Trotec Speedy 300 Tube Repair/Recharge

[Grant Carson]

Hi All,
We have a Trotec Speedy 300 80W CO2 that is about 5 or 6 years old. I believe the tube is starting to go, and I wanted to look at repair or recharge options. We keep having to lower the speed to get the same results, so I'm thinking it's probably the tube. I have searched this forum and found several threads talking about recharging these. I have seen Evergreen Laser mentioned several times with positive feedback. Someone from our company reached out to them and they said they could do it, but asked if it was an iridium or synrad tube. We haven't had to deal with tube issues yet, so I honestly don't know how to respond.

Question 1) Could anyone guide me on whether this is an iridium or synrad laser? I always just thought it was called a CO2, but I assume the laser repair guys know more than I do.
Question 2) I've seen some threads talking about these being sealed ceramic tubes and they can't be recharged, but then I see people talk about getting them recharged. Can they or can they not be recharged?

I really appreciate the help guys. Any advice is appreciated.

[Keith Outten]

I have one of the first Trotec 80 watt ceramic tubes and it was recharged by Trotec a couple of years ago. The tube they sent me was tested at just over 100 watts.

[Glen Monaghan]

If you don't have any paperwork that came with the laser telling you what the tube is, you can always pull the panel off and look for the label that will be on the tube.

[Kev Williams]

Are your mirrors and lens clean and in good condition? In my case I've found it's amazing how just a hint of fog on the lens of my LS100 can make the difference between cleanly and fully thru-cutting 3/4" diameter circles out of 1/32" adhesive taped Rowmark, and having to snap them away and hand-tearing parts of the tape's backing. Add a bit of fog on a mirror and I'll have have to cut them twice Mirror alignment is important too of course. "Hidden" mirrors should be checked too; my GCC Explorer, it's Synrad tube is mounted in the BOTTOM of the cabinet, meaning the thing has FOUR mirrors: the one in front of the tube, which beams straight up to the 2nd mirror (which is the FIRST mirror on most other machines)l then down the side to the gantry mirror, then across to the lens mirror... and even though that first mirror is almost totally enclosed and away from nearly all engraving smoke and such, about one a month I have to get down on the floor to pull it out and wipe the fog off of it with a Qtip and DNA...

I have this overcooked, broken lens that fits my Chinese Triumph,
fo3.jpg
and this lens when CLEANED UP will actually apply more useful laser power than a good-condition lens that's slightly smoke-fogged...

A slightly out of alignment mirror can cause part of the beam hit part of the next mirror's frame, which will reduce the beam's output...

[Chase Williams]

Having gone through a nightmare with an 80w iRadion tube recently. I can say call Trotec for an exchange, I know it’s expensive, but it’s really your only quality option. I have recently learnt at least for iRadion tubes that the couple of people that recharge do not really know how to work with iRadion tubes. Trotec claims that only iRadion can reprogram the chip on the laser and that data has some link to Trotec.

I tried to go the recharge route and wasted a ton of time and kept having the finger pointed at my laser but it was the recharge company. I’m happy Trotec finally after lots of diagnostic time told me that I needed to exchange the tube and was kind enough to offer to refund my tube exchange if the problem wasn’t solved after swapping the tube. Lo and behold the replacement worked and if I had just started with Trotec, I would have saved money and time.

[Chase Williams]

1.) If your laser mfg year is 2013 and some 2012’s forward it’s 99% to be an iRadion ceramic tube.

If there is a Trotec cover over the laser tube, take it off and it should say, don’t dismantle the actual tube. Also the Synrad firestar series I believe all had a power supply that was fully separate from the tube and mounted on the lower part of the stand. There anre also coherent tubes that were in the pre-iRadion tubes.

2.) I tend to believe that only the manufacture can recharge the tubes, not a 3rd party as it seems there is some programming to each tube.

3.) I agree with the others just check/clean all the mirrors and lens and see how tight your alignment is. If any of that is out, it can make a huge difference. But it does sound like a tube going out.

[Mike Null]

Chase
In the case of current Trotec tubes I would go back to Trotec but there is no problem with third parties working with Synrad or Coherent. I speak from experience with both brands.

[Chase Williams]

Mike is right, I am leaning more on thinking you have an iRadion but other tubes I am sure can be recharged by a 3rd party.

[Grant Carson]

I appreciate the help guys. I will triple check that everything is cleaned and aligned. I already did once, but I'll go through it again to be sure. Our Machine is a 2016 model, so it sounds like I would have the iRadian tube. I'm thinking the safe bet is to go back to Trotec. I can't afford to have this machine down for a month going back and forth with a 3rd party. Thanks again all.

[Chase Williams]

I appreciate the help guys. I will triple check that everything is cleaned and aligned. I already did once, but I'll go through it again to be sure. Our Machine is a 2016 model, so it sounds like I would have the iRadian tube. I'm thinking the safe bet is to go back to Trotec. I can't afford to have this machine down for a month going back and forth with a 3rd party. Thanks again all.

I think that is the smart move, unless you have another machine and can be down for a bit. I just got my final invoice from Trotec and it was $3200 for the tube and i think $33 for both ways of shipping (pretty good in my opinion on shipping). You get the tube ahead of time and you have to send the old one back within a week, so when you order be ready to do the repair quickly. The only odd thing I encountered was that I had a large molex like plug that the laser plugged into and the new laser just came with bare wire ends. I called Trotec and they said thats how they come now, so i robbed the molex off the old tube and connected it to the new tube vs routing it and connecting it directly as they told me on the phone. Other than that, everything works great!

PS ive been told many times now by the Trotec rep that the fastest way to get stuff done is to submit a ticket here, https://www.troteclaser.com/en-us/co...hnical-support. I've tried calling and almost always hit a voicemail.