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View Full Version : Glass failure on Shenhui water hose inlet - options?



Fernando Cucci
01-13-2014, 9:51 PM
Hello,

I have a shenhui sh-g350. No complaints. Runs well enough. I have about an hour of laser time on it over the course of the last 6 months when I received it direct from Pascal.

Today I went to turn it on and the elbow where the water hose goes in (or out, not sure) blew out. Here are some photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/107526151613209224858/11314?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I just emailed Pascal to tell him the (good) news. What are my options?

It's a clean break. I'm very tempted to JBWeld the glass back on.

Thanks in advance.

fc

Kev Williams
01-13-2014, 10:05 PM
I'd silicone it first THEN use some JB Weld to stiffen it up. As for issues with repairing it, it's just a water jacket that's divorced from the laser itself, as long as you keep water flowing thru it, it should be fine- at least until your new tube shows up

Fernando Cucci
01-13-2014, 10:32 PM
I'm thinking of going with this:

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/sg_glass/overview/loctite-glass-glue.htm

I appreciate your advice, I just want a solution that will cure hard and soundly even in this cold weather. Epoxy (JBWeld) is another option that will do this. I'm afraid silicon won't cure well in the cold and when it does will not hold up as well to water pressure.

David Somers
01-13-2014, 11:45 PM
Here is some other stuff I have had good luck with on the boat when fittings need a quick fix.

It is called Rescue Tape. handles a but under 1000 PSI. 8,000V and 500 degrees F. Self fusing and a waterproof permanent seal. I have used it a number of times on a diesel engine and it has held up great.

I also use a product called Sugru for various repairs. It sticks to most things. Has a 30 minute open time. Takes about 24 hours to cure fully. Very handy stuff, but I am not sure I would use it for just this application. It would be useful for working on things that are sharp or have poor handles or need some modification. Sugru excels at that. The tape may be a better bet the the tube. Both are great repair products though.

Dave

Rich Harman
01-14-2014, 2:33 PM
Here is what I would do:

Clean and dry the broken area thoroughly. Use super glue to reattach the broken pieces. Then wrap with thread or unwaxed dental floss, tack down one end of the thread with super glue then wrap, wrap, and wrap until it is fully covered in the thread - then soak the thread with super glue. It will be very strong and water tight if done properly.

I would be tempted to goop it up with silicone after verifying that it is water tight - for the purpose of reinforcing the fitting (to the tube) without possibly creating a stress localization problem like rigid JB weld might do.

Dave Sheldrake
01-14-2014, 2:46 PM
It's an open flow Fernando, it won't need to hold pressure just to be water tight.The silicone hoses on those connectors are a push fit and don't blow off when in use so the chances of it breaking a good glue bond are remote.Rich's method will work fine.

I'd be more concerned with why it went, that's an unusual place for a DC tube to crack open....

cheers

Dave

Fernando Cucci
01-14-2014, 10:16 PM
Yeah, I've been thinking pretty hard about why it happened as well as how to best fix it. As for fixing, I just applied some epoxy to it. It's a single busted piece and broke very cleanly. I mixed the epoxy, let it sit for a minute, then mixed it again. Put it on the tube lightly and only lining the break, then on the shard and mated them. Just enough extra to flow out of the crack and wrap around a bit. Looks good. I'll test it tomorrow.

As for why. I've got the cutter in my detached garage. It was really cold last week, but the last few days it has only dipped to mid 30s. The bucket with the circulating water is on the concrete slab of the work space. I don't know when the crack happened. Sometime between last friday morning and last night. (4 days of moderate winter weather here -- not extreme last earlier last 2 weeks)

I think what happened was just that the glass had a stress fracture from manufacturing that expressed itself when quickly cooled.

Lastly, I've got Pascal working on a quote to send me a new tube. He said it was 125 plus shipping to BWI airport. He was pretty reluctant to get me a quote. Haven't heard back from him yet.

Anyone else have a good supplier for tubes in the states? 50w. Hoping for less than $250 total.

Fernando Cucci
01-19-2014, 12:37 AM
Well, the epoxy fix worked great. I was able to use the cutter the next night. no issues. I decided to use epoxy because it clearly states that it bonds to glass.

Lastly, 5 days later and still no quote from Pascal.

Walt Langhans
01-19-2014, 9:38 AM
Is it an RECI tube? Also, if you don't hear from Pascal try Joy Yang (haifengshangu@gmail.com) he's tech support but I've dealt with him and he was very helpful. Maybe he can light a fire under Pascal and get things moving for you.

Fernando Cucci
01-21-2014, 1:13 PM
So I finally got a quote from Pascal. $130 for a 50w tube. $250 to ship UPS (EACH) OR $100 to ship by sea.

I'm worried that the ship by sea option will not include customs and that customs will be a lot. I'm also worried about how to pick it up (where?).

Before I move ahead with this, does anyone have another supplier in the states that sells 50w laser tubes for a Shenhui sh-g350?

I'm going to buy 2 tubes.

Thanks,

fc

David Somers
01-21-2014, 2:07 PM
Fernando,

I live and work downtown in Seattle if I can help. I have a UPS store next to my office as well as a Post Office in my building so I could reship it from either location if you wanted. Don't know if that would help you.

Dave

Fernando Cucci
01-21-2014, 9:03 PM
Fernando,

I live and work downtown in Seattle if I can help. I have a UPS store next to my office as well as a Post Office in my building so I could reship it from either location if you wanted. Don't know if that would help you.

Dave

That's very generous, but I don't quite understand. Are you saying Pascal ships it to you? or that you pick it up at the seatle sea port or something?

Do you have any experience working with pascal? He's not very helpful. He did confirm that the $100 shipping does not include tariffs.

Fernando Cucci
01-21-2014, 9:07 PM
Pascal has confirmed that the sea shipping does NOT include customs. Does anyone know how much that would cost? It needs to cost less than $150 for the 2 tubes before I even consider UPS.

Also, he said that it would ship to sea port... he didn't mention WHICH sea port.

I'm really really really not liking our US representative. I know I'm not alone.

Jerome Stanek
01-22-2014, 5:36 AM
they are a little more but Automation technologies has them and shipping in the US is cheap.

David Somers
01-22-2014, 9:54 AM
Sorry Fernando,

I may have misunderstood what you needed. You mentioned not being sure if you should ship by sea but weren't sure how to pick it up? The Port of Seattle is one of the larger ports on the west coast so if it had worked out I was offering to pick it up for you and reship it ground. My office is along the waterfront and I have a nearby UPS I can work with. Probably not an ideal way to do this, but at least it would give you a local person to help out. My thought was I could be authorized to pick it up for you. Once I had it I could reship it via UPS or USPS or other method if you prefer.

I have never dealt with Pascal or Shenhui.

Dave