Is my tube going?

[David Sabot]

I bought a Pinnacle M-25 laser engraver October 2005. We use it pretty much every day for maybe an hour. We mainly engrave nameplates, glass and wood.

A few months ago we started to notice that it would take more power to produce the same results we got previously. Now we notice that some items we engrave have a striped effect.

I have done a good job cleaning the lenses/mirror and rail. I am not sure if I am missing something, or if it is time to replace the tube. if so, I don't even know where to get such a thing replaced. Any help is appreciated.

[Darren Null]

To give you a better idea, (I'm presuming the laser is second-hand) if you have a look at the laser unit itself there might be a date on it. If it was new in 2005 it seems a little early, but possible, I suppose.

The good news is that you don't need to replace the unit...you can get it re-gassed. This is done by either Pinnacle or the original laser manufacturer (synrad?). Regassing is somewhere in the region of $1000+ I believe; but that's a less terrifying number than those bandied about when talking of replacing a laser unit.

[Bill Cunningham]

You might check the alignment as well, before spending the big bucks..

[David Sabot]

I talked with GCC and they said it would cost $2300 to get the tube repaired at Synrad. That isnt the major problem. What worries me is that it will take 4-6 weeks. I can't be down that amount of time. I thought i would first try to get all the mirrors and lense replaced. Anybody know where you can get aftermarket mirrors and lenses for a Pinnacle Mercury M-25 machine made by GCC?

[Darren Null]

Try talking directly to Synrad. You might get a better result. And that $2300 figure sounds like there's a large chunk of money going elsewhere.

I'm on a different continent, so my experience is likely to be different to yours; but in my experience GCC would need training and a complete company revamp in order to aspire to the dizzy heights of bloody useless.

Lenses and mirrors...they are unlikely to be completely stuffed without there being SOME visual evidence there. It isn't likely to be cheap. Give 'em a well-lit inspection, by all means, but replacing them all just on spec seems a little extreme.

[Scott Shepherd]

http://www.laserresearch.net/laser_engravers.asp

Not sure if they have your model listed or not, but if not, it might be worth a phone call.

[Rodne Gold]

Have you done an alignment?
And secondly , the Synrad agents in your area should have a swap and exchange program , they exchange your old tube for a refurbed one. GCC have a program like this in place anyway...should be way less than 4 weeks. If you cant come right in this regard , maybe it's a cheaper/better policy to buy a NEW tube outright right now.
The pinnacle was marketed by by Sign Warehouse as far as I know and I would approach them first for a solutiion , due to Gcc's licencing with synrad , them 2nd and synrad themselves 3rd.
It might not need replacement anyway , it could be a much simpler fix like a RF board etc.
Its almost 100% guaranteed NOT to be all your mirrors and lenses and you would easily see if they were severely damaged , you might be wasting your time replacing em.
GCC in Taiwan is actually an excellent co to deal with re problem resolution and spares etc - the issue is time zones and distance.