Help please: GCC Mercury (12W) and general info

[Darren Null]

I've just taken delivery of my first engraver: a second-hand 12W GCC Mercury. Unfortunately, it's been shipped partially disassembled and with no software or manual. Or leads.
So my first question is does anybody have a copy of the manual please? My attempts to extract a copy from GCC have proved unsuccessful so far.

Secondly, what do I need to know that isn't covered by the manual? Once I've got the laser in, there's presumably going to be some sort of tuning up required...aligning the mirrors and so forth. I've not got the foggiest idea how any of it is done. Maintenance and cleaning schedule etc. Also, the machine didn't come wit any cables. There's a socket that looks like a standard printer socket that is presumably the one you link your computer in with. There's another one that looks like a SCSI socket. Any ideas what that's for?

Thirdly -assuming that I manage to get everything in the right place- are there any things I SHOULDN'T do with the machine? I've been lurking on this forum and others for a while and I already know that shiny stuff should be avoided. And PVC. Are there any other materials that I should avoid in order to prevent gassing myself/blowing myself up?

Profound thanks for any help you can give me.

EDIT: Incidentally, I found CO2 laser safety goggles for $40 + $15 p&p from here:
http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZpaul-kfar
(the official price was $45, but I got a $5 discount for loveliness)
There were a few Stateside suppliers, but they either wanted a scandalous amount of money for postage to Europe ($60!!!) or couldn't be bothered to answer emails for a mere 1 pair.

[Mike Hood]

Does it boot up OK when powered on? What about the home check of the heads?

It would be a daunting task otherwise.

[Mike Null]

Darren

You've probably found this already but if not it should be helpful.

http://www.gccworld.com/customer_faq.php?TYPE=laser_engraver

There aren't many of us here with this name. We're generally an unsavory lot. Where are you from?

[Darren Null]

@Mike Hood: I haven't got to the booting up stage yet. I *think* I know where the laser should go, but I'd really like to double-check with a manual first. At the moment, the machine is in several bits, having only arrived in my flat at 03:30 am this morning (requiring the bribing of the entire staff of an ice-cream shop to get it up 3 flights of stairs....just don't ask).

@Mike Null: I'm from Cambridgeshire originally, but now live in Spain, on the South Coast. I can probably live down to the standards of unsavouryness.
=8-)

[Mike Null]

You've picked a good spot. Great wine, good weather. Spent a much too short time in Roda.

[Darren Null]

http://cambs.com/b3ta/sunrise.jpg
Yup, it's nice all right. Climate, cheap living, and an endless succession of well-packed bikinis. Sometimes my wife even lets me look at them briefly.

[Scott Shepherd]

You know Darren, I was feeling sympathic to your situation until that last post :D

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Darren;
I have a 60 watt Mercury- send me your email address and I will start sending the manual and tech info to you directly.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts
gperzel@rochester.rr.com

[Darren Null]

Thanks very much George. My email address is:
darren@laser-etching.com
(There's not a site there yet, and the email address only began working this morning)
I can't tell you how much it's appreciated. I've got the tech-spec advertising pdfs from the GCCWorld site, and I managed to extract a win98 driver from the GCC Club bit that will hopefully work on XP, but GCC seem to guard their manuals pretty carefully.

@Scott. Yup. Things are a bit fubar on the laser front, but the rest of it is pretty good.

@Mike Null. Sorry, yes. I had already discovered that link, and the information is useful.

[Rodne Gold]

You will find manuals , maintenance manuals , drivers and firmware here
http://www.jorlink.com/page.aspx?page_id=49

[Darren Null]

Result! Thank you Rodne.

Thanks for the offers of sending the manual...got it now. I'm no doubt going to have more gormless questions, but at least I'll have read the manual first.

[Ed Maloney]

I've just taken delivery of my first engraver: a second-hand 12W GCC Mercury.


Did you say your GCC is 12W?

[Darren Null]

Yep. 12W. The lowest power the Mercury I was available in. Getting some cash in and upgrading is fairly high on the priority list, but in the meantime that's what I've got. I'm told that it'll do most things that a 25W will do (the lowest power the Mercury II comes with), but slower. And obviously I'm not going to be doing much in the way of cutting wood or thick acrylic.

Them's the breaks.