I just replaced my laser bulb in my 60 watt omnitech co2 laser. I have a question about the tube itself. Hopefully someone here can help. When the laser fires the outlet side of the bulb the laser beam bounces around in a circular pattern. I never noticed this on the old tube is this normal? you can see this on youtube - YouTube
Thanks in advance
The video is marked āprivateā 
Might try a short pulse tape on m1 to see the output of the beam.
Not to sound like a dummy but what is a pulse tape
Thanks Jack
I use blue painters tape. You pulse the laser on low power to mark the tape. You do this to align the mirrors but you can also tell how well the laser is working by the pattern. You donāt put it on the mirror, but the port that is in front of the mirror.
I did that after replacing the bulb to make sure that it was aligned properly thank you I also made the video public sorry for the mess up
It still says private
Iām new so I donāt know answers. But from what Iāve seen the consensus is one of two things:
I donāt know if either of these is actually fact but thatās what I have been seeing others say. You might call a laser tube supplier such as LightObject and ask them (they are likely to know what the actual cause and solution is).
I also donāt know what term should be used to describe the phenomenon, but itās usually referred to as āarcingā in discussions.
Thank you. When I replaced my laser tube I drained the old distilled water and replaced it with new. I also read that if the gasses in the tube are low the arching could occur
Thank you for your input. I will call them and post their suggestion
The voltage from the lps can go real high if the tube doesnāt ionize, so if the tube fails, you could see arching.
Distilled water has a high dielectric and works well for a coolant. Deionzied is best, but exposure to air will change it back to distilled water very fast.
Is the ālaserā and when the gas breaks down to itās constituents, it fails to lase. I wouldnāt call it ālowāā¦ This can happen over time, so when you purchase a new tube, donāt get one made a few years ago and has sat on a shelf.
Ensure the coolant return from the tube is facing up or the correct orientation to ensure bubbles will naturally āflowā out. I have mine facing up.
Good luck
They told me that the arching was normal. I still find that odd as the arching on my machine is becoming more intense.
This tube is less than 3 weeks old and has maybe 1 hr of use . Would you return it?
Iāve only had a co2 laser for a year, but Iāve been pretty involved with them and mine is pretty modified.
Iāve never seen a properly operating one do that. The field is DC excited, not DC arced.
I think if you hunt around for the arcing, itās surprisingly common and internal arcing seems to be present in a failed tube.
I would try and have them replace itā¦
Do you have a mA meter? If so, can you control itā¦ donāt know what a ārightā answer is about this. Just always been curious.
You could send the video link to someone like Cloudray via email and ask them if they think that is your problem ā¦ just a thought.
Maybe they can sell you a tubeā¦ 
Good luck
Just FYI, but first a disclaimer. Iām still new so my level of certainty on any of this is pretty low, but having said thatā¦
I called and asked about it too because my tube also has that curved path of the pink beam at the āexitā end of the tube near the metal ring area. Itās a āsmoothā curve, i.e. it doesnāt jump around much, makes no noise and is constrained to that single spot in the path inside the tube. Also, I have a Mahoney power gauge and the tube output power matches what I would expect based on the PWM percentage input, and a mode burn also shows about what I would expect with normal tube function. With that in mind, what LightObject told me was that this is not uncommon and indeed deemed it ānormalā and would be suspect only if I had output problems.
Thereās always the possibility that in the process of describing whatās going on, there could be a communication / understanding gap anywhere in the people chain, so keep that in mind. This is simply one data point so far.
So for what thatās worth, there ya go.
I have distilled water in my cooling system at the moment and someday soon I will try replacing it with deionized water to see if anything changes just because, but at the moment I intend to just use my machine so I can start to learn more about the cutting process rather than all these machine function items Iāve had to concentrate on lately.
Fortunately my tube is warranted for another couple years and Iām sure Iāll have much more certainty of the health of things soon. But for now, since I apparently have acceptable beam performance, Iām just gonna trudge ahead and keep an eye (and ear) on things as I go.
Sounds like you have a good handle on things.
If this is the case, Iād follow their instructions. If there is damage, it will likely show up before two yearsā¦
Canāt beat that kind of dealā¦
What is this to you? A perfect beam?
Keep in mind that not all tubes that die do so overnight. Most often they degrade slowly.
Iād like to see what your beam looks like coming out of the tube, mirror 1 (m1). Most of us like looking at this stuff anyway
I would think there would be no circumstance an internal arc would be acceptable, but itās their business and hopefully they should know.
That āarcā is power that isnāt making it to the laser. Mine just glows pinkā¦
Part of your mA meter reading is that āarcā current.
I can pretty much bet, you wonāt see any change. This isnāt a āworthwhileā difference in distilled water and deionized. The bad part about deionized, it quickly changes back to distilled water if exposed to air. Not to mention itās expensive and can be corrosive to some type of metals.
When I was a kid in S. California along the coast the power company sent trucks out to the 100kV+ lines to wash off the salt accumulation, they would just āhoseā them off. They used distilled water, not deionized.
Good luck
Jack that is exactly what I intend to do. Could you tell me what MFG Tube that you currently use?
Thank you
How can I send you a video of that?
Video of what? I saw the one you posted.
Cluelessā¦ It came with my OMTech 5030 China blue machine.
I havenāt been able to find any kind of āmarkā for a manufacturer. This is the only label with any information. The other label marks the output endā¦
Kind of like telling me which end the bullet comes out, pretty useless.
Arching is becoming more intense
