Did my RECI tube just fail?

[Bob Crimmins]

I have an 80W Chinese laser with a RECI tube. It doesn't have a ton of hours on it; but it's about nine years old. Today I was making a cut that was a total of about 90 seconds. For the first 2 seconds of the cut, the laser appeared to not have fired... the head moved but no cutting. Then, for about the next one second, it began cutting but not at full power right away; it sort of ramped up for a second. It was as though it had to 'warm up'. From then on, the rest of the cut was fine. When the cut finished, I just re-started the cut for about 3 seconds to re-cut the first part of the cut.

Now, the tube won't fire at all... it appears to be dead. But I swapped in a backup tube I have and it doesn't fire either. So that makes me think it's not the tube but something in the electronics?

Never seen this before in 9 years. It was a cold-ish morning, around 40 degrees... but I've cut in cold weather before.

Anyone ever heard of this kind of behavior?

[Bill George]

I'd check for loose connections and some have had cables fail because of the flexing of the same and of course the power supply failure?

[Bob Crimmins]

I'd check for loose connections and some have had cables fail because of the flexing of the same and of course the power supply failure?

Thanks, George. That's a good call. I tested the voltage at the tube it's only ~2.25v. Then I pressed the override button on the power supply and it still failed to fire. Is it a fair to assume that the power supply is dead?

Looking at replacements, there are some that look just like the one in the machine. And there are some that look different. But is it necessary to replace with a replica? Certainly by this time, 10 years after the original was manufactured, that the internals are not the same even though the case looks similar.

So can I just buy any laser power supply that matches the specs? E.g., 80w, similar wiring hookups? Or do power supplies have to be matched to the controllers or the tube?

I do notice that many of the 'replicas' are rated at 60 - 80 watts. While there are some other dissimilar power supplies that are rated 80 - 100 W or 80 - 90 watts. The power-tool-guy inside me says go for an 80 - 100W unit so that I know I would end up with a PS that is actually delivering, e.g., 76 watts.

[Bill George]

The HV end of your tube is 20,000 volts, I am hoping you did not try to check that!! LightObject dot com is where I get All my laser stuff, I trust them to always carry good products.

[Kev Williams]

If you've located one that looks like yours and the terminals and outputs are the same, I'd suggest getting that one and call it a day!

BUT- any "like" supply would likely work-- About 2 years ago the power supply in my old Universal/New Hermes went bad. It's a 1997 machine and the only options I had was try to locate someone with a used PS like the one in it, or, what I ended up doing which was I found a power supply on Amazon that had the correct power/amp outputs and the terminals I needed. It looked NOTHING like the original, was lots smaller, but the machine works great! (and the PS was under $70
:)

[Julian Ashcroft]

I recently replaced the the power supply on one of my lasers, I thought I was buying the same unit, turned out the connections were in a different position, so I needed to re route the wiring and one plug was wired differently. The HT lead also had a different connector, so I also had to by a new connector plug and socket. The mounting holes on the unit were different, so that took a bit of sorting too.

[Bill George]

It costs nothing extra to call or email LightObject to get the correct one. Tell them what you have and the PS part number to get the correct one, looking like is not the same.

[Bob Crimmins]

I'm a (serious) hobbyist with a 10+ year old laser that I bought used 9 years ago. It has quirks and is hideous to look at because I had to rebuild it after it caught fire years ago. Anyone remember my posts from way back when I was rebuilding it? I'm also looking forward to upgrading to mixed laser sometime in the next year or so I don't want to invest more than I absolutely need to into this battered old relic. I went with the cheapest fix that can get me through through the next year or so. Since there's no source (that I could find) for reliable ratings/reviews on power supplies and since they are not differentiated by features, I went for the most-cost-effective option. That turned out to be this $90 deal on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184956740803

I did look at LightObject and I'm grateful to know about that resource. Plus, they have fickin everything! I wish I had found them when I was rebuilding my burnt out laser... they have a great catalog of DIY parts.

I'll let y'all know how the replacement goes.

[Bob Crimmins]

Wired up the new power supply and the RECI lit right up. About 15 minute job. Seems like the beam is about 10% stronger than before the first PS failed. But might be wishful thinking. :-)

[Kev Williams]

I have something to say about Vevor, my 2nd and 3rd fiber lasers, which I bought on eBay about a month apart what, 2 years ago? - they were Vevor branded, and they've given me stellar service, good to know they also make/sell power supplies! -and pretty good price too it seems :)

[Bob Crimmins]

I have something to say about Vevor, my 2nd and 3rd fiber lasers, which I bought on eBay about a month apart what, 2 years ago? - they were Vevor branded, and they've given me stellar service, good to know they also make/sell power supplies! -and pretty good price too it seems :)

That's good to hear, Kev... gives me even more confidence!