When the tube dies...

[Barb Macdonald]

Does it just quit:? Like immediately? From testing a piece of gravoply by raster this morning (just fine), the rastering immediately went "fuzzy" for the actual job, so of course I stopped and cleaned the encoder strip and rails and mirrors, and started again. Now the rastering won't even show, and the vector setting just gave me a black line... Focus is fine.

sigh. Planning to move the shop soon, really didn't need the extra expense staring at me.

Here's hoping it's something stupid, and not the tube.

I have an epilog legend ext 60 watt, bought in '06. Been working awesome for quite some time, however I had noticed I needed to slow down my speed for 0.25" thick acrylic, had to use the 0.375" settings. I haven't been using the machine daily, more like weekly. I wonder if that was an issue too..

ANYway, cross fingers for me please.
Thanks:)

[Rodne Gold]

If you have suddenly gone to about 1/2 power and then no power , it's most likely blown RF boards , which is genrally a cheaper repair than a new tube.

[Mike Null]

That is the same performance as I experienced when my tube gave out. Fairly rapid degradation ocurred but I would certainly check Rodney's suggestion if you can.

[greg lindsey]

As someone who just replaced his tube yesterday, I can tell you that when mine went out, I was losing power rapidly. I went from cutting acrylic in one pass to having to make as many as eight in the middle of a run. That being said, I was really unaware that I was not putting out the power I thought I was. After replaceing the tube, it was like a eye opening experience. I had not ever had a brand new machine before, so I really had no comparision, but wow what a differance. Before the new tube I was running steel tags w/ cermark at 10s 100p, today those same tags are running at 80s 100p.

[Barb Macdonald]

Thanks all, spent most of the morning on the phone with epilog, tube it is, indeed:(
Serves me right for trying to start at 6am.

It will work, with higher settings. I was supposed to do a job with cermark, now I don't think so, I've had to run it at 100 power whenever I have done it before. Ah, well. Thanks, all!

[Mark Sipes]

When my Trotec went out..... It just required a CO2 Recharge........ Everything else was working... A recharge is a whole lot cheaper than a Tube.... Or is this just an Epilog thing where you don't have a recharge option just a tube replacement?

Mark

[Bill Cunningham]

Well Barb. One thing good is the tubes have come way down in price from a few years back.. I have been putting away a % from every job for the last few years, and I replaced my tube almost 4 years ago. I have more than enough on hand to replace it again, but hopefully it won't be for a while yet.. I have to buy a new truck, before I have to buy a new laser (I hope!)

[greg lindsey]

Well Barb. One thing good is the tubes have come way down in price from a few years back.. I have been putting away a % from every job for the last few years, and I replaced my tube almost 4 years ago. I have more than enough on hand to replace it again, but hopefully it won't be for a while yet.. I have to buy a new truck, before I have to buy a new laser (I hope!)

Bill, keep putting away the money for that new tube. Prices have actually increased drastically, a year ago my tube was 2500.00 from epilog, I pd 3500.00 last week for that same tube plus s/h. The increases were discused in another thread.

[Bill Cunningham]

Bill, keep putting away the money for that new tube. Prices have actually increased drastically, a year ago my tube was 2500.00 from epilog, I pd 3500.00 last week for that same tube plus s/h. The increases were discused in another thread.

I think I paid between 1200 and 1300 for my last one (supposed to be 35 watts).. I don't remember the thread about increased tube prices.

[Jiten Patel]

Can you guys not recharge like Mark mentioned?

My 30w would cost €1100 which is about £800 ($1300ish) to recharge.

[greg lindsey]

Can you guys not recharge like Mark mentioned?

My 30w would cost €1100 which is about £800 ($1300ish) to recharge.

Recharging was an option,the costs were about 2100.00 for a 60 watt tube. I found two companies that have the capabalities, PhotoVac and Evergreen, both were about the same price, but they had 10-15 day turnaround times not including shipping times. Epilog had me a new tube in 1 day, I couldn't be down with that machine for that long, it would have cost me the difference in lost production. Plus with epilog's tube I was getting a tube that had been gone completely through by the Mfr, new electronics, new red dot, new collomater and new combining optics. plus at the time I wasn't sure if it was the RF or the tube, which meant, had I sent the other companies the tube and the RF had been the problem I would have been out the recharge plus the cost of an RF (2700.00) with Epilog had the tube been checked as good they would have given me a full refund on the new tube and we would have replaced the RF. BTW, I learned that if a 60 watt tube is only putting out say 55 watts, all the companies considered that as needing recharged. I'll learn later this week what my old tube was actually putting out, when Epilog ck's it out.

[Bill Cunningham]

I asked Epilog to let me know what my old one was putting out, but they never got back to me on that.. At the end, I was trying to engrave white/red Rowmark, and the engraving was turning brown instead of red.. I figured it was down to a couple of watts..