PLS 360 No power to Tube?

[matt heinzel]

PLS 360
This morning the Operator of the laser heard a loud pop sound and then machine stopped working. It had popped our circuit breaker so I reset and things seemed fine. Come to find out that the machine will turn on and home and the software will think things are good. He started engraving, the arm and everything moved, but nothing fired. I went down and sure enough the tube wasn't on and neither was the fan for the tube. Ideas?

[Bill George]

PLS 360
This morning the Operator of the laser heard a loud pop sound and then machine stopped working. It had popped our circuit breaker so I reset and things seemed fine. Come to find out that the machine will turn on and home and the software will think things are good. He started engraving, the arm and everything moved, but nothing fired. I went down and sure enough the tube wasn't on and neither was the fan for the tube. Ideas?

Do you have a voltmeter?

[matt heinzel]

Yes we have one of the those. Where would I test?

[Kev Williams]

As to where to test using a voltmeter: within the machine is the laser's power supply, you can check its outputs for power. It's separate from the main controller, which supplies power to everything else, which appears to be okay...

The 'pop' could've been many things; electronics within the power supply, one or both capacitors within the tube's electronics, an 'outside' short-circuit 'pop' somewhere... the scary part is that it tripped a breaker, so power supply is my best guess...

Since you're not using a simple-to-diagnose laser, I would also suggest contacting Universal, since you're using 4 of their machines they DO owe you some customer service...

[Bill George]

Unless a wire burnt off or came loose and touched something it may be the PS. I would check the power plug to the tube PS and see if you have power. Not sure if ULS has an interlock switch so you open the panel in the back it turns the power off. Its there to save your life incase you get into the high voltage.

[matt heinzel]

Thanks. I will give them a call before I start testing. I did put a different tube in to see if that fired up and it did not.

[Bill George]

Matt sometimes a good visual Insp will find the problem. Good Luck!!

[matt heinzel]

Talked with Christopher over at ULS, did some testing. Most likely the power supply, but the tube is fine.