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View Full Version : Vectoring probs



glenn schramm
01-14-2013, 4:39 PM
I have an epilog helix 45w, I have been cutting 3mm mdf. The laser was cutting for about an hour when the laser decided to stop lasering but was still moving then it would cut a bit more then stop cutting again. I turned the machine off for about half an hour. Worked fine after that, but i only had another 20 mins of cutting left then. Could this just be the laser got to hot. I was catting at 100% power. The room temp was around 28c. Or is the laser tube getting week. ? Can anyone give me some info on this thanks.

Steve Clarkson
01-14-2013, 4:59 PM
My guess is that it's the tube........that's what happened to mine.

Joe Pelonio
01-14-2013, 10:36 PM
My guess is that it's the tube........that's what happened to mine.
That's what mine did before the tube died completely, but it didn't correct when turned off and cooled.

Mark Ross
01-15-2013, 11:04 AM
I have Epilog EXT's so I can't state for certain what might be happening with yours but ours does some funny temperature related things. Keep in mind that in the manual it tells you what the operating temperature range for the machines is. Operation outside those temperatures are not guaranteed.

Our machines are near bay doors. During the winter, during the weekend when we don't work and the shop is allowed to cool down (electronic thermostats), the shop is brought back up to temp before start of the first shift, but when the lasers are run, they don't fire right away (too cold). After a few seconds they start firing and work right all day long. So during the winter, the very first job we run, we run for several seconds then stop it and start it over.

During the summer, when we are hammering on the machines 12 hours a day (we vector cut 95% of the time), and it is so hot that the AC in the shop struggles to keep a comfortable 82 degrees or so, the lasers eventually will stop firing every so often. The fix is that we have big box fans pushing air right against the openings of the cooling fins on the laser, and it solves the problem.

If you are just seeing this for the first time? If your laser assembly has cooling fins and you have never blown them out, I'd start there.