Is it safe and possible to use a lower power laser supply, say a 60W power supply for, say, a 90W CO2 laser tube? I know we need to keep the mA down during operation so we don't shorten the tube life. The downside of a lower power power supply is that you won't likely get full power from your laser. But, isn't it true that you can run your laser with this lower power supply just as you would run a matched supply at lower output to conserve laser tube life--especially if you don't need full power. I would appreciate someone clearing this up for me. I had trouble finding a thread that addressed this so I apologize in advance if this has been covered plenty before.
Thanks again for any help.