At 10:21 PM 12/18/96 GMT, you wrote:
>It's the end of the year and that means it is time to renew the service
>contract
>on the confocal... For the external laser (Omnichrome Ar/Kr 488-568-647) I have
>to
>pay 4500 CAN $, is that fair ? What is the average lifetime of such laser and
>the
>cost for a new one ?
>
>TIA.
>
>Hugo Dilhuydy.
>
>

Hugo,

$4500 seems like a fair amount that you are probably paying to have the tube
replaced with a "recharged" one for the Kr/Ar laser. We had our tube
replaced by ILT last year for about the same amount although I am not
familiar with the Canadian to US conversion. In most cases with the Kr/Ar
lasers you will have to replace the tubes every year depending on use. In
the past we have gotten anywhere from 300 (sometimes you get a bad one) to
1000 hours of use for each new recharge replacement. I have seen on a post
since your message that ILT now guarantees their lasers for 1500 hours for
$11,000. This price I think, is for a brand new laser which includes the new
tube and housing. I am not sure what their guarantee is for replacement
tubes but ours has been going for 500+ strong.

Usually the first line to go on the lasers in the 647 line. The 488 and 568
line can last longer and if you aren't using the 647 line much, you can get
by longer without replacement although the 488 and 568 lines also degrade in
intensity but not as fast.
The post about a Kr/Ar laser lasting over 2000 hours is something I think
that is very rare as we have never had a Kr/Ar laser last much past 1000
hours of use with ALL three lines still functioning correctly. Improvements
may have been made to Kr/Ar lasers since our last replacement, but I have
yet to see them.

Good Luck,
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