LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

Good evening... sad times, maybe...

So i havent used my laser in about 10 months or so.. Tonight I thought up a nice project to work on, started cutting, and 30 minutes in, poof...
So the chiller is working, and water is cold... good.. laser is not hot, just stopped producing a beam.

What would be the likely causes other than the tube dying?
Is there some troubleshooting steps i should take?
thanks

Tubes don't normally fail like that- I would look toward the power supply or the signal to it. Do you have a mA meter connected, what does it say?

good idea. i can check that.
however i reached out to the MFG of the tube and they said 2-3 years is the lifespan of a tube, given slow leakage of co2, and it has been a couple years. and at times ive driven it hard.

Ryan LaBarre wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2019 good idea. i can check that.
however i reached out to the MFG of the tube and they said 2-3 years is the lifespan of a tube, given slow leakage of co2, and it has been a couple years. and at times ive driven it hard.

co2 laser tube decay slowly, they lose power, but they don't "die" like that : remember there is no mechanical or electronic part in a tube, just gas and mirrors...

power supplies, on the other hand, are full of fuses and electronics and can die suddenly.

no amps on my amp meter at all.
Power supply the likely culprit?

just took the power supply out and took it apart...
The only fuse I could find in there was still good.

Ryan LaBarre wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 no amps on my amp meter at all.
Power supply the likely culprit?

It is likely to be the High Voltage power supply or the wiring. Or a safety interlock.

Are you certain that your water protection circuit is saying that the water/chiller is flowing? Notice how carefully I worded that question. I know you said the water was flowing. But it is not uncommon for the sensor (or its wiring) to be bad.

Do you have any other safety interlocks? Some machines (not mine) come with a lid interlock - the laser will only work if the lid is closed. If so, can you tell if the interlock has failed?

Is there power going to the HV supply? Check the input with a voltmeter. Does the HV supply have LED lights on it? Are they lit when they're supposed to be? Does the HV supply have a "test" button? What happens to the laser tube when you press it?

Note: the HV supply is around 20 - 30 THOUSAND volts. That's enough to make you VERY VERY dead (not just slightly dead). Treat it with great respect, and don't mess with it if you're not experienced with high-voltage circuitry.

The chiller would actually fail if it detected an issue with the flow.. So I think we are ok there... Plus had the laser died from overheating, which isnt hard to do with a 60w tube, then the laser would have been pretty warm after it failed... It was cool.
THere is no lid protection on this machine. So that rules that out.

Ill check the PS for a test button.
So there is no test button on this PS...

I am headed to mexico for a week.. ive ordered another PS, and a tube, ill replace the PS first when I return to see if thats the cause.
I did drive the laser pretty hard for a few months last winter, and my first failure with this machine, was also a PS