Originally Posted by
dogeatdog5
Hello, I have an extra tube that came with my machine that was never used. I recently started using it and it's only been a month. Last night it suddenly lost most of its power mid-cut. After checking focus I went home then came back in this morning. I was excited to find the laser cutting at full power again but it only lasted about 30 minutes before it lost almost all power and was barely cutting. I checked the lens for damage then checked the focus. I noticed that the laser was firing a circle with an empty middle. I then started to trouble shoot starting at the tube itself. I fired the tube onto a piece of wood and got the same thing, low power and a circle with an empty middle. I tested the power supply next and used the resister that came with the laser. The power was firing at full power so I've determined that the supply was fine. I also learned that there's a lens in the tube itself and I did a visual check looking in the end of the tube and all looked fine. I also did a visual check of the tube which looks fine. That's about as far as I've gotten but at this point I fear it's the tube that's gone or if not I don't know what else to troubleshoot. Any ideas? I've attached a photo of what the laser looks like when it hits the piece. 150W Chinese tube water chilled. The water temp is fine. Same as it's always been. The only thing that puzzles me is that the laser light is purple and everything I read says that a purple light means the tube is good. Also, why would it work after sitting for then night for 30 more minutes? Either it has gas or it doesn't right? I didn't see any slow decline in the power, it just instantly lost power.