[hillannie]

Hello hello,

I am quite new to maintenance of laser cutters, so my apologies if I have missed something quite obvious. Basically, in the school I work in there are two laser cutters, recently I did a routine clean on our main machine (the first one I have done since starting here, the old technician left in a hurry and we have had no communication). I cleaned the mirrors and the lens and found I afterwards had awful cutting power, jobs that should be at 4% speed are barely cutting through at 0.5%.

The lens is not spotless but I don't see that it should be causing this much of an issue as it is cleaner that it was previously.

The second laser has been working fine but it's extraction unit recently failed a LEV check so has been decommissioned for ventilation reasons. So I moved the first lasers extraction to the second laser thinking I would have a full working set and bizarrely the second laser is now producing the exact same problem - awful cutting power.

Could it be the extraction? I have read that the compressor can aid cutting - there is definitely air being blown through the nose cone but I don't know what the pressure should be. To me, it is quite weak but it appears no weaker than the compressor the machine used to use. So i'm not sure it is that.

I have checked the mirrors with the masking tape method and they are pretty much aligned - the company that supplies the schools lasers make it so that they cannot be adjusted without a company technician here so I cant really adjust them myself to get them spot on. Would slightly misaligned mirrors cause such a decrease in power? and what are the chances of both machines faulting like this simultaneously?

I have also cleaned the mirrors and the lens on the second laser.

I have also checked the lens is correctly mounted - convex side is pointing towards the beam.

I used Iso-Propyl Alcohol and the provided cotton swabs to clean the lens' and mirrors.

Both lasers are 30W.

Before I call the expensive company technician I just wanted to check it's not glaringly obvious I have done wrong/missed.

Thanks in advance!

Annie

[Dean448]

You can easily check alignment by putting blue painters tape on the end of the nozzle and test fire the unit. Beam obviously should be centered to the opening over the full range of motion. I check in corners and at the center of the laser bed. If the beam hits the cone it will loose power and require alignment

Mirrors don’t normally get dirty unless the smoke isn’t being pulled out properly. Air thru the nozzle helps to keep the lens clean but mostly aids in cutting


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[hillannie]

Thankyou, I will double check the alignment and see if i can somehow get it aligned better.