Mini 18 Laser Tube replacement providers

[larry ballinger]

Does anyone out here know of another source of replacement tubes for the Epilog Mini 18
Thanks in advance for any reply
Larry

[Bill George]

I thought the Epilog has a metal RF tube?

[larry ballinger]

I have no idea as to what type of tube it is because it is encased in an aluminum housing. I bought it new in Aug 2013 and this is the 3rd time it has failed. 1st failure in Oct 2013, 2nd failure Oct 2014, and now failed again in Dec 2016. With less than 1000 hours of usage I am very disappointed with this unit.

[Matt McCoy]

I have no idea as to what type of tube it is because it is encased in an aluminum housing. I bought it new in Aug 2013 and this is the 3rd time it has failed. 1st failure in Oct 2013, 2nd failure Oct 2014, and now failed again in Dec 2016. With less than 1000 hours of usage I am very disappointed with this unit.

Might need a little more info. What is/was your warranty situation. What do you mean by another source? In addition to Epilog?

[Tony Lenkic]

Larry,

If the tube is manufactured by Epilog (they currently make their own) no place else can you find one so you are out of luck on that.
If it was manufactured by Synrad you can have them checked out by Photovac (remanufacterer) in Ohio or consult with Synrad on other options.

[larry ballinger]

The first 2 failures were covered under warranty. The last failure is not under warranty. My problem is the techs at Epilog have giving me many different reasons the tube has failed. I have a 12 year old Epilog 24TT that is still operating on the original tube. First I was told power fluctuations might be the problem. I informed them the unit is on its own 15 amp circuit. After explaining my usage in detail to the tech I was told the tube probably failed this time from not being used enough less than 1000 hours in 2 years. The unit is operated in a climate controlled room with proper exhaust ventilation. After 3 failure I believe the tube design may be faulty. That's why I am looking for a different supplier if possible.

[John Noell]

We had similar problems with our Mini tube. The most recent time we sent it to Evergreen. They are MUCH less expensive than dealing with Epilog. (FWIW, Evergreen has a low opinion of Epilog tubes.) We have our fingers crossed as it has not yet been installed and tested.

[Kim Vellore]

"After explaining my usage in detail to the tech I was told the tube probably failed this time from not being used enough less than 1000 hours in 2 years"

Can this be true? if yes what is the minimum yearly usage? does the usage have to be distributed or can you just run it at the end of 2 years for 1001 hours. What would be the technical explanation for this? (other than the tube got lazy from not working hard enough)

I am curious to know if the epilog laser tubes are a direct replacement for coherent so can they be swapped, in which case you can get a coherent tube.

Can you post a picture of the tube and its connection/mounting points.

Thanks
Kim

[larry ballinger]

The tube itself is encased in an aluminum housing and is sealed in so I have no way of photographing the tube.

[John Lifer]

Larry where are you? The Epilog rep that is on the Epilog Facebook group seems to be very interested in resolving problems. They are mainly southwest but I'd be on the site and at least grousing about this. These aren't glass co2 tubes that have limited lifetime no matter use,. If a few hundred dollars maybe it'd be OK, but that isn't the case.

[Mike Null]

I believe I'd be raising a real stink with Epilog.

[Kev Williams]

Answers like 'you're not using it enough' and 'power fluctuations caused it to fail' are nothing more than 'tell them something so we don't look stupid' answers. Which IMO makes them look stupid. They have no clue as to the actual problem so make up something as you go? I'd rather be told "we don't know why, but we're working on it!" than told some fish story. Which is exactly what the Triumph techs told me when my machine was going nuts. I appreciated their honesty.

Not good CS from Epilog...

[Ivan Shuliak]

That is why I avoid calling Epilog tech support because instead of acknowledging that the PCB on the BRAND NEW Fusion M2 failed after a few hours of use they started to say that it should be a dedicated power circuit and/or slow network connection.
Luckily CSI support is second to none and they replacement a motherboard within a couple of days under warranty.

[rich shepard]

Strange your having that many fail. My new machine is going on 2 years old in a month or so and had one fail right off the bat but the replacement has been going great ever since. My old machine I replaced the tube about a year ago as it was losing power after 5 or more years and have not had a problem. Both are now the new style epilog tubes as they sent a adapter bracket with the last one so it would replace the original coherent tube. This is on a 12 yo mini 18.
If this helps the only difference I saw in the tubes was the mounting holes are about 3 inches closer on the Epilog tube then on the old Coherent wiring and plugs were all the same.
rich