I noticed some arcing at the cathode of my laser tube. Is that normal? Video is below
Doesn’t look right, that’s for sure.
Do you use anything in your coolant, such as antifreeze?
How long has it been operating?
It’s distilled water with a dash of dish soap and a dash of algicide. It was recently changed when I first noticed the arcing but it continuous even after the change. I don’t remember if that arcing has always occurred though because I never went looking for it.
I have experienced something similar “nervous” flash from my first C02 laser tube, but here it was only in the lower power range, as if the “ignition” needed more power to stabilize. (it’s not the right wording, I know 
Do you experience it at all load stages? and what do the results look like? can you use your laser normally?
I think your water mixture is ok.
My worry would be that the arc is going to the coolant, making the coolant ‘electrically hot’ along with anything else it comes in contact with.
I don’t have a lot of experience with these tubes, arcing or not, but with other tube I would think the cathode should be at ground level and any arching would most likely occur at the anode or ‘hot’ end of the tube…
This sounds strange, but are you quite sure of the complete power supply path from the lsp to the cathode? Ensuring adequate grounding, is part of that.
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