I’m getting ready to move from Florida to South Carolina and plan to take my 100w CO2 laser with me. The moving truck has plenty of room to roll it right in. The big question:
Do I need to remove the tube for the trip? I won’t have room in my car to carry the tube, so even if I remove it from the machine, it will get wrapped and boxed and placed in the moving truck. So what do you think is safer for the tube? Wrapped and boxed? Or installed within the machine which will be planted and secured to the bed of the truck?
Thank you everybody for your feedback. I’ll be leaving the tube in the machine and draining it today.
When we received the laser originally, it was all in pieces and everything was boxed separately…so this will be much more convenient that taking it all apart again
My two CO2 laser machines also came from China this way and 50% were broken.
I’m a chicken when it comes to transporting laser tubes, I took mine out of the machine when I had to transport the machine down the stairs in the basement of my workshop. It does not take long and I will also level the tube afterwards myself. The laser tube makes up a relatively large part of the price of the machine, so I would not risk anything unnecessary.
I bought a 90w cloudray tube and it was shipped with about 4 foam wedges (a foam square with a round hole in the center) in a box that had packaging around it and in another wooden box, then in an outer carboard box.
When the tube is in the machine its held by two rather hard mounts. I would remove it and package it carefully.
Thank you everyone for the advice. The laser made it in one piece, but there is an ‘issue’ that I’m trying to decide how to deal with.
Basically, the cabin of the laser itself has a small dent in one side and the overall ‘squareness’ of the unit is slightly out of whack. I can tell, because when looking at the front of the unit, the gap between the edge of the opening and the door itself is larger on one side than the other - but it was not that way before. Additionally, when opening the ‘door’ to the laser work compartment it slightly ‘scrapes’ on one side now due to being warped out of shape.
The laser tube seems to be in fine shape. And overall, everything looks ok except for the cabinet…but who knows for sure if things are still in alignment where it counts. I’m guessing almost certainly not - at least not 100% perfect.
The moving company refuses to take any responsibility or offer any financial assistance, leaving it up to me to ‘test’ things out. I really feel like they should pay to have the laser realigned by a professional. Sure, yes, I’ve done it before myself, so I can do it again, but it’s the principal of the matter.
In any case, does anyone have any advice about the best way to proceed? Should I just fire it up and start checking mirror alignment, bed level, etc the way I usually do every few weeks? Or is the warped cabinet something I should be more concerned with?
Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you all again!
The ‘real’ square part is the inside frame on mine and I doubt that it will affect the inner ‘frame’.
My laser lit never has shut correctly, the case is a little off. I’ve tried shimming up to correct it and it’s better, but it doesn’t affect the laser alignment itself.
Kind of like a dinged up car body, but it still drives fine, frames not bent.
If they refuse to cooperate, I’d at least see if the laser alignment is affected, if at all.
It’s tough dealing with them.
I had a 450lb gun safe that had to be moved. We just had a crew out fixing all the dings in the sheet rock so we could sell it. After they ‘loaded’ the garage, the wife goes in and the wall you’d put you back on to move the safe had a 18" hole/depression you could see in. They claimed it was there previously. The spouse set them straight and they paid us… I feel your pain. They should compensate you something.
The optics of the laser absolutely needs to be checked and realigned. Only then will you determine if the axis plane was distorted. Unless the linear rails became bent, which I doubt, anything can be put back into alignment.
I still think you took a risk shipping the tube installed in the machine, especially when relying on guys who know nothing more then how to move furniture. Hopefully nothing happens when you fire it up.
Sorry to hear about the damage your laser took.
Did you have Trip transit insurance if so that covers your personal property for most perils including theft, disappearance or fire (the same perils covered by your homeowners or renters policy) while in transit or storage.
Also your homeowners insurance policy may provide coverage for belongings damaged during a move in certain situations. Review that document. You pay a premium time to collect your compensation
When I do fire it up, is it like an ‘all or nothing’ scenario if the tube is damaged? What I mean to say is, if there is a small crack somewhere that I can’t see, will it fire up at all? And if so, will there be scattered radiation or other things to be concerned about? Or will it just fail to fire entirely?
Unfortunately, there are incredibly tough laws in place that protect moving companies and make it almost impossible to sue them for anything. In our case, we have to ‘prove’ that the laser wasn’t already dented and/or damaged, and we have to prove that it was working and now no longer is (if it turns out that it won’t fire up properly). We consulted with an attorney who told us it will cost more than replacing the laser to engage the moving company in a legal battle…and the moving company has already invited us to sue them.
I’m sure the tube is fine but its a good idea to make sure the machine is properly grounded.
I tied the machine frame into the 120v ground plug. But you might want to confirm manufacture’s recommendations in the manual.
totally unrelated. But did you ever figure out the Y axis issue you were having where the 2nd consecutive job would be off by .1mm… Im having the same exact issue, just on the X axis. Ive checked everything as you did, Only thing I found that works is to turn off the contorller, restart and everything lines up perfectly.
