cool down period before shutting off laser??

[David Fairfield]

A friend who does really good laser work told me I should not switch the power off immediately after the end of a job, even if I'm done for the day. Said its best to wait a few minutes before switching off. Told me his rep told him... I don't know. Maybe it makes sense, less stress on the machine?

Comments, anyone?

Dave

[Dee Gallo]

I usually leave mine on for a few minutes to exhaust any fumes or whatever...have I been doing something right all this time?

dee

[James Terry]

I have been wondering the same thing and have thus far left my machine idling for a few minutes to cool the tube down.

I have felt the output of the air coming from the tube when it has been lasing and I can honestly feel no heat. So I assume that the airflow is designed to move really fast so to quickly disperse any heat from the tube. The resulting air isnt warmed much if at all but it is doing its job. I think cooling the tube for a bit is a good practice.

[Robert Walters]

Yes, it is a good thing to leave the system on after finishing a job for 10 to 15 minutes.

It allow the cooling fans in the system to keep running and cool down the electronics and laser tube.

Turning off the system early doesn't give it a chance to exhaust the built up heat.

[David Fairfield]

I always let it run a while, but its so tempting to just turn it off and enjoy the silence. I couldn't find a mention of a cool down period in the manual.

Dave

[Scott Shepherd]

On the ULS systems, the fans ramp up and down based on if it's being used or not. When you finish cutting, the fans run at high speed for a couple of minutes and then they will idle back, so I would imagine if that's what's programmed to happen, then it's probably a good idea to follow those guidelines of letting it run for a couple of minutes before turning it off.

[Joe De Medeiros]

On the ULS systems, the fans ramp up and down based on if it's being used or not. When you finish cutting, the fans run at high speed for a couple of minutes and then they will idle back, so I would imagine if that's what's programmed to happen, then it's probably a good idea to follow those guidelines of letting it run for a couple of minutes before turning it off.

The epilog's (zing anyway) do the same thing, so I wait until the fans ramp down again before turning it off.