Hi!
I’m kind of new with my laser. I have 60W Chinese with Ruida controller.
After a month of usage suddenly laser tube started to make strange noise. After checking the tube I can see some sparking near the high voltage cable. Seller is not responding to my emails and I’m not sure what to do or where the problem is. Maybe someone knows if this is the problem with the tube or maybe something else?
Please find video here:
Many thanks!
Start by researching CO2 laser arcing. Common issues are a bad connection at the end of the tube that might be corrected by redoing the connection plus re-insulating the connection, cooling water that is contaminated and becoming too conductive, and a tube that is developing a problem. Google is your friend and there are muliple videos about redoing the connection as well as adding lots of silicon goop plus a section of silicon tubing to really insulate the high voltage line.
If you bought through ebay and used a credit card and are still within seller protection period of ebay/PayPal/credit card, you need to file a dispute NOW. That will get a response from the seller. Don’t be a nice guy and wait with a hope the seller will act in good faith. They have already failed at that and they are experts and dragging things out until you lose your right to recourse.
Thank you for a detailed reply Doug! I will do my research.
Once I’ve tried firing laser again I saw a spark going through some wire. I think this wire shouldn’t have been there.
And after that tube only makes this noise and does not light up anymore (video in slow motion):
Can I expect that the tube is still alive? Or should I look a replacement asap?
I think you had a chance to correct things in the beginning when you first discovered the issue but by continuing to fire the laser so much you may very well have done lethal damage. If it were I, I would go ahead and try redoing the connection at the end of the tube, using the online tutorials to ensure a proper connection and adequate insulation, to see if you can salvage things. At this point, you have to determine if you have killed the power supply and/or tube.
No doubt you now realize that the black wire was routed too close to the connection end of the tube by the laser builder and the lack of good insulation between the two created the arcing situation. That is their fault.
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