Apologies for the confusion. My machine is 220 and I’m plugged into 110. I’ve been running this machine for 18 months with no issues until now.
I believe that’s why the guy in China who sold me the machine thinks it’s bad. I’m seeing more than 220v at the two white wires in the photo of my previous post. He says that’s too high and suspects a faulty transformer.
I’m not sure what the LPS is, but if it is the black power supply with the two green connectors and the red TEST button, I have changed that out already. If that is not the LPS, please let me know what the LPS is.
I saw a test similar to this on YouTube. I unplug the larger green connector on the power supply, and hold down the TEST button so that the laser fires. It fires and blows the fuse the same way it would if I had it plugged in and pressed PULSE.
Just to clarify, the bad connection on the tube wiring was the small black wire, not the red HV wire that goes to the power supply.
Disconnect the Laser Power Supply (LPS) and press the pulse button not the test button. Does it still blow the fuse then?
Pressing the test button and it still blows the fuse points to the Power supply, laser tube, and or wiring to the laser tube.
I guess it could be the transformer but all the ones I’ve seen are usually burnt and blow the fuse or breaker upon powering them up.
1 last question. What voltage power supply did you get? It looks like the cloudray one. They look to come 110v and 220v options.
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This sounds like the right description. It’s the power supply that supplies the HV connection to the laser tube anode and returns the cathode connection.
Can you check the markings on the transformer as well as on the 24V power supply.
What is the expected output voltage from the transformer? And what is the tolerated input voltage on the 24V power supply?
Also, test the voltage on all output pins from the 24V supply. Do you get 24V?
The symptoms you’re describing don’t seem like this would be caused by high input voltage into the 24V supply but I might be missing something.
Do you have a spare 24V supply that runs on 110V? If so you could eliminate the transformer entirely from the equation.
I have the 220 version. I talked to cloud ray to confirm that’s what I needed. the cloudray is really a 230v. My old power supply is labeled 220v
This is all the transformer had as far as markings go:
My electrical knowledge is extremely limited as I’m sure you can tell by my posts. I know that from the plug where I come in from the wall, I have a power, neutral, and a ground. The power and neutral go to the transformer. Then a third wire comes out of the transformer. So basically one wire of 120 goes in, a neutral goes in, and there’s another wire that comes out of the transformer giving me 115. The 120 and 115 wires go straight to the main power e-stop switch on the machine.
Which one is the 24v power supply? Is that the silver power supply next to the black one?
A basic question: what’s the current (amp) rating of the fuse? Are you replacing the blown fusaes with the right ones? Please note that using a step-up transformer to make a 220 V machine to work with 110 V mains, the required current is [a little more than] doubled. So - for example - if the correct fuse for 220V was 2A, you should use a 4A fuse for 110V.
Yes. The 24VDC supply basically provides power to all the components of your machine other than the laser tube. It typically takes mains AC voltage and converts that to 24VDC. In your case it’s expecting something like 220VAC which is why you have a step-up transformer. Typically for US market machines the 24V power supply takes 110VAC so if you were to replace that supply it would also eliminate the transformer from your component needs.
Did you measure the 120VAC? If so that would explain the 240VAC coming out. Basically even though the markings on the transformer indicate 110VAC->220VAC it’s likely setup to just double the input voltage. So if your house is supplying 120VAC that would explain the 240VAC measured going into the 24V supply.
In that case I don’t think the voltage alone is an indication of a fault at the transformer.
However, if the 24V supply is not rated for 240V it’s possible that you’ve been overvolting it potentially diminishing its life. The supply may have some indicators about acceptable voltage ranges and do check the output voltages. If the power supply is going bad there’s a danger of you blowing out the other components on your laser, the controller being the most worrisome.
Have you tried disconnecting the LPS and testing? If fuse still blows then I’d suspect the 24V supply having gone bad, with the primary issue being overvolting the supply. In that case replacing with like for like supply would likely result in another failure unless you can get your mains to 110V which doesn’t seem likely. In that case probably easier/better to just convert your system to 110V natively by swapping to 110VAC 24VDC supply.
If disconnecting LPS does not blow the fuse then I suspect you have a short somewhere in the LPS circuit. Did you replace all wiring when you replaced the LPS or did you splice anything together?
@SaavyStuff is blowing the fuse on the machine, not in his mains panel. I assume all the internals of the machine are configured for 220V.
It’s a 10a 250V fuse. That’s what came with the machine
That supply is rated for 110-220 ± 10%. So 2 observations:
- 240 is within the upper threshold of that rating so should be okay. Hard to say about the actual quality of the part.
- That supply can manage 110VAC. If that’s true then you don’t even need that transformer. Very curious why the supplier included a transformer in that case.
Where is the fuse that’s blowing and how is it wired in? As in what is it connected to? 250V 10A fuse seems quite beefy. That’s enough for an oven. I’m surprised you’re blowing it.
I do know the plug where the air blower motor (I’m sure I’m using the wrong terminology) plugs into the machine is 220. I checked with a meter and it is labeled as 220.
Also, my cloudray LPS is 230 which replaced another brand 220v LPS that came with the machine.
The fuse is where the 110 plug from the wall goes in.
I forgot to consider some potential accessories being 220. You may want to check if the motor can also take 110 but I suspect it will run slower or run hot at 110.
Many LPS support 110V as well as 220V. You may want to double check to see if yours does. Could provide you some flexibility in that case.
This has turned into something of a mess.
This has got to be something more simple than what we see. These are not that complicated.
All of this power supply nonsense aside. The original problem was an open cathode.
Now I understand that the lps blows the fuse no matter if the controller is connected or not via the ‘test’ button. There is nothing else left to diagnose if this is correct.
If you re-read the initial problem… it’s all about the lps…
That’s kinda what I said earlier. Test button on the LPS blows the fuse leads me to think wiring or bad LPS.
If it works, including the tube lases, while the button is pressed, it has to be ‘inside’…
Without the controller there is only mains voltage to the lps… how could that be ‘wiring’?
IMHO, this should have been fixed within a dozen posts…
He stated, if I remember correct he replaced the lps (should have got a 120V model/dump the transformer). That disconnected lps and ‘test’ working diagnostic only leaves the lps… or his fuse is wrong…
