[whitesracing]

Ok first mistake buying laser engraver off ebay - chinese 60W CO2 USB Laser Engraving Cutter Stand Cutting Machine Engraver 500x700mm

Ok from day one never worked!!! the tube never fired , no ark no beam, then second day it fired beam only after turning unit on then off on then off then on, then it worked about 4 hours. turned off came back next day laser would not fire beam, no sound no ark no beam. checked and double checked connection at tube. they were good and connected. we have tired to get help from person that we bought laser engraver from and its like pulling eye teeth, ebay wont help paypal wont help even tho they found in favor of us they wanted us to ship laser back to china. so after emailing and emailing they sent a video to have us try to see if laser would fire, (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8w...?usp=drive_web) once we unplugged the second connector and hit test fire on supply the tube fired, beam could be seen hitting metal ring on inside of tube. So I turned of unit and tried it again 4/29/2016 never changed anything hit test fire on supply unit , nothing.

what do you think it might be, I also have a ground light flashing on control board ????????

I'm thinking i got a 2200 dollar paper weight

I'm thinking bad power supply and maybe tube ?

[gfacer2]

So it's hard to say but if your beam worked for 4 hours, I'd start with the assumption it's OK (for now).

The pictures of the power supply look to be the one for the Steppers not the laser. Usually the laser power supply is on the other side of the machine. I'd check the connections there. If the connections are OK, then I'd quickly check the controller output (search for how, it's easy enough but basically it's full voltage from controller to laser PS on one wire (usually 5v ish) , then a percentage of that on another wire that matches the power level you've set).

The power supply itself is testable only with a huge resistor that mimics the tube. You can read the low voltage wire (the one from the output side of the tube) in milliamps too and see what the draw is.

Since most lasers don't supply the huge resistor to troubleshoot it's typically easier to buy a new power supply and swap it out.

Either it's the problem or the new one becomes the spare (and they are consumable parts on lasers to some degree).

If the controller is OK and the new power supply is OK, then it's likely the tube. They are pretty simple systems. These 3 parts make the fire so to speak so start with the easy fast and cheap check (control voltage), move to power supply (medium cost but slow to get to you hence the reason to keep a spare) and end with high cost high risk (tube).

Lasers often have set up pains, maybe due damage enroute or humidity or who knows, but once you swap out the offending bits it should go better.



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[Louis_Cannell]

I have its little brother sitting here a K40 keep at the supplier, file a claim with fleebay. I got full refund and the machine was never collected so got a free paperweight which I will either get a tube for or raise some cash for charity putting it on fleebay, probably the latter. Seller is liable to collect faulty goods at their expense and refund so don't be fobbed off, 90% of the tubes start to die from minute they leaver factory, months aboard ships, then in warehouses they arrive in a poor state with little catalyst left, my paperweight lasted 2 hours at 6ma.

Test your HV with a packing peanut on a piece of cotton hold at least 6" away from HV linkage and fire laser if ok the peanut will move towards it, check tube for tiny cracks and signs of silicone moving. but keep at fleebay and supplier and don't get screwed.

[gfacer2]

So looked at the video, looks like the disconnected the controller side and hit the test on the power supply. You can often get a failing tube to fire for a second and the nothing. If the power supply seems to work for a second, and the controller voltage is OK then its back to the tube.

And not surprisingly it's often the tube that seems to go first on these cheaper units. I almost wonder if the get factory seconds for the tubes.

The tube should have a warranty, so see if you can troubleshoot enough to convince the vendor.

They will usually make you smash the old one before sending a new one to keep you honest.

Worse case is another tube from a better vendor (coletech comes to mind on eBay, I've also used sign-in-china with good results on the second tube and good customer service on the first defective one.

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[gfacer2]

Sorry see the laser power supply now, I think that the IN wire is the percentage voltage, and the 5v is the controllers full voltage (nominally 5v but really just needs to be close as IN should be a percentage of the 5v which you can confirm with little math). Just have the laser power off and run a program from the controller. It should still output as if the laser is on.

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[whitesracing]

OK I went and played with it today 04/30/2016, plugged everything in and ran laser, the tubed fired but the longer it ran the less beam it had, finally after i would say 1 or 2 minutes the tube got less and less fire to where it quit all together... unplugged the second plug off power supply hit test fit from supply unit and nothing. how can it not work yesterday at all and today work for a few minutes ?????(chair)

when i hit test fire on power supply nothing happens is it leaning towards a new power supply ? where can i get another one - it shows myjg60w as model number on power supply unit.. its included in pictures I INCLUDED.

[gfacer2]

Temperature of the gas in the tube... Sounds like it's the tube.

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[whitesracing]

WHY might it quit firing all together. the tube shows no sign of firing, when i hit test fire the light on supply unit never light, but the other day i could see it light. crazy getting more gray hair. Wife is having a fit.

[Louis_Cannell]

Light off when firing it may be so faint if gas gone open tube cover lights off and fire faint glow will show tube Kputt try HV test with packing peanut and cotton and keep onto ebay my claim was dismissed several times before they refunded in full!

[whitesracing]

paypal found in our favor, but we had to ship unit back and they wanted to ship back to china - like noooo it would cost more to ship,....... how would i go about doing test. (try HV test with packing peanut and cotton) .. I know how to do somethings but of i have video to show. I have video of whats going on but its too large of file to upload here.

[gfacer2]

Why? Because they just go after a while. Dave Sheldrake on sawmill Creek forum could go into the why a lot more than I can. But it doesn't matter. It's as Louis says, the cheap tubes have about a 2 year max lifespan. They state this as a tube life in hours. You (ie all of us buyers) think it's relative to the used hours but it seems to be more relative to the since manufactured time. Yes if you use it a ton it may expire early, but the same also seems to be the case if you don't use it at all or a little. As Louis says, these tubes can sit around for a while before we get them, as a result they can fail fast.

Anyhow tell them you want a replacement tube, rather than a new machine. Tell them you can video yourself breaking the old tube and offer to pay shipping for the new one if needed.

This should be covered under warranty and you should be able to get them to cover it (shipping might be on your dime).

As for the wife, you're on your own. You get what you pay for, and it can still be a good deal but these are the headaches that allow trotec, uls, etc to sell at huge multiples of the cost (admittedly they are better machines too).







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[whitesracing]

ok here is s couple photos, i again tried to fire laser, one u can see beam hitting metal ring on negative end power supply to laser the plug that they advised too unplug

[gfacer2]

And no your power supply sounds fine.

Just FYI, my first tube lasted about 3 years (reci). My replacement lasted 1 week and then faded dramatically. The second replacement (on warranty) has lasted a year so far and seems fine. The reci declined for a while, the second Beijing efr f6 tube declined rapidly (OK Friday, barely a mark the next Monday, barely light at all by end of the week). Second f6 tube still ok.

Hey could be worse. Our other machine started with a broken tube (in transit break), followed by 4 more broken replacements from original vendor. Finally got a cheaper 80w from coletech that lasted about 2.5 years (he just replaced it). Took about 8+ months to get it operating, at additional cost, with 80w basic tube rather than the 150w reci we paid for.

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[whitesracing]

its driving me crazy, if i hit test on power supply from power supply with plug undone, it will only test fire for a few seconds, I then have to turn off wait a few minutes turn back on it may or may not refire, turn off wait a few minutes, turn on then it may fire for only a few seconds, i was able to get a somewhat photo of beam hitting metal ring in tube

[gfacer2]

Well, you can always get a power supply first. Depends how fast you need things to happen.

If you buy a new power supply (which is very useful for troubleshooting) , and it still doesn't work, warranty on the tube should be a given.

But if I were a betting man, I'd bet on the tube.

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[whitesracing]

OK, here is a follow up ------ I found a packing peanut, did the peanut test - here is what happened. when i first powered up laser and hit test fire from power supply for laser the peanut moved towards the hv wire, then after about 5 sec the laser quit firing - the peanut never moved again. I turn off laser I let it set for a few minutes turn back on, hit test fire peanut moves after a few sec it stops firing peanuts again doesn't move when test fire is pushed, do this couple times same results. the last time I got real close to end of wire near laser tube hit test fire I could see peanut move some what.

ok here is photo when laser fires, just as it is about to quit, it thins out and the beam looks scattered goes light purple not a solid beam if that makes any sense

[gfacer2]

Ah see the pictures now, yeah I've had that. Not the power supply.

Actually not too far gone in that picture but not a coherent beam.

I know, trust me I know, you want a way out without replacing the tube. But also trust me, doing this before you have projects lined up is better than later, especially if you can get satisfaction from the seller.

Tubes fail, they can fail quickly, it always sucks. It's a major cost that mentally you don't really consider when you buy them. You (read I in this, really talking about me) read the hour rating and think it will take 5 to 10 years to hut that. Then the tube fails and you realize that its all not true, that they fail more often than you thought, it's a pain and you haven't allowed for a replacement.

I'll see if I can find my sawmill Creek thread link.

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[gfacer2]

Tube advice - new tube dead(ish) after a week?

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[Louis_Cannell]

It is the responsibility of the seller to collect such items remind ebay that the shipping because of a faulty unit at your expense is unfair and probably illegal, unit returns to where it originated arranged and paid for by seller, eby have precidence for this matter with my case.

As for the peanut test a simple packing peanut the polystyrene type tied to end of length of cotton , held away from laser and slowly move closer to ht connection if HT present there will be a swing towards the HT. it only a basic test but proves HT is being sent to tube and likely a problem with tube. The pictures look like I said no castalyst remaining to reproduce required co2 new tube would be my bet, either push for buyer to collect at their expense and arrangement which you have to accomodate or push for replacement working tube either the partial refund or one shipped directly to you a from factory. They will all try and blow you off but am certain you have some sort of trading standards laws in usa similar to ours. A normal home buyer canot be expected to ship items of this sizer its not something to pop into a post office, like a cooker or washing machine its an item supplier must arrange to collect and replace or refund.

Have PM'd you a copy of some of my discussions with seller and ebay and result may help in your negotiations. limited to 3000 chars so if you would like more please pm your email will send complete file.

[whitesracing]

OK so I got digging around, triple checked all wires, connections, which all was tight!!!!!!! So then I go to power supply for laser open it up started looking for bad solders, loose connections, and guess what I found ????????? there is a circuit board on the inside of power supply that has a bad solder joint- I could move it in a way the laser would fire each and every time, then let it rest, and laser would do nothing, no noise no test fire. move it just a little - Bang the laser fired. So I just got home from work and going to re-solder the joint and be back in business, Thank god. Then I can work on tube.