Mirror Alignment Issues

Hello, I’m having a lot of trouble with my mirror alignment. I posted last week about having issues cutting through material evenly. Cut settings that worked before are no longer powering enough. I have an Omtech 80w for reference. When I go to do the mirror alignment test, the red beam that goes through is way off from what is actually burning onto the tape. I got all of the mirrors lined up with the test fire being centered in the tape. It was cutting ok without the red beam lining up. This makes me think something is off between the power and the red light, which I don’t know how to fix. But now my machine is no longer cutting at the same power again after maybe 2 hours of cut. All of the screws are really tight so I’m not sure why it keeps going back. Could this be a different issue? Is there an easier way to do a mirror alignment?
Or as a last resort, are there technicians that come out to work on these machines? I live in Houston, Tx.

for reference, here is a picture of mirror 2. It’s firing directly in the middle, but you can see the red light isn’t even touching the mirror. When I move the red light to touch the mirror, the place it fires is off.

Please, don’t start duplicate threads… it’s more work for everyone.


Wherever the led originates should have adjustments to line up the beam. Can you show us a photo of where the led is being merged with the co2?

You can get tubes with this built in, if they get off, there is nothing you can do.

The red led isn’t where your lasers power is coming from, so this is no surprise.


Suggest you back off the power. All you need is a light brown mark. Punching through the tape isn’t helping you align the machine.

:smile_cat:

That is not a mechanical problem. As we suggested in your previous post, there can be several causes. Rather than rehash all that, do these tests and show us:

  • Mirror cleanliness (*)
  • Test scorches at each mirror to verify mirror alignment
  • TEM00 tests during both good and bad cutting
  • Focus lens cleanliness (*)

That may seem like a lot to do, but the problem(s) you’re describing go beyond mirror tweakage.

If everything on that list looks good, then it’s most likely a power supply problem.

(*) Taking pictures of mirrors and lenses is difficult. Aim the camera to catch reflections from a uniform flat surface so any defects in the reflection come from the mirror / lens. Focus on the mirror / lens, rather than the wall, and make the image as large as you can.

Sorry I was having trouble finding the other post! I’ll try that and post. Thank you!

There is an easier way to align mirrors however even discussing alternative methods seems to irritate key members on this site. Just search on past posts. To keep the peace and don’t reply here.