As the fear sets in...

[greg lindsey]

Well, I know most of us are in the same position, the fear of the day when the laser stops working. Of course it would happen when the shop is loaded with work.

Worked all weekend to try to get caught up. Laser was working fine... then all of a sudden I could no longer cut 1/8" colored acrylic. Checked all the usual suspects, cleaned optics, mirrors and checked alignment. Alas after attempting several passes I was able to get through enough to make it work.

What I noticed was, when running at 100 pwr the beam was actually skipping, turning off and on, no real set pattern, would cut for 1/4" and then skip an inch or so then cut 1/2" then skip again then cut for 4" and so on...but when lowering the power to say 80 it would burn a nice beam consistantly, no skipping, but not as usual with the power. My belief is it is the power supply, maybe the RF. Not thinking the tube, if it was losing power (gases)it would be skipping it all power levels.

Currrenty waiting on the powers at Epilog to discuss the issue and get back to me.

Just throwing this out there to see if any of you may have experienced this.

This is on the EX32 60 FYI.

[James Terry]

I like this idea and think that it should be turned into a discussion of what to look for as the laser begins to fail.

[Rodne Gold]

Slotted engraving at high powers and power falling to 1/2 normal is generally indicative of a RF board failure , normally 2 of em in a tube. Once one goes and you down to 1/2 power , its generally not far off that the other one fails and the tube is dead.

[Doug Lynch]

We had the same problem last week with out Epilog. Turns out the cooling fans (or what controls them) was confused and not running at the speed they should have been and the tube was overheating. Re-booted and all is fine now. Same thing could have happened if air flow was not up to par, dirty or whatever.

[greg lindsey]

Ok, Epilog has determined it to be the tube..85% sure, 15% is could be the RF as the two are seperate in this unit. Epilog will replace the tube at a cost of 3,500 and if it's not the tube, make a full refund and exchange the RF for 2,700. Or, Photo Vac has offered to recharge the tube for a cost of 2100.00, but they would be recharging my old tube, so if's RF thats bad, then it would still be the additional 2,700 from Epilog, can't find these things used. What to do, what to do...oh my brain hurts today. It's not like I'm shut down, it's still cutting romark fine and engraving ok, just leary about doing cermark parts.

[greg lindsey]

We had the same problem last week with out Epilog. Turns out the cooling fans (or what controls them) was confused and not running at the speed they should have been and the tube was overheating. Re-booted and all is fine now. Same thing could have happened if air flow was not up to par, dirty or whatever.

I was hoping that was the case, because I was running it hard, all day, but, I tried it first thing this morning and same thing.

[Ron Hartl]

Good luck Greg, let us know what you decide.

[Rodne Gold]

RF replacement should NEVER cost $2700 - on my synrad and coherent tubes RF issues are more like $800- $1000.
What brand of tube is it? If its a generic , speak to tube suppliers/mnfgrs.. might be cheaper to send it to them. We recently had a tube die , machine suppliers said it's DEFINITELY the tube , synrad disagreed and synrad were right. It was a machine issue.
I paid $4000 + for a replacement 30w coherent tube It only came with a 6 months warrantee and it failed on the 7th month - no recourse. At that point , I decided , "b---ger that"... I am now replacing all my machines as the tubes die with Chinese machines , their whole machine cost me less than a mainstream tube. I have opened a tube before and considering whats in it , I think we are being royally ripped off....

[Dan Hintz]

RF replacement should NEVER cost $2700 - on my synrad and coherent tubes RF issues are more like $800- $1000.
And considering what's on the RF boards, I would think $100 + handling fees is more than adequate. It's about $5 in parts (including board) for those things :(

[Martin Boekers]

And considering what's on the RF boards, I would think $100 + handling fees is more than adequate. It's about $5 in parts (including board) for those things :(

Dan is there a place that can test and repair a board?

[Martin Boekers]

Ok, Epilog has determined it to be the tube..85% sure, 15% is could be the RF as the two are seperate in this unit. Epilog will replace the tube at a cost of 3,500 and if it's not the tube, make a full refund and exchange the RF for 2,700. Or, Photo Vac has offered to recharge the tube for a cost of 2100.00, but they would be recharging my old tube, so if's RF thats bad, then it would still be the additional 2,700 from Epilog, can't find these things used. What to do, what to do...oh my brain hurts today. It's not like I'm shut down, it's still cutting romark fine and engraving ok, just leary about doing cermark parts.

Is the $3500 for just the tube or does that include the core deposit?

Can't someone test the board and the tube to find which is at fault?


WoW replacing a tube and a board at a cost of $6200.00 and that is
subtracting core deposits?

That's something!!!!

[greg lindsey]

Marty, the 3500.00 is without the core, however if i send the tube in advance with a UPS tracking number they will waive the deposit and deduct 200.00 for a cost of 3,300 plus frieght both ways. epilog and photo vac both test tubes, both are more 350.00 for that service, if I remember correctly, didn't ask about the RF, * note to self* call and ask. I'm not happy about the cost but I couldnt replace the machine for that either, it is in remarkably great shape considering...it came with 2 brand new rotary's and a new vector grid (which could be for sale).not the rotarys.



Is the $3500 for just the tube or does that include the core deposit?

Can't someone test the board and the tube to find which is at fault?


WoW replacing a tube and a board at a cost of $6200.00 and that is
subtracting core deposits?

That's something!!!!

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I have to agree with Rodne. We are getting ripped off.

[Ross Moshinsky]

These kind of threads make you appreciate rotary engravers. I just emailed New Hermes to find out how much a replacement tube is for our machine. It's been showing signs of needing to be replaced and I have a feeling they are going to quote me a ridiculous price. I might have to follow Rodne and go looking for a Chinese machine.

[Robert Walters]

If you have to send the tube in, why not send in the RF board at the same time.
Let THEM test both and determine which is the problem child.


If there are two RF Boards like Rodney mentioned, one might be able to grab a meter and compare the two.
Same goes for power supplies.

Might even do a sniff test to see if anything smells burnt around the electronics.
Look to see if any caps are leaking or bubbled up on the circuit boards.
The tops should be perfectly flat:


http://www.eventlogblog.com/blog/2008/01/18/Bad.jpg
See if there is any black charring around the PCB's.

Might just check that all cables in the laser are connected securely too.

Just simple suggestions that might help isolate the problem.

[Martin Boekers]

Marty, the 3500.00 is without the core, however if i send the tube in advance with a UPS tracking number they will waive the deposit and deduct 200.00 for a cost of 3,300 plus frieght both ways. epilog and photo vac both test tubes, both are more 350.00 for that service, if I remember correctly, didn't ask about the RF, * note to self* call and ask. I'm not happy about the cost but I couldnt replace the machine for that either, it is in remarkably great shape considering...it came with 2 brand new rotary's and a new vector grid (which could be for sale).not the rotarys.

So when you send your "bad" tube back you'll get a core deposit back at least. On my 75watt
core deposit was $2700.00 not sure what yours is but should be substantial. You may have
misunderstood that the core deposit is only $200. I would double check that.


You might be able to have the board checked locally, check with a local electronics shop.

You know it is tough when things go down and sometimes expensive (ok most the time it's expensive ;-(
still it's hard to take a percentage out of each job to cover these moments. Someday, like an extended
warrenty the manufactureres may sell just an extended policy for the the "drive train" tube and boards.
That way for a set operating expense you know you are covered on the big ticket items.

Someday.

[Rodne Gold]

The issue with repairing RF boards (which is cheap , we got components and instructions from synrad for little money) is that the 2 boards have to be tuned , that requires some equipment we didnt have , like an scope and an off board laser controller. I have a pal here who has repaired and not tuned , but his boards do fail far more regularily and the laser doesnt operate at its highest rated wattage but a bit under that , but its not too much of an issue