PDA

View Full Version : Problems with Epilog Laser Helix 35 watts



ZEUS Renato
10-16-2009, 3:19 PM
I'm new here as well as with Laser Cutting Machines.

I’m in Brazil.

Recently (about four months ago) I purchased an Epilog Laser Helix 35 Watts and not soon after that the laser started to fail in some areas of the cutting. (see pictures on link below).

http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/ZEUS-Renato/?action=view&current=FalhanoLaser4.jpg&newest=1 (http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/ZEUS-Renato/?action=view&current=FalhanoLaser4.jpg&newest=1)

http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/ZEUS-Renato/?action=view&current=FalhanoLaser3.jpg&newest=1 (http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/ZEUS-Renato/?action=view&current=FalhanoLaser3.jpg&newest=1)

http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/ZEUS-Renato/?action=view&current=FalhanoLaser2.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/ZEUS-Renato/?action=view&current=FalhanoLaser2.jpg)

http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/ZEUS-Renato/?action=view&current=FalhanoLaser1.jpg

I contacted the company that sold it to me and they told me that might be the alignment and I did all the alignment which took me a long time to align the lens and after that the laser tube just lost its power and now it won't cut a 03mm MDF board.
It just marks it.

Epilog is trying to find out what happened, but until then, I'm not working due to the laser being down.

And when I was trying to align the laser beam, after the first try, I forgot to remove the target and started the machine and the laser beam burned the target creating a big flame. After that is when the laser tube went weak and wouldn’t cut anymore.

I don’t know if I somehow broke the encoder and the strip. I hope not.

Anyway, has anyone ever had a problem like mine?

I live in Brazil and parts here are expensive and my sister lives in Norwalk-CT and she’ll be coming down here for a visit in five days and I was wondering if she should bring with her a spare encoder and the encoder strip. What do you guys think?

I really appreciate any help, all the answers, opinions and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks a lot,

Renato Batista.

Peck Sidara
10-16-2009, 4:41 PM
Renato,

Welcome to the creek. You'll find great people and great help here on the forum. From your description, it appears the laser beam is very weak but is still firing.

A few things:

* I don't believe the fault is in the encoder or reader.
*As most will suggest, it's likely optics, laser beam alignment, focus or the laser source.
*The Helix has the air-assist nozzle where air blows over the material while it's laser engraving or cutting. Make sure this nozzle is not in the path of the laser beam (sometimes, the nozzle can get knocked out of position causing it to be directly in the path of the laser beam).

*You've indicated that the laser beam alignment was done, but is it correct? Is the laser beam hitting the center of the target in all four corners? I realize the target got burnt, but you'll need to do your best to confirm that the laser beam is hitting near center of the target in all four corners.

*Once you've confirmed alignment is good. The next step is to inspect all of your optics. On the lens carriage, there is the lens (horizontal) and the mirror above it (45* angle). Make sure these two are not dirty, cracked or delaminated. Next mirror is on the left side of the I-beam.

If you're machine is only 4 months old, it's under warranty. Please work with your local Epilog representative on the solution and if you're unable to resolve the issues in a timely manner, send me an email to pecks at epiloglaser dot com and I'll get our tech support group involved directly.

Keep us posted with your findings.

HTH,

Bruce Volden
10-16-2009, 4:42 PM
If it were me I'd make certain (100%) that my mirrors are clean and functional. Also make sure the optics are in tip top shape. As far as the encoder/contrast reader that would give you a different set of problems~not homing, skipping, loss of where the machine is at... Don't give up!!!

Bruce

Scott Shepherd
10-16-2009, 6:51 PM
Just to add slightly on what was said. If you smoked the target for the alignment, that burning plastic could have gotten on your mirror, the last one that bends it down into the lens. Or even onto the top side of the lens.

That would 100% cause it to appear that you have no power. Once that's happened, every time you try it, you are heating the melting plastic up and it will crack the lens. I'd take the lens and mirror out and make sure they are clean and not cracked. It could be a tiny crack, so look close.

I agree, I don't think it has anything to do with the encoder.

Scott Shepherd
10-16-2009, 6:54 PM
Also, if you look at your #3 photo, which is from the top side, the bottom right part, look close. The top of that object is good and clean and sharp. The bottom right, the width of cut has increased noticeably, which is an indication that your lens is dirty. When the lens gets dirty,the beam gets wider (and less powerful).

Norberto Coutinho
10-16-2009, 9:21 PM
Eu tambem moro em Belo Horizonte. Possuo uma gravadora a laser, porem made in China. Sinta-se a vontade para ligar = 25262612. Nao conheço sua maquina, mas quem sabe posso te ajudar em algo.
Norberto

Hi Renato
I stil live in Belo Horizonte. I have a laser engraver, but made in China. Fel free to call me = 25262612. I dont know your machine, but maybe I can help you in something.
Norberto

Rangarajan Saravana kumar
10-18-2009, 11:54 PM
Hi,

The intervention of air assist nozzle to the beam should be the problem,else check optics alignment

Regards,
Saravanakumar

Rodne Gold
10-19-2009, 1:49 AM
Sounds like your flaming target messed things up - check the beam path - was the target anywhere near the laser source itself ? You could have an issue where the aperture lens or whatever they call it , the lens where the beam leaves the laser , is sooted over or damaged?
I don't know these lasers , but if your red beam pointer is aligned with the beam , the red pointer will show if your beam path is being interfered with or if you have damaged optics , it should be a sharp and stong dot.

ZEUS Renato
11-25-2009, 7:17 AM
AGAIN, my Epilog Laser Helix 35 Watts continues not to work.
Hello everybody who answered me.
I tried everything that was suggested from you guys and nothing.
I sent the laser tube back to the US and they sent me another one BUT:
This past Friday, November 20th, 2009, a technician from a city here in Brazil representative from Epilog in Brazil came to the city where I live which is about 300 miles from the city where they live and where I purchased the engraver and I had to pay him about US$450.oo (which is a lot for us here) and even though the engraver is under warranty I still had to pay, otherwise he wouldn’t have come.
Anyway, he came here in other to align the laser due to the replacement of the previous laser tube.
It took him all morning and part of the afternoon and finally he succeeded. BUT, for some reason the laser would not cut (1/8” thick MDF board with speed 10, power 100 and frequency 500) in some areas even though it was proper aligned. And the laser is still miscutting (failing) like before and like the pictures I sent to you guys before.
He even took back with him some boards with some designs that we had tried to cut.
Take a look at this link and you'll see a video that I made this morning of the laser failing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bJMzMWNuFE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bJMzMWNuFE)

It's a 5cm x 5cm square and the laser keeps skipping parts.

The encoder strip was cleaned as well as the lens.

I really don't know what's going on with this machine.

I need a solution fast.
I’m really anxious and looking forward to hearing back from you asap,
Sincerely,
Renato Batista
Phone/Fax: 55 37 3799-1989
After sending this e-mail to the factory in the US, they answered and asked me to send the mother board, the power supply and the laser tube back to them.
They will conduct some tests and if necessary send all new to me.

Dan Hintz
11-25-2009, 7:34 AM
That is way to periodic to be an encoder strip issue. Some possibilities:
1) Your line in the drawing program is set to dashed, not solid.
2) A component on the driver board is failing... it heats up, stops driving, cools down, then starts driving again.

EDIT: As I look at the video again, the first few millimeters are not cut (and the laser is fresh at this point). If the laser has already been "tickled" by running some strong vectors beforehand, that would lean me more towards option 1). If it was a component heating up, the laser should work at the beginning of the line.

Darryl Hazen
11-25-2009, 12:38 PM
After watching the video I think you have the software set to laser engrave dashes. The length of each cut is too uniform to be an intermittent problem.

Brian Jones FL
11-25-2009, 3:36 PM
That laser is positively filthy! I've seen this issue caused by a few things starting with the power supply and the laser tube itself. Never seen this caused by software or dirty lenses/encoders. The only other thing I can think of is really based upon the apparent lack of maintenance and air assist on that laser possibly the belt may be bad/melted/burned in some area causing skipping but I doubt it because in the video the movement was pretty fluid, I didnt' notice any jerkiness. I'd rule out motors or drivers because the problem is so consistent in all directions.

Doug Griffith
11-25-2009, 3:45 PM
I have seen that happen when a closed path set to hairline in Corel had arrows applied. It seems the arrows caused a pattern of variation in line weight. The variation was not visible and neither were the arrowheads.

Larry Bratton
11-25-2009, 5:23 PM
Undoubtedly there is no exhaust system either. Lots of smoke and fumes in there. Looks really dirty. I think you are trying to cut a broken (dashed) line instead of a solid line or at least it sure appears that way. If you don't get air assist working and get a good exhaust system and cleaning system going, even after you get your other problem resolved, you will still have problems occur. Dirty optics can cause lots of problems.

Bill Cunningham
11-26-2009, 9:09 PM
Looks like a programmed Dashed line to me!

Does your pen 'style' look like this..

Rob Bosworth
11-30-2009, 2:24 PM
Zeus, have you tried changing the power and speed settings to see if you can change the skipping? If it is a heat build up issue, then using lower power should allow you to cut longer between the skipping.