Epilog Tubes

[Nigel Morgan]

Yes they have assisted, its my time actually replacing and fixing all these items, emailing photos etc...as I have stated in another post the belt on a complete new I beam is all ready showing signs of wear. Someone has said to me the fact that a Laser is not bing used can effect the tubes, they must be "excited" on a regular basis to prolong the life, would like to know some more on this matter.

[James Stokes]

From everything I have read and been told you should run the laser for at least 15 or 20 minutes a month minumum.

[Nigel Morgan]

Hi James,

Thanks for the advice.

[James Stokes]

I have 2 lasers, the Epilog and one with a Universal tube, The universal tube lasted 6 years and was still working great. I bought the epilog and let the Universal sit for about 3 months. When I tried to use it the tube was all most dead. I feel like if I had run it some instead of letting it sit I would not had to have the tube recharged.

[Rodne Gold]

Firing up the machine every now and then wont save the tube. The time between when the tube was manufactured to when it appears in your laser can be a year or more and the time between producing your machine to when it actually gets to you and starts working can be significant as well. If that thinking holds , it means the tubes would have to be fired up many times prior to their normal duty cycles.
The tubes are just flaky devices in my experience , one day it works and like your puter , for no apparent reason , it gives trouble.
As I have said before , I have yet to have a tube last more than a year (Im a heavy duty user) regardless of whether its a Synrad or a Deos and this is my experience over at least 5 years and many many lasers.
It cost pennies to fix most tubes , we blew an RF board and Synrad gave us a parts list and instructions on how to fix , parts came in at under $20.
However we couldnt effect the repair as it required some specialised oscilliscope and a power controller for the tube to tune the RF boards.
I think the tube repairs are a rip off somewhere along the line , I cannot possibly see , apart from test equipment , what can be so expensive , even a regas shouldnt cost an arm and a leg. We have opened a tube to see what blew and its not a particularily complex device , the simplest cell phone is 10x more complicated!!!
I really hope the chinese give the established and IMHO monopolistic players in the tube market a wake up call!!!
My next machine is probably gonna be one of the cheapys where it costs less then $200 to replace the whole tube

[Keith Outten]

Does anyone have an owners manual that prescribes running your laser a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes a week?

Any action that is considered preventative maintenance should be in the owners manual.

.

[James Stokes]

I do not have an owners manual that says it, but I was told that by Universal tech support. I have also seen several differant discussions where lasers set for a long time then would not fire because the tube was dead.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

I sometimes don't fire mine up for a few weeks to a month or so. I have the same laser that came with it and thank God I have not had any problems with it. I do notice a little loss of power but it was rated at over 70 watts when I bought it so maybe it is firing at 60 watts now 5 years later. But that is a good question.

Dean, what do you know about this for Trotec?

I hear you have to do that with Dye sub and some ink jets also.

Have a great and safe 4rth everyone,(1028)

[Nigel Morgan]

Thanks for all the advice