[KootenayMan]

Hi all - I’ve been running older Epilog machines for years, Legend models specifically. I recently purchased another and shipped it across Canada based on the seller’s business reviews, and a good gut feeling after we spoke. I was told it was a “great running machine” and he was simply upgrading to be able to do larger work.

Well, the machine never worked properly from day one with the laser either firing intermittently, or not at all. The PO tells me it’s a tube warm up issue, and that all I have to do is “Send the job two or three times until the laser fires, and then it’s good for several hours”. I’ve never had to warm up a tube, maybe just lucky I guess. But from what I understand, any warm up time more than 5-10 seconds is a sign of a failing tube. Am I wrong, or does anyone else here have to send jobs multiple times in the AM to get their tube firing, and then again later on in the day? My thought is that he found a work around to limp along an old tube but would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

[dskowron]

This phenomenon is called "cold-firing". I've experienced it with both of my RF lasers - a GCC Laserpro Venus and my Epilog Mini-18. I thought it was due to failing tubes but I just got my Epilog tube recharged and I still get it from time to time. The techs at Epilog told me it is a normal thing and that there's no need for concern. I just let the job run until it starts to fire normally, then I restart the job. No need to send it again from the computer. I view it as a normal part of operation. It doesn't seem to matter if the machine has been powered on for any certain length of time or not. It happens intermittently and doesn't worry me.

On the GCC, it started happening a lot until the machine became too much of a hassle for us as it was impeding our production. So we decommissioned that machine and got the Epilog. I like the Epilog a lot.

[KootenayMan]

This phenomenon is called "cold-firing". I've experienced it with both of my RF lasers - a GCC Laserpro Venus and my Epilog Mini-18. I thought it was due to failing tubes but I just got my Epilog tube recharged and I still get it from time to time. The techs at Epilog told me it is a normal thing and that there's no need for concern. I just let the job run until it starts to fire normally, then I restart the job. No need to send it again from the computer. I view it as a normal part of operation. It doesn't seem to matter if the machine has been powered on for any certain length of time or not. It happens intermittently and doesn't worry me.

On the GCC, it started happening a lot until the machine became too much of a hassle for us as it was impeding our production. So we decommissioned that machine and got the Epilog. I like the Epilog a lot.

Thanks for the input. My problem is that even if you restart the job after the laser starts to fire, it still fires intermittently throughout the job. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times you repeat this process.

[dskowron]

How old is it? The tubes degrade over time and maybe yours is on its last leg.

[cinematic2]

This is bull****. There is no any "cold-firing".
The laser works better the colder it is.
You just have some kind of electronics failure.

[dskowron]

This is bull****. There is no any "cold-firing".
The laser works better the colder it is.
You just have some kind of electronics failure.

LOL!!! That isn't what "cold firing" refers to.

[KootenayMan]

How old is it? The tubes degrade over time and maybe yours is on its last leg.

Pretty new tube actually, owner replaced in 2019. The laser is getting an accurate signal from the control board. I know this because the yellow light on the end of the laser is pulsing correctly (raster mode) or always on (vector mode). But the laser beam itself just cuts in and out randomly. The issue has to be in the laser tube itself. Quite frustrating…