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View Full Version : Mercury Laserpro L-15 questions



Terry Albrecht
09-11-2012, 8:45 PM
I have the opportunity to purchase a Mercury Laserpro L-15 used of course from a trophy shop. It has been sitting for about 9 years. He has never really used it and he bought it from a sign shop. My questions are how powerful is this machine. In doing awards and trophies what limitations would it have. Do you know if there are still parts available. What would be a good offer for this machine. He is being very nice and really hasn't thought about a price to ask. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Richard Rumancik
09-11-2012, 10:43 PM
It would have been 15 watts when new - but the tube is pretty old. Even if it was not used much it may need regassing. If it is a Synrad tube you could ask Synrad if they still refurb the tubes but I'm guessing not - so it would mean having to go to a third party if the tube needs regassing. Also some of these early GCCs tubes had capacitor problems on the RF boards. You might be able to repair this yourself. If it can still deliver 15 watts it would be okay for marking acrylic and wood trophies and plaques but it would be very slow to do any cutting with it. As far as repair parts you would have to ask GCC America as to what parts are available. It is pretty hard to put a price on it as it is mainly a gamble - a mainboard change might cost 500-1000 and a tube a few thousand. My feeling is that the tube could go at any time so whatever you offer has to account for this. Sometimes used Synrad tubes come up on eBay for $1000-$2000. BTW 15 watt was a bit unusual - I think most were 12 watt and next step up was 25 watt. But GCC did make some 15 watt machines. If you had to buy a new tube you would probably be better getting 25 or 30 watts to make it useful. That might take a power supply change though ($250-500). Overall - I think you might be better looking for something newer unless you get it for <<$1000 to experiment and are prepared to write it off if something goes.

Mike Null
09-12-2012, 7:54 AM
I would be reluctant to buy this machine given it's age. GCC has never had the best reputation for tech support and parts supply in the US. That said, their machines seem to be of good quality.

At 15 watts it will be slow in rastering and extremely slow in cutting and with a limited field of materials that you can engrave.

Rodne Gold
09-12-2012, 8:33 AM
15W isn't that bad..we had a 12w loaner tube when my (long since sold) 30W Mercury's one died. We got bye quite well....
They are great workhorses.. a little slow compared to modern machines , nothing much goes wrong , you do have to replace rollers now and then.
If the motherboard goes , it's almost 99% sure to be the X motor driver chip , it's $12 to replace.

Personally , I wouldn't buy a machine that has stood for 9 years...you might be real lucky and get it to work right off the bat , but you could also be in for $3-5k expense to get it right and you still end up with an old machine...

Terry Albrecht
09-12-2012, 10:30 AM
I just have been looking for something to get into the game. He also has 2 matching epilog machines, one with a bad mother board and the other with a bad tube. I think this machine is 25w that we might get one of the two running. I know this isn't a preferred way of doing things but it is going to beat nothing for sure. It aslo comes with the rotary attachment and computer with corel on it along with print drivers etc. All of this is a crap shoot. Assuming you would buy this would $1200 be a reasonable offer?