ULS M 300 Questions

[Bill George]

This machine is a 1999 30 watt model, has anyone upgraded to a more powerful tube from ULS? Wonder if the PSU is good for maybe 40 watts and the upgrade charge for the tube?

[John Volkmar]

Hi Bill, a replacement 30 watt tube costs $1,150.00 and you can use the box the replacement tube comes in to return the old one back to Universal. Upgrading to 40 watts is cost prohibitive on that machine, as you would have to pay retail for a brand new 40 watt tube.

[Bill George]

Thanks John

[Art Swander]

I also have an M300 with a 30watt tube. The cost to replace the tube with a 50 watt tube is nearly 5k, and the power supply will also need to be replaced as it is only capable of a 30w tube. By the time everything was worked out, would have been about 1/2 the cost of a new machine, or could buy a used machine for not much more.

[Glen Monaghan]

The manufacturers publicize the "upgradeability" of their machines and I had Epilog and ULS salesmen at shows specifically tout the idea of buying a "starter" (lower wattage) laser and then easily field-upgrade wattage later if/when you develop a real need or desire for higher power. The reality is that the manufacturers treat this is an upgrade versus a repair or maintenance, and therefore in the dealers' domain and won't sell you the parts. You have to buy them from a dealer, generally quoted at the difference in current list price between your lower wattage machine and the equivalent higher wattage machine. When I recently had to deal with a failing tube on my Epilog, I looked into bumping up from 35W to 50W or 60W, but concluded that, if I were to spend that much money, I'd be better off biting the bullet selling the current machine and buying a new machine with the higher wattage along with new mechanicals, bigger bed, and some newer features (such as real job control) that could be pretty nice to have (been day dreaming about a Speedy 300 anyway ;^). However, that wouldn't really add anything new to my shop and there's another new toy, er, tool, that would add serious new capability, so I punted and just replaced the old 35W tube with a new 40W drop-in replacement that didn't require changes to power supply, etc.

[Mike Lassiter]

Hi Bill, a replacement 30 watt tube costs $1,150.00 and you can use the box the replacement tube comes in to return the old one back to Universal. Upgrading to 40 watts is cost prohibitive on that machine, as you would have to pay retail for a brand new 40 watt tube.

what he said!

I wanted to upgrade to a 75 watt when I had to replace my 60 watt cartridge, but you can only get a exchange cartridge of the same wattage as what you have, and then from ULS only if purchased from them. They wanted the serial number of our laser and the cartridge when I ordered the exchange.

[Bill George]

FYI I never purchased the machine, just asking.