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Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 1:37 pm
by Doug Coulter
Yep, it was.

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:04 pm
by Jerry
Got a few Xenon arc lamps.

ImageUshio xenon mercury lamps by macona, on Flickr

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:34 pm
by Jerry
Awww crud, they are argon filled, not xenon.

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 11:17 am
by Doug Coulter
You could test for that with a glow discharge, low current with a ballast and just check the color of the glow. If you keep the current way down (a few ma) then you'll see mainly the fill gas and not much mercury spectrum. I know the navy did make some super high pressure ones with xenon, to use in searchlights -- whiter light and they start faster.

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 4:59 pm
by Jerry
I used my high freq spark generator for testing for leaks in glass and it is definitely argon. I even got one to fire up that way. Put 40v DC on the terminals and used the HF to ignite it.

I also looked up Ushio's patent on the lamp and it specs argon as the atmosphere. Basically these lamps are a short arc version of the lamps on an outbuilding with the same color light.

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 6:33 pm
by Doug Coulter
Oh well. I think the super high pressure mainly means that you get much whiter light (at full power) due to spectral broadening, and of course more of a point source, but no groovy gases, sigh.

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:44 pm
by Mark Bickley
BTW as for Tanks/Cylinders
Check with your locate military surplus as the goverment makes them replace them alot and they just end up in surplus
but u might want to get a group of people to buy some. as most the time they are bulk only not single.






Glassblowers do it hotter -Quartzshop

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:12 am
by Roberto Ferrari
I see with some surprise the difficulty you have to get small quantities of noble gases.
Recently I ordered from
Advanced Specialty Gases
135 Catron Dr.
Reno, NV 89512
Ph: 775-356-5500
Fax: 775-356-5571

a lecture bottle of spectroscopical-grade Krypton.
They charged 350 $ for the gas, 250 $ for air freight to Buenos Aires plus 100 $ for hazardous material.

It was straightforward!
Roberto

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:31 pm
by Doug Coulter
I've bought from them too - some neon, and it was very expensive for a good sized cylinder. Most of the issues here are our government regulations or the fear of them for domestic sales. A lot of things like that are not done as easily as going to the hardware store and buying a hammer at retail, and are only done company to company here - with accounts, credit, a lot of setup. And many people who haven't run a business find the paperwork and setup pretty daunting - and don't know how to do the "social engineering" to appear "right" on the other end of that kind of transaction so it just goes smoothly and normally. Kind of funny that way because most of the regulations don't apply to things being exported - the government wants exports and doesn't really care if something bad happens in another country - but is afraid of blame for something that happens here. I wouldn't mind having a few liters of krypton myself (or xenon) but...Not so bad I pay that much for it right now. As it turns out, I have some high pressure bulbs of either - just have to rig a way to break them in a vacuum system and extract what comes out of the pumps.

Re: Suppliers of rare gases?

PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:41 am
by Roberto Ferrari
Right, got it!

Now I experienced some of that policy...

Epoxi TorrSeal-like cannot be exported without a special permit because some countries registered it as "irritant".

Yes... an irritant policy!