[danielcoyle]

This post is a spin off of a recent post about a fire I had that lead to me buying a new machine. Before you say "it can't be repaired" please read below and check out where the crack is.

New laser tube has a profound crack at the end of it near the water intakes. Bought machine from a 'local' who bought it direct from china and never used it. not sure when or how the tube cracked. the guy who sold it to me said he would write to the manufacturer and ask them to warranty. we'll see. til then I want to try to fix the tube.
Attachment 190096
there does not seem to be any cracks in the portion of the tube that holds the gaseous mix responsible for running the laser itself, just the cooling component. can I repair this? if so how would I go about it? epoxy, super glue, "welding", tape, gum, Velcro...?

anyone have experience with cracks in this area?

[underthetire]

Pull it and bring it too a glass blower, bet they could fix it right up.

[Dylwad]

Pull it and bring it too a glass blower, bet they could fix it right up.

Not likely unless the gas gets evacuated due to the need to anneal/normalize the glass afterwards.

If it's just low pressure liquid, sand or sand blast the surfaces and use a build up of jb weld, or break the tubes off and jb weld aluminum or brass tubing inside the broken sections.

Jb weld or other metal filled epoxies are permanent fixes in the right applications when applied properly.

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[danielcoyle]

Dylwad
Thanks. The section of the tube is dedicated to conveying water for cooling. you recommend JB weld because it has metals in it? Is it better than "regular" high quality epoxies for some reason? I think this is probably my easiest fix, though I would consider taking it to a glass blower if it seemed worth it.

[cinematic2]

First, I would check if this laser (tube) is still working.
You may have short pulse test without cooling water. Max 1-2 sec. Just to check if it works at all.
If it is OK, than use any glue for water systems.
Best would be epoxy for water pipes sealing.

[Exsecratio]

That's been caused by thermal shocking by looking at it, that's usually a result of a tube being fired up then having cold water shot into it (or internal stresses built up when the tube was made)

A glass blower would have to heat it to the point the epoxy bonding between the water chamber and tube let go, (bye bye gas) (you would also likely end up trying to remount the mirror)

If you really want to save the tube Dan I'd try epoxy, it may work it may not it's impossible to say.My only concern is that if it does let go that's a lot of water you could be dumping into an area that uses rather high voltages and risk damaging other components in the event of a short.

In your position I'd likely dump the tube, it may be false economy to try and save it.

cheers

Dave

[BAMCNC.COM]

Good ol' 33 Electrical Tape will probably work, there isn't much pressure on the water, it barely makes it up the hose as it is.

[frank wang]

This post is a spin off of a recent post about a fire I had that lead to me buying a new machine. Before you say "it can't be repaired" please read below and check out where the crack is.

New laser tube has a profound crack at the end of it near the water intakes. Bought machine from a 'local' who bought it direct from china and never used it. not sure when or how the tube cracked. the guy who sold it to me said he would write to the manufacturer and ask them to warranty. we'll see. til then I want to try to fix the tube.
Attachment 190096
there does not seem to be any cracks in the portion of the tube that holds the gaseous mix responsible for running the laser itself, just the cooling component. can I repair this? if so how would I go about it? epoxy, super glue, "welding", tape, gum, Velcro...?

anyone have experience with cracks in this area?

Hi ,

i checked your second picture , i think your tube before sending to you , it has this problem .

Do not worry , if the main body do not broken or Gas gives off , it still can still .

This is the "+" terminal , just use the water to cool the reflect mirror .
you can use the Silicone to repair .

[danielcoyle]

Thanks all. Sounds like I just need to choose between epoxy (or is JB weld better?), silicone or electrical tape. Any other second opinions before I begin surgery. They are definitely appreciated.

[cinematic2]

Check it before. Do not loose time and money.

[BAMCNC.COM]

Silicone will probably be fine

[herby08]

hi there
its just not worth it to try to repair because this area is exposed to the highest temperature what the tube creates. with a crack there you probably also have lost the focus of the exit lens what you can not re-attaché at the right spot.
if you order a new tube its only around $150 including shipping and if you already had a few hundert hours on it the tube lost power already anyway.
greetings
waltfl

[Exsecratio]

Jb weld or other metal filled epoxies are permanent fixes in the right applications

Unless they are close to high frequency, high voltage, high temperature arcs

I'm with Herb Dan, junk the tube, the damage it can do if it totally fails will cost more than a new tube. Even if a fix works you will never be sure that it isn't going to let go at some point, if it does you can be sure it will be just when you don't need it to fail.

cheers

Dave

[art103]

Arise old thread!

This was one of the few threads that came up when I had exactly this problem.
I suspect that a few months ago I had thermally shocked the tube by running it for ~30 seconds without the coolant pump turned on.

Everything seemed fine until I noticed a very small amount of liquid leaking into the control area 2 days ago.
On further investigation, there was a crack around the cooling chamber as pictured at the beginning of this thread. Wiggling the pipes led to the end coming clean off.
Queue a pool of coolant and much cursing...

Anyhow, after reading this thread I chose to risk it and after thoroughly drying I used Cyanoacrylate to reattach the pieces and hold them in place (it was a very clean break).
I then coated the outside with a ~3-4mm bead of quick setting epoxy to make it water tight and have a firm hold.
This patch has held up to 2 hours of use at 100% power so far.

I will be ordering a new tube soon as there are some very good and valid points about longevity, however in a pinch the epoxy got me through.

Cheers,
Richard.

[rodrigomartins]

Arise old thread!

This was one of the few threads that came up when I had exactly this problem.
I suspect that a few months ago I had thermally shocked the tube by running it for ~30 seconds without the coolant pump turned on.

Everything seemed fine until I noticed a very small amount of liquid leaking into the control area 2 days ago.
On further investigation, there was a crack around the cooling chamber as pictured at the beginning of this thread. Wiggling the pipes led to the end coming clean off.
Queue a pool of coolant and much cursing...

Anyhow, after reading this thread I chose to risk it and after thoroughly drying I used Cyanoacrylate to reattach the pieces and hold them in place (it was a very clean break).
I then coated the outside with a ~3-4mm bead of quick setting epoxy to make it water tight and have a firm hold.
This patch has held up to 2 hours of use at 100% power so far.

I will be ordering a new tube soon as there are some very good and valid points about longevity, however in a pinch the epoxy got me through.

Cheers,
Richard.

Very good ...
Could you post some pictures of how was this repair for us to observe and describe best brands and models of products used in the repair and so quite help the board staff ...
Hug and stay with God

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