How to access lens in unusual laser tube?

Hi All,
Help brains trust!

After hours of searching I cannot find any instructions for the disassembly of this head unit for cleaning and lens access.

It is mounted in a (new) Vevor CO2 80w Red/Black unit with a Rudia RD6442S-B controller.

My conundrum is this:
Disassembly

1 Remove air assist
2 Remove sighting laser
3 Remove clamping screw
4 Unscrew nozzle (clockwise - red arrow)

No problem.

Attempt to unscrew ridged section at ‘A’ - lens carrier.
The carrier moves slightly when considerable manual torque is applied - then nada.

I am reluctant to employ ‘tools’ at this point. If this is the lens carrier it should be firmly hand tight.

Looking up the tube:

Clearly I am looking at the lens carrier.

Why is it so hard to unscrew or have I completely missed something?

Any and all advice greatly accepted.

Fred.

Hi Fred.

No experience with CO2 lasers at this point, but based on my experience with all sorts of optical devices and general engineering, I’d be willing to say that You’ll need a regular lens holder tool in order to remove the threaded ring that holds the lens in place.

The tool has tabs that mate with the two slots on the ring.
Unless You bought the head second hand, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t such a tool supplied with the head.

NOT RECOMMENDED, but the sloppier Gyro Gearloose type of folks use a wide screwdriver -or two narrower- or a flat piece of sheetmetal for tasks like that.
“Even if I can’t fix it, I can fix it so no-one else can either” and all that :wink:

Regards,
Sam

:finland:

Thanks Sam.
I get that I’ll need a tool to remove the lens retaining ring.

One was not supplied but that I can sort out. At the moment though the only option I have is to do this with the laser tube still in place.

My present understanding however is that I should be able to remove the lens carrier from the upper portion of the laser tube.

I guess my question gets down to how? Am I missing something?

Is my assumption that I should be able to unscrew the lens carrier correct?

Is there another step I need to take to release the lens carrier before I can unscrew it?

Is the screw left handed rather than right handed?

If someone with some experience with these laser heads can clue me in that would be great.

Fred.

Remove air line, unscrew section above part 3.

Thanks.

How do I do that?

The tube and the clamp at 3 are a single part.

Fred,

That part screws into the bottom of the mirror holder.

They usually don’t make a knurled knob if it isn’t to be turned by hand.

I’d expect A to be what holds the lens tube in the head. This is the tool for lenses and mirrors…

Funny :crazy_face:

You need to figure out the inside diameter of your lens tube.

There are various acrylic models out there… You can also use one of the expanding ring pliers for removing/installing clips… the tool I posted is much easier.

Good luck

:smile_cat:

Hi Fred.

You’re welcome, unfortunately I couldn’t help more.

That would indeed make perfect sense, but sometimes (increasingly often these days :frowning_face: ) things get copied only partly.
The outside appearance might be 1:1, but for multiple reasons the internal construction may differ quite a bit.
To the point that nothing is quite what it seems.
And that sometimes makes servicing/repairing difficult, or even downright impossible.

IMO Yes, You should be able to do that.
Otherwise You obviously screw up the alignment of the head if You have to remove it completely every time You change the lens.
Or to change the lens in place, and that can be rather tricky as well.

What happens if You loosen the allen head screw on the clamp?

Possibly, but only those who have the same exact head and have figured out how it’s constructed can answer that question fully.

That’s a tricky one, from the pic of the lens carrier it kind of looks like there’s no thread at all.
I have rarely -if ever- came across left handed threads in optics, but I wouldn’t rule that possibility out either.
Without knowing where that head came from, I’d say it’s just as possible that the ring is glued in.
Let’s hope that’s not the case though.

We can only hope that someone like that will come forward, preferably sooner than later.

The other option is to remove the head from the gantry in order to have a better look at the construction, but that obviously requires the re-alingnment procedure.

Regards,
Sam

:finland: