lens replacement

[glenn schramm]

I have an epilog hellix 45w, i would like to change the lens as i think it has a flaw in it. If i was to purchase a chinese one from ebay? are they good lenses or ?

[Roger Leiva]

My advice is that you get what you pay. Best buy original lenses for a machine as special as the Epilog Helix.

[Kevin Groenke]

I've been tempted by ebay lenses as well but haven't given them a try yet. We get replacement lenses from Laser Research Optics (http://www.laserresearch.net/laser_engravers.asp). They seem as good as OEMs to us. I think about 60% of ULS's list replacement price.

[Rich Harman]

If you can get a lens for around $50, why not try it? It is not going to hurt your machine and you will almost certainly find it to work well.

However, first verify that your lens needs replacing. What flaw do you think it has?

[glenn schramm]

Thanks for your answers, The lens i have in at the moment has a dark spot on it about the size of a match head, the spot is not in the centre of the lens but i have noticed a power drop when cutting 6mm timber. I thought i could try a new lens to see if this has something to do with the power loss.

[Larry Bratton]

Thanks for your answers, The lens i have in at the moment has a dark spot on it about the size of a match head, the spot is not in the centre of the lens but i have noticed a power drop when cutting 6mm timber. I thought i could try a new lens to see if this has something to do with the power loss.

How old is your machine? You might talk to Epilog regardless. The lense from them is probably about $140, but if your still in warranty they might send you one for free.

[Zlatko Kursar]

Yesterday I changed the lens in my Epilog, and the difference is drastic. The old lens was scratched, maybe from etched glass. The new one is from my Shenhui laser ($40).

[Rodne Gold]

I used cheap ZnSe lenses from Shenui in my GCC spirits - $30 or so vs $500 local GCC replacement...they work well , they seem not as durable as the original ,
With staff , despite many instructional sessions , that persist in cleaning the lens with some spit and their shirtsleeve , the $30 option will do well thanks....

[Kevin Aylward]

One thing my salesman emphasized when I got my Helix was maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. He told me that the difference in performance would become evident very quickly when doing a lot of wood cutting/engraving etc.. I do a weekly cleaning of the machine, and so far have not had any problems.
As for lenses . . . Have you tried the 4" lens on your machine yet? I bought one for doing mugs that have handles using the rotary attachment. It gave me the clearance I needed to avoid crashes with the head, and had no noticeable affect on the quality of the engraved image. It did however give me a big advantage when doing vector cutting. I can go through a full 1/2" of acrylic with a 40 watt unit in a single pass. I would call that incredible. But I do keep my optics immaculately clean, and the added distance helps to keep them clean. My stock lens just sits in the box for now.
BTW - If I had an employee that was caught treating my equipment like a cheap toy, he'd be lucky to walk away with only being fired! These are precision optics, and need to be treated as such. Tell him to keep his spit in his mouth where it belongs, and introduce him to a proper cleaning tool like a cotton swab with lens cleaning solution. I used to do photography on a serious level and had lenses that were very expensive. I would never let anyone abuse my optics the way you say he does.

[Rodne Gold]

Well , it's not quite as bad as I made out , we use optical cotton swabsticks and kodak lens cleaner for general grime and acetone for stubborn resin stains etc. Problem is , I run all my lasers all day , every day , so lots more cleaning is involved , in fact its done on a daily basis and often more. However as meticulous as you are , you cannot avoid the damage due to normal wear and tear of using a cleaning regime like that. The cheap lenses were a surprise , in terms of quality , there was no discernible difference tween them and the expensive one , even under a printers loupe.
The key to keeping your lenses clean when working is proper air assist , on any machine I have had , pressurising the lens box or lens nozzle has always led to dirtier and not cleaner lenses , using a tube/nozzle directed obliquely at the cut has always worked better than anything else across brands and models.
4" has a substantially bigger kerf (cut width) and is really bad for any detailed stuff, so its a sort of specialist lens...like in your example.

[matthew knott]

One thing i have found that cleans dirty co2 lenses is (dont laugh) clear (white) vinegar, it removed the really stubborn marks better than acetone and is no toxic and non corrosive, a bottle cost less than a $, try it!!






Well , it's not quite as bad as I made out , we use optical cotton swabsticks and kodak lens cleaner for general grime and acetone for stubborn resin stains etc. Problem is , I run all my lasers all day , every day , so lots more cleaning is involved , in fact its done on a daily basis and often more. However as meticulous as you are , you cannot avoid the damage due to normal wear and tear of using a cleaning regime like that. The cheap lenses were a surprise , in terms of quality , there was no discernible difference tween them and the expensive one , even under a printers loupe.
The key to keeping your lenses clean when working is proper air assist , on any machine I have had , pressurising the lens box or lens nozzle has always led to dirtier and not cleaner lenses , using a tube/nozzle directed obliquely at the cut has always worked better than anything else across brands and models.
4" has a substantially bigger kerf (cut width) and is really bad for any detailed stuff, so its a sort of specialist lens...like in your example.

[Zsolt Paul]

I am currently using cheap chinese lenses and it is just as good as the very expensive OEM ones. I had to do a little retro fitting, but the savings is too much to ignore.