Hi all,
This is my first post to this forum. I have been lurking for a few weeks and wish I had found this list before buying my laser direct from China. I bought a FAL-F90120S, 2 heads, 100W each from a company called Hubei Future Away Laser Company. They claimed to have shipped many lasers to the US but found out the hard way they didn't have an FDA number to get it past customs. I finally got it through with a LOT of work but learned a lot. Lesson one was not to deal with them again.
The machine appears to be a clone of all the other lasers I've seen mentioned here. Same basic Chinese laser tube (non-RECI), x-y stepper motors, pad entry and LaserCut 5.3 like the Rabbits, etc. I am convinced they buy everything and make there own steel box to put it in. When I asked them a few easy questions like what is the focal length, they just said to put the head a few mm from the material to be cut... yeah right. I found out by trial and error I have a 63.5mm focal lens. I also wanted it 220V but they were clueless on how to build it for US 220 voltage vs. European. They said they were familiar with 120V so I agreed to let them build it 120V. When I got it, it BUZZED terrible when I powered it up. I figured out they put a 220V contactor in it instead of a 120V contactor. Good thing I had a spare 120V contactor laying around.
I got the machine running after a big software learning curve (Lasercut 5.3). Now I am "faced" with a new challenge. I have been running only head #1 so far and not bothered with head /tube #2 yet. I've got about 5-6 hours on the machine and every time I run it, my face gets red.Actually it's only my cheeks and forehead. I have Co2 Laser safety glasses that I wear all the time and never operate it with the lid open (The magnetic safety switch was broken upon arrival so I had to bypass it). I have been researching different wavelengths of light generated by the laser and went through a scientific approach to try to resolve the problem. Here is what I have done so far..
1)Co2 wavelength 10.6nm is opaque to lexan / plexiglass so it can't be that coming through the viewing portal. So I put UV reflective film from Lowes on the top lexan.... didn't work but left it on.
2) I covered the lexan with cardboard from the outside... didn't work but left it on.
3) I built a barrier between me and the machine from a metal shelf unit. I put 1/8" chipboard as a barrier between me and the machine. I cut a viewing portal in the wood and used .220 arcylic with the UV reflective film on it. The shelf is 6 feet high and the shop ceiling is 10 feet high (maybe the light is bouncing around the room). Didn't work but I left it up.
4) The only part of my body getting red is my cheeks / forehead so I put on a ski mask, made sure I was behind my barrier and ran the machine. It worked. My face did NOT get red!
5) Now that I believe the escaping light must be in the UV range, I went through and covered every gap on the machine with black magnetic sheeting. Many of the gaps were at least 1/4" wide and I could see the florescent light I put inside for viewing the cutting with my webcam. I put a black vinyl cover on the lexan viewing portal. I put a top over my "computer cave" to prevent UV bounce back. I put sides on my "computer cave". I removed my face mask and ran the laser for about 20 minutes. My face did not get red.
BTW, I also tried sunscreen and it didn't work. I surmise it must be UVC escaping and not A or B.
My next experiment will be to leave the room completely. I just bought some long USB cables to move the computer to another room. If I get red at all after I move, the wavelength cannot be UV. My hopes is that I am NOT microwaving myself.
BTW, the red face felt like a windburn more than a sunburn. It would disappear after about 2-3 hours and not lot leave a tan behind.
Today I may try to run laser head / tube #2 only and see what happens. This would tell me if I have a bad bulb on #1.
Has anyone ever come across a mystery like this with their laser?
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Doug Griffith
)
