Red sail x700 power dropped by half

[jarrod lineberry]

I pushed the test button and it was only 8mA still. Does that mean the psu is bad? Can the tube be bad? Is there anything else I can try.?

[Dave Sheldrake]

sadly it could be one, the other or both

If a "50" watt tube is pumping 62 watts then there is a problem anyhows, that would lead me to think it's likely the tube BUT a bad tube can take out a PSU as well (and the PSU is pumping too much current to get 60+ watts from a tube that has a ceiling of a realistic 45 watts. If you do fit a new tube then the current will need to be adjusted via the tiny screw hole POT next to the test button.

CXheck all the connections first though, a loose connection can also cause a power drop very quickly...when a tube or PSU goes bad it usually happens over days not minutes or instantly

[jarrod lineberry]

The laser has less than an hour burn time on it. Surely even it if was set too high it wouldn't go out that quick, would it? It seemed to happen all at once. It's odd to me that it dropped down but didn't go out. Would a loose connection most likely be on the high voltage wire. Is there a troubleshooting procedure?

[Bill George]

Like Dave said you might have 40 watt tube that is/ was overdriven. Welcome to the world of Chinese lasers with no support and maybe you have a warranty and maybe not. If the tube measures 1 meter long or 39.5 inches you might have a 45 watt tube. A true 60 watt tube is 49 inches long or 1250 mm.

It could be a loose connection however, would not hurt to check.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Surely even it if was set too high it wouldn't go out that quick, would it?

I've seen cheaper overdriven tubes die in minutes

[hugh bunker]

Just had a similar problem with my re-badged redsail 60 watt, turned out the ground had vibrated a little loose. It is inside the lower right hand side door. It was still snug but not tight. I tightened it up and all was well.

[jarrod lineberry]

I checked that and couldn't find a problem. I did away with the 110v converter and it is doing better, but still not as good as it was before. It is at 38w and using 10-11mA. I wonder if it was way overdriven and it caused some damage to either the tube or power supply.

[Bill George]

I checked that and couldn't find a problem. I did away with the 110v converter and it is doing better, but still not as good as it was before. It is at 38w and using 10-11mA. I wonder if it was way overdriven and it caused some damage to either the tube or power supply.

I think that has already been covered and we are assuming you have checked all connections.

[jarrod lineberry]

Problem was cause by the power supply having the ground and one AC leg swapped at the factory. It burnt a tracing on my power supply. I can't believe it worked at all after that.