What Happens if the Tube is Run with Excessive Current (>10 A)?
There are at least three issues: • Power supply may not be rated for more than 10 A. This is the least important as power supplies can be repaired, but they can be expensive to repair. As an example, FETs for the Omni-150 type power supplies rated at 450 V are typically $25 each and you need 2 plus some for spares. Some of the transistors used are industrial and available only in large quantities to manufacturers. And, when a power supply, it likely takes out more than just the transistors so the expense may be much higher. • Most lasers use a similar cathode and because they run off 110 VAC are all set up for similar parameters in the tube design, one of which is how much current you can ram down the tube before metal/other junk starts sputtering off of tube parts onto the Brewster windows, etc. So it is best to keep the current down until you get a manual to know exactly what the limits are. 10 A is the maximum current for most tubes today. If you had all lines going, you’d do roughl
