Just a heads up for the tinkerers here .
My so called 80w laser which is barely better than my 40w laser had me wondering how even 40w at 12 volts could make it to the laser head with the tiny thin wires and fiddly low current connectors . 11.2 volts at the laser proved this .
I ripped out the thin wires and replaced them with good quality high temp 15 amp multi strand cable in a single run from laser head to power supply connector .which took a few hours and a lot of fiddling but there is a noticeable improvement in power . I do not know if I have shortened the laser life but it is now getting 12.1 volts at 100% power .
These overstated , under performing machines have many built in faults but this is the most obvious one .
Don’t do this if you are not confident with wires and fiddling . The tiny connector on the laser module was the most challenging , I soldered the thicker wires directly to the tiny pcb under the connector .
It even says on the side " 12v 3.1 amp"
No connector of that size could last long with that current in any case .
And my warranty? I don’t think there was anything to lose there .
It will be interesting to watch in the longer term.
I assume the manufacturer is well aware that cabling is undersized . You should find the data sheet from the laser and see what electrical load they can withstand, that will also be interesting.
Keep us informed
Yes but getting accurate and relevant information on the products is a joke . It like the audio sales stuff from the eighties . The term "effective power " is used for whatever they want . Hopefully things will change as more people get mislead. They are making up their own rules at the moment offering less factual info and more vague terms .
Most led lasers run about 10 - 15% output power… the input is 3A@12V or 36 watts.
Even at a generous 20% of the input power, it’s only about 7.2W out…
I believe they play with power numbers… if another laser, like a 40W co2 has a spot size of 0.6mm. Their laser has a spot size of 0.1mm then the power density of the spot is 6 times what it would if it were spread out over 0.6mm… for 7.2W that would be about 43W… very misleading…
I saw one, 130W led engraver… the whole machine ran on 130W, not the laser…
I’ve watched these get better and better… My fiber is pumped and fired by led sources… takes a few more watts though…
The of ethics crossing language barriers to some degree ,and , add differing business practices and here we are .
The technical aspects which have been achieved enable cheaply made workable laser frames to be made with very high performance when precisely “tuned” I recently bought from a seller (not yet arrived) who seemed to be trying to b honest with things and cautious about there own wood cutting claims.
This machine had a largeish 20x40 gantry so it seems more capable ,though I could be wrong as there are so many ways to make things look good and we all tend to shop with “rose colored glasses”
The lighter the laser diode the less inertial has to be dealt with . My cheap (600 bucks ?) zbaitu 20x20 is let down by a heavy steel laser adjuster/holder,as are so many others. The lies about 10 watts and the attitude of ,“just send it back” is built into the product but nobody really even trusts their return policy judging by their experience with the product so far. I guess we bought this on ourselves by looking for bargains .
As soon as we begin to make any money from our creative pursuits , we spend even more, this applies to software and hardware . Meantime we play with our fantastic new toys with some very challenging problems to resolve (pun intended)
. You should find the data sheet from the laser and see what electrical load they can withstand, that will also be interesting.