[makerstoolworks]

I have a generic Chinese 130W laser cutter. My power supply failed more than a year ago, and I just finally replaced it with a new one (similar to this) that has a current meter on it.

When I fire the laser, it is only reading about 22mA, and it is not cutting at the speeds I would expect. I can't find a reference now, but if I remember right it should be drawing about 28mA. Does that suggest that the laser tube is dying, or is the new power supply suspect? I've adjusted the power output trimpot so the output is as high as possible.

Thanks for your help!

[ledaero]

When you say ‘adjusted as high as possible’, how high is that?

My Reci W4 is tested/calibrated at 30mA and should be run at 26mA for 8000 hour tube life.

A 130W tube drawing 22mA is only going to be putting out ~80W or so. It could be you don’t have a big enough supply for your tube, you don’t have good connections, your tube has degraded over time (did you properly’winter’ it during its year off?)

Rather than read the built-in ammeter, use a digital multimeter to give you a true reading. Check all your connections. Do you have a laser probe meter to give you a true spot power reading?