one.
You were speaking about capacitors?
There are some huge ones in laser for flash lamp operation.
Does it have a water cooling?
If yes it is probably not a HeNe.
If you post the image i will say what it costs for sure.

Guys, imagesetters create an image on photographic film, we're not talking about etching metal here. Think milliwatts! I have never seen or heard of an imagesetter using a ruby or yag laser. That's not to say there may not be some ancient hulk out there that used one.

Some of the early platesetters like the Gutenberg (for imaging directly to aluminum printing plates) used more powerful lasers. But present computer to plate (CTP) systems are using semiconductor lasers like the violet laser Prosetter and Supersetter. It's only effecting the coating on the surface though, not burning the metal.

macfixer01

 

[SapunovDmitry]

Well..... It's another option. And i fully agree because i've never dealt with holographic lasers.I've just made a guess.
But we are talking of something that we haven't seen.
As for me, i am eager to see some photo and everything will be clear then.

 

[lazersteve]

Macfixer,

I have to agree, YAGs are for heavy duty laser etching, not light duty, so it's unlikely the laser is a YAG.

If he could provide a photo or some spcifications of the laser that would narrow down which laser type it is.

I think Demitry (and myself) was looking at the price and matching it to a particular type of laser. It's hard to imagine a piece of equipment that cost $30K using a relativly cheap HeNe or an ultra expensive YAG.

I strongly suspect the laser is a diode variety.

Steve

 

[Chuck_Revised]

Here's one photo of the interior of the imagesetter. The laser itself is mounted on a heavy steel "carriage". The ICB in front on the right provides power to the laser. You can see the connector to the ICB from the laser above the ICB and to the right. If this post works, I'll post more photos.

 

[Chuck_Revised]

In the first photo in the center is a large lense! About 4" in diameter.

 

[Chuck_Revised]

These are pics of the power supply board. The first is of the left side, note the 2 caps about 2" tall on left. Directly above them (circled in red) is a gold-appearing structure, maybe a heat sink? Could that be gold plate? It sure doesn't look like brass...

The second pic is the right side of the power supply. Are the circled items the brown caps that contain tantalum (sp)?

All comments appreciated! Now time for lunch, then back to work.