LaserBits laser power meter

[Lorene Fangman]

Hello All,
Has anyone used the laser bits laser power meter and had good results for measuring their laser output? My laser is banding and has been for the last 4 weeks on marble and granite, but on wood it is not very noticeable (which I haven't done too much wood in large pieces). I have a Laser Master L10 CamTech laser, 35w does anyone else out there have one like me :(, we went through everything possible to stop the banding, inside and out and it is still banding so we have come to the conclusion to recharge the laser. I guess before I got here they had this problem, I have been here almost 2 years part time, self taught :eek: and they sent it in and it had a leak, and the loaner laser never banded at all, but when they got this one back, I started using it more and now it is starting to band again so we are assuming laser leakage....:confused: ugh!! and I am getting busy with end of school year graduations, anniversaries, and such....but, I was asked if we wanted to rent the laser bits power meter and check it that way, but am not sure if it is a good accurate process....so any information or suggestions out there would be appreciated greatly! I am getting ready to send in the laser head for a recharge, after I get my loaner head from CamTech at a nice $$ price, but it would be nice to reference this power meter since you can rent it for $100 bucks:eek:....... Thanks!!:) Lorene

[Joe Pelonio]

There are other things that can cause banding, I'm not familiar with your machine but cleaning lenses and mirrors, and if it has one, the x axis sensor strip can help.

I have had 2 tubes go out, in both cases the most obvious symptem was that if cutting or engraving a hard material the farthest corner (lower right) was far less depth compared to the closest corner to the tube.(front left in my case)

[Mike Mackenzie]

Lorene,

Typically on laser tubes it is not the power output that causes banding, In our experiences it has been issues with the RF supply, or internal alignment, external power supply, or motion system or even a combination of the above. Unless the laser tube is somewhat older and has lost power noticeably It probably would not benefit you to rent the power meter. All this will tell you is what output power you are getting at the work table in a fixed area.

The only way to determine if the output power is fluctuating while running is to connect it to a Scope that will measure the frequencies of the RF supply while it is running.

[Bruce Volden]

Lorene


I, too, have had "banding" problems in the past. I used to blame the machine and have since convinced myself the problem lies in software! What seems to be working for me is to "oversize" the pic in PhotoPaint and import it to Draw and once there I size it to what is required. I don't know anyone else's work around but this has defininately helped me, but I have 2 antique machines :( :(


Bruce

[Bill Cunningham]

Whenever I've had an episode of banding, it has always been a photo, and always the bimap.. If your not getting banding when running a solid colour, or on a colour filled vector outlined area, then blame the bitmap.. It's usually a .jpg with a unknown history (it may have been worked on, cropped, colour balanced and saved many times, each time a .jpg is saved it gets a bit crappier) and the sizes may not match the output dpi creating a conflict. I have also seen banding from scanned photos, that were scanned from professional prints, that have a textured surface that scatters the scanning light.. Also check the belts on your machine, if they are collecting crud, they will now be larger than they were, in reference to the drive pulley, causing a 'micro' shift in the 'Y' speed (this could be suspect, if the banding only appears at the same distance down the table every time.. There is crud on that part of the belt..

[Lorene Fangman]

Thanks for all the information everyone! :) I am glad you brought that up on the laser meter and just getting the reading in one area not being sufficient, good point. I have left the picture alone and have worked with it and they both banned, even stuff I burned before that didn't band. What's even more confusing :confused: is the banding changed on each picture, it didn't stay the same distance or thickness? Then 1 out of 10 had a vertical band not a horizontal band? Which was weird cause it never banded vertically, just horizontally. I checked all the belts and the power inputs the rack/pinions, and nothing seems to be "stuck" or anything and I cleaned them out good and it didn't matter. The size I am lasering is a 12x12 and areas to band are the whitest areas, but it obviously carries through on the shaded darks of course, so my assumption is I do not have enough power to carry out the picture, because on a 6x6 it didn't band and there wasn't a ton of white, and now it is starting to with the same picture on a 6x6...so I figured we get the loaner laser, and if it doesn't band, then we know it is something in the laser head itself and the need for a charge, but if the loaner head does band, then it is in the mechanics of my machine...because I am all out of ideas and such. I have no mirrors that I know of on mine just one optic lense and air assist. I did get some information on static and I do have some static in my area because I have a steel door and it shocks me every time I enter my laser room? :rolleyes:HHHmmmmm, and my computers are from 2003 so gee, maybe it's time to tell the boss to spend some money and get new equipment to "run" the laser, and I am still working in Corel 11, Adobe Elements, and I have to run pictures through photograv to get them to my laser computer. I have yet to figure out how to cut with this laser....that is my next biggie, but I can etch and then paint them!! :D Thanks for suggestions keep them coming because I'm sure they are helpful to any of us that are lost like me :) or may have had some banding and someone may have some other ideas to try.....lf

[Rodne Gold]

The first thing I would do is check the power supply to the laser engraver , any banding problems we have had have been due to a less than stellar mains supply and thus we use power conditioners. Perhaps try a different plug with nothing else on the circuit.
Secondly , I would use Photograv to do pictures as this does not really use a 1/2 tone pattern which can lead to moire and banding.

[Rob Bosworth]

An easy test for your machine is: layout a 12" X 12" square. Fill it black. Send the file over to the machine and set the parameters to match what you've been trying to do with your photo. (Same power, speed and DPI should be the same settings.) Let er rip. If your raster engraving and you see horizontal bands of power fluctuations, you probably have some issues going on with the laser. It is probably the laser, unless you see a definite repeat of the pattern as the motion system moves towards the front of the machine. If you see vertical banding (lines running front to back on your engraving, you probably have a mechanical problem with your motion system.

The power meter will just tell you what your laser is outputting at the time you test the laser. IT might tell you that your output power has dropped fairly significantly, which is also a symptom of the laser headed towards needing to be repaired.

Good luck.