[sthdklen]

Hi I have the above laser cutter, I bought it of a con man on ebay, biggest mistake ever as i've had issue after issue with it. It keeps sparking, burning and melting the connector between the laser tube and the red wire as seen in the picture, does anyone know what can be causing this, i've replaced the connector 3 times now and it keeps doing it.

Thanks in advance

[gfacer2]

It's arcing by the looks of it (do you hear a zap sound?). You can try and seal the stink out of it with some high voltage silicone tape (red wire and that really sketchy looking end cap). Once an arc starts it generates a carbon path and continues easier than it started. Otherwise new tube and then seal the stink out of the new one.

[jacovi]

hello
you can tell me some more about this cheat, you say? I'm just watching it on ebay model similar to yours, I hope it's not the same. You have claimed to ebay, denounced, etc ..?
that you cheated?

[rinconchuck]

Hello,

Before you start, make sure you have a GOOD ground to your laser. The rounding screw on the back of the laser is there for a reason.

1. I would ditch your connector, that is obviously not working for you. Cut back the High-voltage lead and then strip about 1/4 inch of the insulation back from the wire. Wrap the wire around the HV post (wire) on the tube and flow soldier around the wire making a ring around the HV post in the tube. This will not soldier directly to the post, as the post seems to be nickle and quite resistant to soldiering. It will make a very tight physical connection, cover the whole post up with tape. I have used black vinyl electrical tape with very good results on my tubes.

2. Before you do the same thing to the ground post (near the lens) check the 100% power milliamper output of the power supply by using a multi-meter in MA setting (should be able to read 10 to 40 ma) between the laser tube ground post and the (usually a thinner black wire) ground wire coming out of the laser HVPS. There should be a label on your laser tube that will show the amperage in milliamps at the 100% power setting that your laser should put out. It usually between 11ma and 30ma. This is the maximum power your tube should be run at 100% power. Running at a higher amperage can seriously impact the life of your laser tube and can also cause arcing. There is usually an adjusting pot or a hole in the case of the HVPS where you can use a non-ferrous screw driver to adjust this if it is out of adjustment. If you don/t think you can do this adjustment, then find a friend who is comfortable working with electrical and have him help you. Once you have checked/adjusted your HVPS, then do the same thing to the to the ground post and the tube grounding wire as you did to the HV wire and post in step 1.

3. If you cannot adjust the tube, get a new tube.

Hope this helps,

Rinconchuck