Overheating problems/question

[Steve Kelsey]

Overheating question: My laser has been progressively getting more sensitive to overheating. These last few days I have to shut down at least once an hour to give it time to cool off. I've got plenty of air circulation around it. I've even added an extra fan blowing behind it to disperse more air. I've thoroughly cleaned the tube and other components. My question is what would cause this to happen more frequently? Is the age of the laser a factor? Does anyone have any ideas on what other things I might check?

I have an 40W Epilog Mini 24.

Thanks for any/all advice

[Joe Pelonio]

As I recall on that model the tube is cooled by pulling air through the front vents and out the exhaust, while the internal fans cool the electronics. It could be that your exhaust duct is getting clogged, or the fan is slowing down or not powerful enough. When I run mine, placing a plain sheet of printer paper against the front vents will cause it to stay there from the suction.

[Mike Lysov]

It seems you have some problems with built in air cooling fans. As Joe suggested you air cooling system can be clogged with dust. Check out fans and filters and clean them.
I run one 100W laser air cooled and another 280W water cooled. I do not have any problems with overheating even when it's +35 degrees C in my workshop.
The water chiller I use for the 280W one keeps water temperature under +20 degrees C all the time.
It will be up to +41C for the whole next week. I will see how both lasers are working.

[Steve Kelsey]

Thanks, all. I've cleaned everything thoroughly and double checked the exhaust. The exhaust does pull through the cabinet just fine and the cooling fans seem to be doing just fine, too. I guess I'll call Epilog in the coming days if it is still an issue.

[Kev Williams]

I'm not sure what the laser assembly looks like on your Epilog, but my NH laser is encased within what amounts to a large aluminum heat sink with cooling fins running the length of the assembly. The space between the fins can fill with dust & cobwebs & such which will block the airflow. The air will blow AROUND the fins but not thru them--