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Jack Lilley
03-18-2016, 8:23 PM
I recently purchased a 2001 Epilog Legend 32, 50watt machine. Since the people I purchased it from do not use electricity I had no opportunity to try it and it has been in storage for 4-5 years. The deal included a dell computer with windows 2000 and an older version of corel. I was able to get the thing fired up tonight. Everything works fine except that it will only faintly darken the wood I am trying it on. I suspect the tube needs to be replaced. Am I correct assuming this? I was quoted over $1,800 for a new tube from the nearest Epilog dealer who is over 300 miles away. He said the tube is to old to be recharged and will need to be replaced. Are there any other options for replacing the tube? If I replace the tube will I be able to update this machine to newer software? I did get a decent amount of work in the deal when I bought the laser and it is work that will always be there so it should pay for itself. What would you veterans advise I do? I appreciate any help. Jack

Joe Pelonio
03-18-2016, 11:07 PM
That's older than my Legend 24tt (2006) and I have a former colleague with two of those, dual-head Legend 32s, but they are 100 watts. There are a couple of things that affect the engraving to check first, mirrors and lenses, alignment of beam. I would guess, though, that the reason someone stopped using it was the tube starting to go out. That sounds like a decent price for the tube my last one (45 watt) was $2,200 about 8 years ago.

Jack Lilley
03-19-2016, 3:41 PM
I cleaned the lenses and mirrors. Is there a way I can check the beam alignment or does it require special tools? After spending the day experimenting with settings, I'm not sure, but think the tube may be okay for now. I cant get it to etch the wood without turning it black and the image is not as clear as it should be, kind of blurry. I could use some suggestions please.

Brian Lamb
03-19-2016, 7:14 PM
Did you set the focus? Raise or lower the table to set the focus to the correct height above the material. What the correct height is will be based on what lens you have in the machine.

Jack Lilley
03-19-2016, 8:00 PM
The machine has auto focus and I have been relying on that but, this afternoon, I turned the auto focus off and messed with raising and lowering the table and now it is working awesome. I am totally new to this so trail and error. Thanks.

Joe Pelonio
03-19-2016, 9:44 PM
The machine has auto focus and I have been relying on that but, this afternoon, I turned the auto focus off and messed with raising and lowering the table and now it is working awesome. I am totally new to this so trail and error. Thanks.

That's great! I took off my auto focus after the first few months, prefer to do it manually.
Th

Brian Lamb
03-19-2016, 10:53 PM
That's good news.... I wouldn't have known to suggest, but we had been looking at a used machine and the person selling it couldn't even cut paper and we figured out he was several inches off in focus.... once set at 2" the machine cut as it should. So when you described the issue, it was the first thing that came to mind.

The machine we ended up buying has autofocus, but we have't even tried it yet, too easy to just manually focus.