This seems to be the right thread for me and you’ll probably tell me all the M50 stuff applies to me too but I’d be reassured to hear it: I have and Atomstack A5 20 (OOP now I think) and am upgrading it with a M40 laser. M40 laser comes with an ‘adapter board’ and slightly different power adapter (A5 20 one is input 2Amps, output 5Amps and the M40 one is input 0.6Amps, output 3Amps). What is the adapter board actually for??? Is it necessary to install it? It seems like it’s only for if you want to an additional motor, a z-axis, air assist, etc. But maybe for more powerful lasers, to reach the max power output, you are asked to plug in not just the power adapter that came with the A5 20 and the whole rig but also the power adapter that came with the new laser. So you have 2 wall sockets plugged in at once?!
The adapter board is meant to allow for connection to the laser module from a wide variety of controllers, especially those that are not necessarily Atomstack. It provides various form factors for the connectors as well allows for external power rather than drawing power from the controller.
If your primary power supply had adequate current rating and your controller was designed for the amount of draw then no, you wouldn’t need the adapter. If, however, one or both of these conditions were not met then you would want the adapter there to allow for external power.
It doesn’t help with the support of these. It’s only for connection to the laser module.
Yes.
The Atomstack page on the M40 is sparse on information but if we take the 40W claim at face value that would mean that the laser draws 3.33A. This seems at odds with the power supply provided which is rated to 3A. Normally you’d want the power supply to be overrated for the need but let’s assume Atomstack know something and that 3A is adequate. That would leave 2A (out of the 5A for the power supply) for all the rest of the components which I would put at the acceptable level for those components.
One thing that is possible to compare on the Atomstack site is information on the A5 20 vs A5 40. I assume these are identical machines with the only difference being the laser module. Both of those machines list DC12V, 5A as the “Output Voltage” for what I assume is the power supply. If that’s the case, this is a good indication that you could potentially connect the laser module as a drop-in to your current module without the use of the adapter. If you do that, I suggest you feel the power supply while in operation to see if it’s getting very hot. You may want to compare to your current laser as reference.
If you find that the power supply is inadequate then you could either upgrade the supply or use the adapter with the additional power supply.
Well heck. You are very thorough. But honestly that’s what I needed. I’ll monitor the transformer block for heat but I always put some cooldown in my laser’s routine to improve the lifespan; maybe that’ll help out. Thank you berainlb; I’ll get back on this to let you know how it went 
All worked perfectly! And I even have some modest air assist in the form of an aquarium pump! Thank you for your help, you are a true mensch! <3
Haha. I’ll take that compliment. Glad it worked out.