Hi, hoping for a bit of help, we have been etching on our laser for a few years, the co2 tube broke and we got a new one, went from 35 wat to 40 wat. Now none of the images are coming out the same. We have tried hours of changing the max power, min power, interval etc. We currently have it on 300 speed, 28.5 max power and 22.50 min power. This is more power than what we use to use. It didnt matter what combination we tried we have glass flakes off the top that could be scraped off with your finger. Now this is the best we have got and there are dots in the etching and along the edges of the text and for some reason it has barely etched the start of the shapes like on the A and the bit between the wheels. Its the same on various other images and text too. Weve had no problems for years so were going a bit crazy now, can anyone help? We have also tried using masking tape which we found was worse. is it possible the laser needs wearing in?
This glass is an example. The glass in the box is the quality we had before changing the laser, which is much better.
Did you also replace the power supply or adjust the old one to set the proper laser tube current for the new tube?
If not, then you’re probably running a new “40 W” tube at the (much) lower current for the old “35 W” tube, with the result of getting much less power than before for any and all settings.
To complicate matters, COâ‚‚ laser tube power output declines over the course of years, so the new tube may be producing more power than the old one, even at approximately the same current.
You should set the proper current, which may require installing a milliammeter if you don’t already have one, then you must go through the whole tedious process of figuring out the proper settings to get equivalent results.
Bonus problem: did you verify the new tube’s alignment and adjust the mirrors?
Basically, you must start from scratch to ensure the tube is operating the way you expect, because it really isn’t a plug-n-play replacement.
We had a company do a service and they fitted it, so I dont think we had a new power supply. I dont think he changed anything to do with a current. How do we change it? He did check the output of the laser and it was 40 watts.
Assuming competent service and honesty, then most of I said is irrelevant: you got what you expected, it’s set up properly, and it’s working correctly.
However, the last part still applies: you now have a new laser delivering more power than the old one, so you must re-do all those test patterns to determine the new speeds & power levels to get the results you had before.
A rough estimate may get you in the ballpark for the first tests. A 25% power level might have produced 6 W from the old (and presumably feeble) 35 W tube, so you could start with test patterns around 15% power = 6 W from the new tube at 40 W. You can use the same engraving speed, as the mechanical bits haven’t changed.
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