Thanks Dave, I didn’t know what the voltage was… and thanks for explaining that you’re treating it like a 40w. All is clear now! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Cliff Jennings said:
He referred to an initial video he made, and this is probably it.
Do you see the diffraction pattern at 1:12? You are seeing the beam of the “tracking” laser in the camera. Note that when he closes the glass, you still see this pattern though the glass! This would infer to me that that glass is letting the laser light pass through.
Granted that the tracing laser (which is way too fat to be of real use) uses a different wavelength than the cutting laser, but for me this would raise suspicions about the transmissitivity of the glass to laser light.
Another PITA is the setting of the “Home” using arrow cursors. This is like trying to uncouple Kadees over magnets when you are trying to get to a certain/the same spot. On the Epilog, it simply disengages the X and Y motors and you manually move the head by hand very quickily with greater precision. The Z-axis (table height) on the Epilog is motorized and can only be used when the X and Y are disengaged.
If you are afraid of escaping laser light, you could buy protective goggles.
David Maynard said:
If you are afraid of escaping laser light, you could buy protective goggles.
Excellent idea!
When you see the laser cutting, you don’t see the red spot. It is way overpowered by the light of the cutting, which is about like watching arc welding except the weld is a bit softer white than blue.
Here’s the responses to my latest round of questions, received sometime last night.
- When I order replacement parts, do you stock them in the US? Or do they come all the way from China?
#1 the spare parts are available in the USA now.
- Do you have a referral or two, that I can ask about their experience with this item?
[no response]
- Does the top window have protective film, to prevent eye injury?
I confirm the top window have protective film.
- For this 60watt unit, is the laser tube truly rated at 60 watt, or 50? Several people say that the tubes have less rating than the power supply, and warn never to run the system at 100%. Can you comment on that please?
the laser tube has 55-58 power because it has power lost etc. [I’m skeptical]
- Should I buy an 80watt tube with the 60watt power supply, to make sure the tube lasts as long as possible? (I’d rather not do that! But I was encouraged to ask).
the machine only work with 60w power supply. [not what I asked…]
- I’ve been advised to install a milliamp meter, if not present. Does the system already have one though?
[no response]
Well, at least it seems to have a protective film in the window, but the goggles seem smart anyway.
Well, running the tube at 50 watts, or less, assuming that it is a 60 watt tube, will help increase its lifespan. And if you can adjust how fast the beam passes over the subject, you can just burn a little longer at a little bit lower power to get just about the same result.
Cliff Jennings said:
Here’s the responses to my latest round of questions, received sometime last night.
- Does the top window have protective film, to prevent eye injury?
I confirm the top window have protective film.
Well, at least it seems to have a protective film in the window, but the goggles seem smart anyway.
- Should I buy an 80watt tube with the 60watt power supply, to make sure the tube lasts as long as possible? (I’d rather not do that! But I was encouraged to ask).
the machine only work with 60w power supply. [not what I asked…]
Does it??? In Chinglish it is hard to know whether he means I confirmed or I will confirm.
Anyway, the goggles are a good idea.
An “80-watt” tube my be “80 watts” because it consumes more milliamps (lower resistance) at the same voltage rating. If the power supply is only designed to put out 60 watts, this may overtax it and you would need to find a way to compensate for this.
I was using the laser today and the same 3/8" piece that I cut with at two passes on setting “4” (of 100) last Friday, today took four passes at “4.” When I noted this, the mantenance tech cleaned the optics, but it still wasn’t like last Friday and I was running two passes at “2” for similar results.
These things can be very “fussy” and as I noted, there can be a lot of time and waste expended.