I was given a CO2 laser, can you help me find out what am I looking at?

Community Laser Talk
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So long story short, I was given this machine from a family friend.

I want to preface that i have a few lasers myself (F1 Ultra and S1) - all diodes - but I have little to no experience with CO2 lasers.

I’ve uploaded some photos here: https://imgur.com/a/eE4atfq

From my initial research, it looks like it’s a modified K40 with a modified controller (LightObject LO-X7 and AWC708C controller). All in all, I don’t know what am I looking at here. Is there anything that I should know about this particular lasers? Is it worth putting some effort into to get it to work?

As for its condition, I’ve ran a really quick test from an internal model and the tube seems to be working. It’s missing the extraction outlet at the back, there’s no extraction fan, no water pump and the cooling tubes seem to have been cut so there’s no passive cooling. My questions are:

-Is it possible to replace the cooling tubes without having to swap the CO2 tube?

  • What kind of (affordable) cooling pump would be compatible for this machine?
  • Is there a way to increase the workable bed size without restructuring the entire inside?
  • Can it be used with LightBurn or is there a specific software?

Sorry, lots of questions I know! I’m just really curious and wouldn’t be against a little project to get me acquainted with CO2s!

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For free? Sure! :grin:

On the whole, it looks neat and well-cared-for.

The hive mind will have answers!

First up: Do not fire the laser without cooling water flow, not even for a little bit just to see what it’s like. The mirrors at the ends of the tube require active cooling to prevent damage.

If I’m interpreting this correctly, the tube dates back to 2015:

Laser tube date
Laser tube date1742×980 140 KB

Or it might date to 2020, which is better, but still long in the tooth.

IMO, it’s reasonable to expect the poor thing may not be lasing in the proper TEM00 mode and probably isn’t long for this world. You should certainly use the tube as-is while you get the rest of the machine working, but expect to replace it in the near future.

A casual search suggests the Trocen controller will work, although with some caveats. Reading through those discussions will likely fast-forward you through some setup questions.

Not a chance, because the machine frame determines the length of the linear bearings. When you need a bigger machine, you should buy a bigger machine.

I have LightObject Q600 active chiller that’s barely adequate for a 60 W machine.

If you’re using it in an air-conditioned room, then a slightly less expensive radiator cooler might suffice, but … it will be unable to keep the tube at a constant temperature.

On the very low end, I got along with a cheap icemaker and a big bucket of distilled water for quite a while:

Other folks will surely contribute other suggestions …

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@ednisley has answered your questions very well. It is a “modified” K40 and except for the too small working area of ​​approx. 230x320mm, it is a very fine CO2 starter machine. I myself have learned the basic and important things with my K40 as my first CO2 laser and when you can start for free it is even better. If you have some wishes about later switching to a somewhat larger CO2 machine then you might as well look for a CW5000-like cooling machine. (don’t buy a CW3000 it’s not a compressor cooling machine, it’s only a little cheaper than a CW5000 but can’t cool a CO2 laser machine well enough, in my opinion) It is certainly possible to cool with ice cubes for a while, but you have to be very careful with controlling the temperature at all times. Furthermore, I also believe that rapid temperature increases/decreases from ice water to 25+ degrees C are not good for the glass tube.
If you can get that controller to work with LightBurn and there is still life in the tube, you will enjoy having this machine for a while.

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It worked surprisingly well, because plunking some ice cubes / bullets / whatever into 5 gallons = 20 liters of water doesn’t abruptly change the temperature. Running the icemaker while lasing kept the water at a constant-ish temperature with less hassle than larger ice packs, although it was incapable of keeping up with a 60 W laser.

Not recommended, but not a terrible idea if you aren’t in production and can pay attention to the temperature.

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completely agree with that, I have driven in a similar way myself.
But, I have also experienced people who put large ice packs of several kg into the bucket… that is not good, the same applies when starting with a bucket filled with ice - water temperature below 10 degrees!! , it gives a lot of condensation at warmer air temperatures. That’s what I meant.
I drove with a large bucket of demineralized water at 20 degrees C and put ice cubes in just like you, as needed :wink: I think it was a bit stressful.