It's the POWER baby!

[John Barton]

Just got a new 100 watt laser today and was very happy to see it slice through all the things my old 80 watt laser wouldn't touch. Life is good again - hope it lasts a while.

Got a question though. The tech said it would help to put a bigger air compressor on the air assist or add a second one that's the same size as what came with the machine and connect it via a Y connector.

He said that when we are cutting this would serve to blast away the charred material and debris.

Now, I know that I have read something on here before about this but I thought I'd go ahead and ask anyway if anyone has beefed up their air assist and if if really helps.

I don't mind spending the money - it's only like $60 more for this but I'd like whatever advice the Creekers have on the subject before doing it.

Thanks in advance.

John

[Mike Null]

I'm skeptical.

[Duane Parcells]

Hi John

It depends on your intended use. I have a 75 watt laser and soon after I started cutting wood it became very clear that a small airbrush type air compressor was not going to last very long. Cutting for any extended period will be outside the duty cycle of a small compressor. I switched to a standard 25 gallon 2 horse air compressor. Now instead of a small one running non stop for a full day with no pressure adjustments, the large one clicks on 4 or 5 times a day and I have the option of any pressure I need. Please read other posts on air assist to help make your decision. If you are not going to "overwork" your small compressor then I wouldn't worry about it. If you are going to do a lot of cutting you might want to consider a standard air compressor. In addition it is a very handy item to have for other reasons, IE painting, air tools, cleaning, etc.
Duane

[John Barton]

Hi John

It depends on your intended use. I have a 75 watt laser and soon after I started cutting wood it became very clear that a small airbrush type air compressor was not going to last very long. Cutting for any extended period will be outside the duty cycle of a small compressor. I switched to a standard 25 gallon 2 horse air compressor. Now instead of a small one running non stop for a full day with no pressure adjustments, the large one clicks on 4 or 5 times a day and I have the option of any pressure I need. Please read other posts on air assist to help make your decision. If you are not going to "overwork" your small compressor then I wouldn't worry about it. If you are going to do a lot of cutting you might want to consider a standard air compressor. In addition it is a very handy item to have for other reasons, IE painting, air tools, cleaning, etc.
Duane

Thanks. I have a small portable compressor like that and the tech did say that it would be much better than the two tiny compressors.

So this then brings me to another question. I have a friend who owns a factory and he has air lines all over the place with guns attached to dust the workstations and clean out the pieces.

Should I buy a larger compressor and put it somewhere in the shop and then run lines to all the stations, laser, paint booth, wood cutting etc.?

[Scott Shepherd]

John, that's exactly what we did. We used to use smaller dedicated compressors for the laser alone, but they ran and ran and ran ,and a little detail that's not on any box or specifications, until you buy it and read the manual is that they have a rated duty cycle and many of them require a 50% duty cycle, meaning it should not run for more than 30 minutes in a 60 minute period. However, we found all our smaller compressors ran more than that (and it eventually did them in). We finally put in a large compressor for the entire shop, it runs all the air, now we just feed that air into a dryer and into the laser and we're all set.

If you do go that route, take note there is a proper way to run air lines that will reduce the moisture from ending up coming out the lines. It's an air line and moisture will happen in the lines, but if you do it right, you'll reduce the risk of that ended up in any of your equipment.

Ask me how I know :)

[John Barton]

John, that's exactly what we did. We used to use smaller dedicated compressors for the laser alone, but they ran and ran and ran ,and a little detail that's not on any box or specifications, until you buy it and read the manual is that they have a rated duty cycle and many of them require a 50% duty cycle, meaning it should not run for more than 30 minutes in a 60 minute period. However, we found all our smaller compressors ran more than that (and it eventually did them in). We finally put in a large compressor for the entire shop, it runs all the air, now we just feed that air into a dryer and into the laser and we're all set.

If you do go that route, take note there is a proper way to run air lines that will reduce the moisture from ending up coming out the lines. It's an air line and moisture will happen in the lines, but if you do it right, you'll reduce the risk of that ended up in any of your equipment.

Ask me how I know :)

Thank you Steve,

So what should I do to keep the moisture down or out?

[Scott Shepherd]

John, here's a good document on how the layout the piping. Read it all and look how it's built. It's built so all low points are nothing more than drains and all air outlets are configured in a way they don't have any "traps" in them for water to accumulate.

tptools.com/StaticText/airline-piping-diagram.pdf

[James Terry]

On the note of adequate air assist, I have been wondering about my own pump. I am curious if this looks like a decent unit. Dual piston is a nice feature, oilless is interesting, and man does this thing get HOT! But it appears to be rated as a vacuum pump which is interesting, or perhaps that is common practice.


http://www.webglider.com/laser/2010/DSC07150.JPG

http://www.webglider.com/laser/2010/DSC07149.JPG

[Mike Null]

I would have some faith in the engineers who designed the system rather than the advice of a tech.

If it's a factory tech who is aware of a shortcoming that's another matter but more is not necessarily better.

[Rodne Gold]

The problem with using one central compressor for all your shop requirements can mean you need a 3 phase machine and Im not sure how easy it is to install 3 phase power it is in your neck of the woods. Its really expensive to get 3 phase to a place that doesnt have it in mine.
We use a single compressor for 6 lasers , 3 pneumatic doming machines , CnC tables , blow off guns , ionising guns , spray painting and sandblasting and needed something like a 12 hp machine , Im no compressor expert but its one of those that goes Doef Doef Doef every now and then , quite a big thing.

[John Barton]

I would have some faith in the engineers who designed the system rather than the advice of a tech.

If it's a factory tech who is aware of a shortcoming that's another matter but more is not necessarily better.

This "tech" is the brother of the owner of the factory. He has installed hundreds of lasers in factories around China.

In China it's not always good to have faith in the engineers. I prefer here to trust the people on the ground who are working with the machines every day. Just about everything gets modified after it's installed and in use in China.

Edit: I wanted to mention that I would trust the engineers at ULS though. I dearly miss my ULS laser. ULS is light years ahead of Chinese lasers in both the machine build and the software.

This new one (Chinese laser in China) we got yesterday though appears to be much better built than the one we got two years ago from the same factory.

[John Barton]

The problem with using one central compressor for all your shop requirements can mean you need a 3 phase machine and Im not sure how easy it is to install 3 phase power it is in your neck of the woods. Its really expensive to get 3 phase to a place that doesnt have it in mine.
We use a single compressor for 6 lasers , 3 pneumatic doming machines , CnC tables , blow off guns , ionising guns , spray painting and sandblasting and needed something like a 12 hp machine , Im no compressor expert but its one of those that goes Doef Doef Doef every now and then , quite a big thing.

I think we already have it. I am not certain what 3 phase is but our Sewing machines and die press have the four prong plugs. Is that it?