Laser not firing

[Steve McKee]

Okay, so Monday night I was making some rubber stamps. Everything seemed to be okay though there was a lot of dust being kicked up. Tonight I went to use the machine and it would not fire. Thought maybe the lid wasn't closing enough to engage the magnets but that doesn't seem to be the case. I've opened a support ticket with Epilog but thought I would ask here too. Anyone have any ideas what else I could check?

Thanks,
Steve

[Darren Null]

Completely and utterly not firing?

I'll assume you've done plugs and fuses and the machine is lighting up and the head is moving around etc.

Are you sure it's not the doors? Do you have a 'door open' light? Could there be something in the way stopping the door closing properly? Could a magnet/connector/wire have fallen off?

Have you knocked the machine hard enough to knock 1 of the mirrors completely out of alignment?

Have you managed to get enough guck stuck to the lens/mirror to crack it?

Is the laser firing? Get the case off; check all plugs, leads and connectors. Put a post-it pad between the laser and the first mirror and try to burn a hole in it (test mode is good if you have one, but you can always set up a fake job with a single letter). Please note if you're doing this, that your laser beam may not be going exactly where you think it is, so make VERY SURE your eyes and the beam/reflections CANNOT POSSIBLY meet. My wife still hasn't forgiven me for the scorch mark on the wall.

This has happened to me; and in my case it turned out to be a capacitor
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65590&highlight=laser
...Are you under warranty?

[Steve McKee]

That's correct, completely and utterly not firing. I've checked the fuses, etc. that I know about. Yes, there are two led's under the cover that light up when closed to indicate the door is shut, they go off when it's open. Haven't knocked, pushed or in any other way moved the machine around enough to knock anything out of alignment.

[Darren Null]

On to more alarming things then. Lenses, mirrors, connections and laser unit. Sorry. You can still hope for a loose connection at this point. Check all of them. Also; if you have a circuit tester; while you've got the case off and are checking connections and checking the laser...see if you've got power coming from the laser power pack. Check for any fans that should be spinning, but aren't.

[Joe Pelonio]

How long did you try running it before determining that it wouldn't fire? Do normally go two days without using it? Sometimes it will take a while running to get the laser to fire after it sits a few days. Look for threads on "tickle."

[James Stokes]

Have you checked your power supplies?

[Steve McKee]

Darren, everything seems to be working, except the laser won't fire. All the fans are running, etc.

Joe, I let it run several minutes. Last summer when we were on vacation it sat idle for 12 days and started up almost instantly. It typically sits for a few days at a time, not a lot going on right now.

James, see answer to Darren.

Thanks guys, appreciate the input,
Steve

[Peck Sidara]

Steve,

I think the guys have everything pretty much covered and I'm almost certain you've already spoken to tech support this morning.

Some suggestions though:

Make sure your machine is booting up properly (very basic but equally important), power on, beep, carriage moves to rear, left, then into home position.

Place a piece of masking tape over the "window" optics in the back right hand corner. Curve the masking tape so that it doesn't actually touch the window optic. The Window optic is where the laser beam enters the cabinent. Run a quick vector job and see if you get a laser beam there.

With the machine turned off and unplugged. remove the top back rear panel and check the power and data cable to the laser source.

Inspect all optics for delamination, cracks etc.

Tech support will ultimately determine the cause and the above are likely some of the questions/requests they'll ask.

HTH,

[Darren Null]

Did you do the post-it pad test? If you've checked for a beam directly out of the laser unit, then your laser unit is stuffed. Obviously.

Complete and utter sudden failure would seem to eliminate a need for regassing....that's usually gradual I'm told.

If you've checked the power supply to the laser (circuit tester- make sure there's enough power and voltage coming out to make your particular laser happy(manual). Should be DC) and that's OK then it's the laser unit itself. About now is when you triple-check the dates on any warranty documentation you have.

If you're feeling brave, you can take the laser unit out of the machine; get the case off and have a look to see if there's anything obviously wrong. Alternately, if you're under warranty, leave it alone and let the techs deal with it. In my case when I got to this point, I got the case off and the blown capacitor was easily identified by the scorch marks.

Disclaimer: I'm assuming a vague technical competence when I urge you to get the case off. Don't lick anything inside. Etc.

[Garrett Nors]

Don't lick anything inside. Etc.

Hahahahaha!

[Larry Bratton]

My EXT fires NP after sitting a week sometimes.

[Steve McKee]

Thanks to all for suggestions on what to check, etc. After 2 calls with tech support at Epilog, and testing, cleaning, disconnecting and reconnecting, etc. they've pretty much determined it to be the RF board(I think that's what it's called). So looks like we're going to be down for a while, can't afford $1900.00 right now.:(

Steve

[Darren Null]

That's what I was told too. My problem was a €3 capacitor ON the RF board; which I replaced myself. Not without trepidation, I'll admit, particularly because I'm rubbish at soldering and usually manage to add some part of myself into the circuit. But it cost me €3 and I'm still going today.

Have a look here again:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65590
...and decide if you're up for DIY. There are issues with RF tuning, but I ignored them and got lucky.

Who makes your laser unit? Synrad for me, and again I was lucky...I contacted them directly (after getting absolutely bugger-all help from GCC) and they helped tremendously. They were well within their rights to blow me off, as my laser is a GCC OEM unit; but they gave me a much better idea of the risks I was playing with by DIY.

Epilog WANT you to buy an RF board. It's easy and nets them a few quid. But if you're brave enough to go off-piste you do have other options. Don't give up.

I know exactly how you feel. Been there. You have my complete, 100%, unconditional immoral support. There's also folks on this board who are much more knowledgeable about electrickery than me.

[Rangarajan Saravana kumar]

Hi,

Sometimes back, suddenly my laser didnt fire, I was clueless

I was told by Epilog that the RF would be the culprit

As my RF is out of warranty, i opened with hesitation, saw a soldering gone clearly, luckily i soldered again , got rid of my problem got saved 1900 USD that time

See if you can try , if your RF is out of warranty

Regards,

Saravana kumar
Epilog legend 75w