oh my poor laser
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019
this has been a long time since i have used my laser. the guy who owns the place and can use the laser in exchange had said it had problems... hard to cut, too much smoke, poor focus. he had tried to setup mirrors without obtaining a better result.
well, actually, the nozzle was covered of soot, same for the red-dot. a black-thick-crusted soot. not good.
the air assist connector was almost burned. the plastic partially melted. definitely not good.
started cleaning the mess, the lens was "smoked" and beyond redemption. the pipe bringing the air flow was "crusty" and the connector fell in piece when i disconnected. i assume too much heat botched the pipe.
well, after some cleaning, i started air assist, and nothing came from the tube... at least a clue. the small compressor under the table had moved due to its own vibrations, and the pipe was twisted! so, no air assist.
it has been difficult to restore air assist : the main pipe is probably a 8mm pipe, while the connector should be 4mm. there was a small length of smaller pipe to connect everything, but this part was too burned and disintegrated when disconnecting for cleaning. clearly a chinese hack, why would they not use a connector of the good f.ck... size??? of course, i had no replacement, and no caliper to measure correctly. i ended cutting the end of a syringe to connect the parts, which was mainly ok.
after setting up a new lens (always have a spare!), new 3rd mirror, and reconnected the airflow, the machine was in good shape. now cutting at standard power with efficiency.
shopping list : new mirror, new spare lens, new air connector (once i can measure the size of pipes), new pipe, some acetone to finish the cleaning.
to-do list : reassess to my co-laser-user that when something is wrong on the laser, it should absolutely be repairing it, not trying to continue using the laser until definite breakage!!!
well, actually, the nozzle was covered of soot, same for the red-dot. a black-thick-crusted soot. not good.
the air assist connector was almost burned. the plastic partially melted. definitely not good.
started cleaning the mess, the lens was "smoked" and beyond redemption. the pipe bringing the air flow was "crusty" and the connector fell in piece when i disconnected. i assume too much heat botched the pipe.
well, after some cleaning, i started air assist, and nothing came from the tube... at least a clue. the small compressor under the table had moved due to its own vibrations, and the pipe was twisted! so, no air assist.
it has been difficult to restore air assist : the main pipe is probably a 8mm pipe, while the connector should be 4mm. there was a small length of smaller pipe to connect everything, but this part was too burned and disintegrated when disconnecting for cleaning. clearly a chinese hack, why would they not use a connector of the good f.ck... size??? of course, i had no replacement, and no caliper to measure correctly. i ended cutting the end of a syringe to connect the parts, which was mainly ok.
after setting up a new lens (always have a spare!), new 3rd mirror, and reconnected the airflow, the machine was in good shape. now cutting at standard power with efficiency.
shopping list : new mirror, new spare lens, new air connector (once i can measure the size of pipes), new pipe, some acetone to finish the cleaning.
to-do list : reassess to my co-laser-user that when something is wrong on the laser, it should absolutely be repairing it, not trying to continue using the laser until definite breakage!!!
