Hi Guys - first off, this is not a lightburn specific issue, but I am hoping that under this hardware section someone with more knowledge might have some wisdom.
We have one of the older Laguna PL12/20s (not the new shiny model). It was running fine, but slowly the cutting power diminished and eventually one day it quit entirely. We replaced the tube (the new one has all the right specs) and it briefly worked (very briefly) but then the power supply went out (we talked with the support tech at Laguna, he troubleshooted it and confirmed that Dx). We waited a week for the new power supply to get here, installed it - it ran perfectly for half of the first job and everything went dead again. The support tech swears it can’t be the power supply failing twice, but when hitting the test button on the power supply (after unplugging the part to bypass the interlocks) it does not fire and the fan on the power supply is not running, either.
We are at a loss… it seems like something upstream of the power supply is causing the power supply to fail multiple times, but we cannot figure it out. The tech seems to be stumped as well, so I am hoping you awesome end users might have some advice from your experience.
Again, I realize this is a software forum… I have seen some nasty responses from people when someone asks a question like this; hoping you guys show a little mercy Thank you so much!
I’m sorry you’ve had seen some nastiness here. I’m a laser cutter field engineer so hopefully I can at least point you in the right direction.
Firstly a warning. These sorts of power supplies take mains voltage and produce very very high voltages. When they’ve been unable to discharge that voltage there might be high amounts of static still present in the connections around your tube or the high voltage cable (especially if for some reason the tube has failed or the high voltage (usually red) cable is poorly connected or damaged.
With everything disconnected from the mains, carefully remove the power supply (PSU) and check all the connections, especially the mains connection to the PSU. New power supplies can and do fail, though on balance it seems more likely to be a loose connection or something related to the fitting of it. Double check everything looks well seated and connected, that cables aren’t damaged and so on. Do not dismantle the PSU (I’ve known customers do this) there are some fair sized capacitors inside and you should leave these alone.
I’m not familiar with this machine, but chances are its not a “special” power supply and you may very well be able to find something similar online (and thus not rely on your supplier).
Hi, I like everything @Dominic had to say. You should also remember that sometimes electronics fail sometimes at the beginning of their use. So if the first power supply was the original or really old and died it could’ve been wholly unrelated to your tube replacement, perhaps when you got the new psu it had an early death which happens, especially with psu’s. Like he mentioned there are quite a few other suppliers/ brands of laser psu you could give a try, after ensuring the psu is the issue, not just wiring, and if your current supplier is unwilling to assist of course.
If the power supply has a brand name and model number, you might also contact the manufacturer and see if they have any suggestions for troubleshooting.
As an admin, I can tell you we have seen some uninviting comments, which we try to address as soon as we see it.
These types of comments are not acceptable, we want everyone to feel welcome, even when we suggest our forum may not be the best location for their inquiry.
Please don’t hesitate to ask away. Let us know if we miss something needing moderation and again, welcome!
Hardware fails and software has bugs. That’s life with computers. I spent the day under pressure to get a demo computer site up and running. It kept coming back to cables. But having changed it three times I was going bonkers. Finally the 4th $1200 brand new cable fixed it. Maybe your tech should quit swearing… Good luck (8’)
Thank you so much!
