epilog laser not firing

[mark lankton]

Yesterday our laser at work stopped firing in the middle of a vector cut. The run we were doing included raster and vector cuts. Towards the end of the run the laser stopped working (suddenly, one second it was cutting just fine, the next, nothing). There was only one file on the laser which we were running multiple times. After the laser quit working it also wouldn't raster. We replaced the laser tube about a month ago. The carriage goes back and forth and as far as I can tell it is just the laser itself which isn't working. I deleted the file from the laser machine and re-sent it, no luck... re-started the laser machine, again, no luck and cleaned all the mirrors and lenses. I have a call into tech support at epilog and I am waiting on a reply. In the meantime, anyone out there have any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Mark

[Ed Maloney]

Mark - Lots of threads here that detail diagnosing Epilog laser problems. Do a search and you will find plenty.

The simplest is the interlock preventing the laser from firing. So check to make sure the magnets on the lid are in place and the front door is closed.

You best bet is to do the search though.

Ed

[Joe Pelonio]

New tubes can be defective, hopefully it had a warranty on it. Too bad for the timing, I doubt they will be working again until Tuesday. It's always good to have a backup person nearby, perhaps another member, that can finish a job for you when the machine goes down and you have a deadline.
I have done that a few times. They never seem to break down when you have very little work to do.

[Frank Corker]

Mark I'm sure the talk with your tech support will put you on the right track. My laser suddenly stopped without warning and had to be replaced, but as Joe says, it is possible for even a new tube to stop although they will point out to you it is rare. Hope you manage to get it up and running soon.

[mark lankton]

Here's an update on our laser problem. Turned out it was the RF (radio frequency) Power Supply unit. The guys at Epilog were great, sent us the new part which I installed today and bingo were back at it.