LaserPro Info - Engraving Etc. Forum

<body> <h1>Full Version: <a href="https://www.engravingetc.org:443/archive/index.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.1">LaserPro Info</a></h1><a name="a1967_1"></a><p><b>From: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.1">#1</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: ALL</b></p> <p>HI All,</p> <p>I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. Not sure, I'm under the right category or not. I own both a LaserPro and an Epilog.</p> <p>As I mentioned we have a LasrPro Explorer, 60WATT. We purchased the machine new and it is still under warranty. I have been trying to locate other users as I really need some help with this Laser. We have had the machine for over a year now and nothing but problems. I would love to meet some users to find out if they have the same issues and how they overcame them. We really need to take advantage of the pass through capability not to mention recover our investment.</p> <p>The problems are factual and too numerous to go over now. I'm the owner of the machine, I have first hand knowledge, and it's well documented. </p> <p>If there's anyone out there that can help I would love to start a dialog.</p> <p>(Edited characters for clarity)</p><p class="edit_text">EDITED: 18 Sep 2005 by DGL</p> <hr /><a name="a1967_2"></a><p><b>From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.2">#2</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.1">#1</a>] 17 Sep 2005</p> <p>lbbcb (I'd rather address you by name),</p> <p>Welcome to the forum. Could you share some of your struggles here so that the many laser users and manufacturer reps here can try to work you thrugh your machine issues? We prefer that these types of things be handled on the forum, not to damage the reputation of a manufacturer, but so that we can all learn from a successful fix. Since we are dealing with moving parts and precision, all manufacturers are going to have a machine or two that is going to need some tweeking. We are all here to help and learn, not to slam products or companies.</p><p class="edit_text">EDITED: 17 Sep 2005 by DATAKES</p> <hr /><a name="a1967_3"></a><p><b>From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.3">#3</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.1">#1</a>] 17 Sep 2005</p> I run 3 explorers , were explorer I's , upgraded to explorer II's . What problems are you having , perhaps I can help.<hr /><a name="a1967_4"></a><p><b>From: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.4">#4</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: ALL</b></p> <p>HI Guys,</p> <p>Thanks for the replyÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢s. OK, I found the site and in a rush to get on used my yahoo email and Yahoo user name. Sorry!</p> <p>My name is Larry and I own a woodworking company. We do high-end interiors for homes 15,000 square feet and up. We have machines ranging from simple routers to 5-Axis CNC machines for carving. We use our lasers to add detail to the various parts that make up a room.</p> <p>Glad to hear there is another GCC Explorer user out there.</p> <p>OK, finally to some of the struggles. Right now, we are in the process of having the laser tube replaced, this is taking some time now. In working with GCC what is the normal turnaround to identify a problem and getting back into production? </p> <p>I donÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t think we ever had proper alignment of the laser beam. Is there a more sophisticated way to align the mirrors other then burning holes in tape? Epilog has a gage or target you use, has anyone developed something for the LaserPro? </p> <p>Ventilation. We purchased the recommended blower from GCC with the Laser. The blower arrived some two weeks later. In the meantime, we used a shopvac. We found the GCC supplied blower totally inadequate, even with the filter removed. For the first month, we were cleaning the machine every evening. We were cleaning the lens and mirrors two or three times a day depending on what we were engraving. After a week or so of that, we replaced the GCC blower with a large blower that sucks all the smoke out. Sorry for all the background, so, in the first month of use did we do any damage to the machine by having lingering smoke? </p> <p>Thanks in advance,</p> <p>Larry</p><hr /><a name="a1967_5"></a><p><b>From: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.5">#5</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.3">#3</a>] 17 Sep 2005</p> <p>HI Rodney,</p> <p>Thanks for your reply. I posted a general response with some issues I have had.</p> <p>What type of work do you do, materials used. We use Corel as our graphics tool. Is that about standard for the engraving industry? </p> <p>Thanks again!</p><hr /><a name="a1967_6"></a><p><b>From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.6">#6</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.5">#5</a>] 18 Sep 2005</p> <p>As far as laser engraving, Corel is fairly the universal program.</p> <p>Did you see the smoke lingering, or are you saying that due to the need to do so much cleaning? [Still means smoke not drawn out fast enough.]</p> <p>Does it have air assist to blow the smoke away from the lenses?</p> <p>Cleaning is often with a laser, especially with wood. Be sure that the mirrors also get clean and the laser input window.</p> <p>Be sure to clean the rollers and the guide rails on both of the axis along with the mirrors/lens.</p> <p>P.S. The more the exhaust sucks the better.</p> <hr /><a name="a1967_7"></a><p><b>From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.7">#7</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.4">#4</a>] 18 Sep 2005</p> <p>Hiya , I use my explorers to process many materials , also have a lot of other stuff including overhead cnc routers etc. My site <a href="http://www.tokerbros.co.za">http://www.tokerbros.co.za</a> will show more applications</p> <p>As to tubes , well I seems that the manfgrs of the tubes , who are not GCc - Either coherent or Synrad seem to have problems , we have had a few tubes replaced but insist our agents for the machines carry at least one in stock (they are 1000 miles away) so that is generally a 24 hour turnaround <br /> if one needs to be airfreighted from Taiwan , its about 5 days. This tube issue is not limited to GCc as the other brands represented here in south Africa (mainly trotec) seem to be as prone to tube failure. Generally a RF board goes and the laser loses 1/2 its power and inevitably the other RF board goes soon after leading to total failure.<br /> Your agent who sold you the machine is your support , so any issues with delivery and replacements need to be take up with them.</p> <p>The holes in the tape method is best , however there are 2 versions of the explorer ,the newer one where the red beam and the lens collimator is right at the source and there is one where the red beam and the collimator is near the top of the firing tube closer to the table , The older system is very clumsy to clean and align , have yours upgraded to the newer explorer II optic system , it's not hugely expensive and its a much easier and stable alignment apart from a better beam quality. If you have aligned the red beam to the source well with the bottom type arrangement , then you can use the red beam to see where the laser will fire and tune alignment with the red beam just firing at various times and points to confirm the actual beam is hitting where the red beam says it should.<br /> If yours is the newer system , the problem of going out of laignment is actually probably the mirror at the bottom near the source as the setting screws are not locktighted and actually are very loose , so cleaning the bottom mirror (the one right by the source) on a regular basis actually disturbs them very easily and a teeny motion there translates to bigger misalignment on the table.<br /> The reason they arent locktighted (or any are) on delivery is that generally transporting a machine like this will not allow an perfect alignment to be factory set and to be maintained during a journey, We solved this with a alignment on site , then locktighted all the setting screws on all the mirror mounts and then locking the machines wheels.<br /> I have the maintanance manual at work and will mail it to you on Monday , its a lot better then the normal manual and has all sorts of instructions as to replacing motors , parts breakdown and so forth.</p> <p>We never used the GCC blower but elected to use hipower rotarys that really do suck , the reason is that out fumes go up piping to the roof , at least 15-20 meters hight and we needed some power to get decent airflow up so high. <br /> We do clean our optics more than once a day , we work our lasers in a production environment approx 8 hrs a day on more or less continuous cycles , the direction of your air assist and where your laser is and what you engrave will determine a lot of this. I would suggest a 4" lens for your work , you will lose some crispness due to the larger spot size , but conversely can engrave large areas smoother and quicker and will have the lens double the distance from the object as it is now and less prone to any smoke or byproducts , you will obviously lose 2" of z clearance as well. You need to up power or drop speed to get the depths , but you can often 1/2 the DPI you use and 1/2 the speed , 1/2 ing the DPI saves you a lot more time than 1/2 ing engraving speed.<br /> We work in a rather dusty environment and also do a fair amount of CnC woodwork (as well as a lot of other engraving) Wood releases a lot of resins and other debris inside the machine.<br /> A good strategy is to also have vaccum where you have air assist , set the air assist nozzle to blow on the area to be cut and toward the back of the machine , use another airline about the same as the air assist one with vacuum just after the cutting head and for stuff like rubber , styrene , wood etc , use it to supplement the extraction system. Pass thru is problematic as there is no extraction possible , in this case the extra vacuum point works well<br /> We also take a feed off the air assist and direct it into the lens and final mirrror assembly to pressurise it. This minimizes cleaning. also we use all the dust covers supplied on other mirrors and optics. A good test to see if you have all the power promised is to cut 3mm acrylic , your laser should easily manage this at 2% speed and 100% power.<br /> Do not use the enhanced vector function when doing this (we dont use it , it slows us down)<br /> The only real niggle I have had with my machines is the X-motor which has a shaft encoder that gets dirty , solution is to clean it and then tape the enclosures gaps closed with masking tape. I have also had to replace my x linear rails and bearing due to not lubricating them (was not detailed in the original manual , so we thought they didnt need it). Basically my agents were very smart in solving stuff timeously and so were GCC themselves in responding to issues. The tube story has been an ongoing saga , but as said before , not really a GCC problem. We "protect" our tubes by ensuring the Power to the lasers is clean and stable by using power conditioners and we also make sure the source enclosure , the fans and the fins of the tube are free of dust and have unobstructed airflow.</p><p class="edit_text">EDITED: 17 Sep 2005 by RODNEY_GOLD</p> <hr /><a name="a1967_8"></a><p><b>From: Myyk</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.8">#8</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.7">#7</a>] 17 Sep 2005</p> A Question on lubrication Rodney. Do you use a silicone spray or some type of oil on the rails & rollers?<hr /><a name="a1967_9"></a><p><b>From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.9">#9</a>]<br /> 17 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: Myyk</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.8">#8</a>] 18 Sep 2005</p> <p>You use a special molybdenum grease , new manuals detail the make etc. Same stuff we use on our CnC machines , comes in an orange accordian like tube.<br /> Silicon spray is bad stuff , it becomes gunky and attracts a lot of debris which is difficult to clean , it doesnt remain a lubricant for long. Also washes off any other lubricants and penetrates places carrying that debris. Sewing machine oil or any light oil is a much better bet then Silicons (I think this os what you in America call Wd-40 (we have it here as Q-20))</p><hr /><a name="a1967_10"></a><p><b>From: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.10">#10</a>]<br /> 18 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: ALL</b></p> <p>I was out for the weekend, thanks for the responses.</p> <p>This is a great site; I wish I had found it a year ago.</p> <p>Rodney, thanks for taking the time to type your response, it would have taken me the better part of the day with my two fingers. You probably hit on the problem with the old style collimator assembly. IÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢ll look into upgrading tomorrow. My sales rep was taken out of the loop by GCC, I have been told to deal directly with them. He was here once to align the lenses but with little success. It was at that point I started to question the tape method. Great ideas with the air assist; we engrave/cut mostly wood, sometimes as much as 12 hours a day. We were losing the x-motor every 3 to 6 weeks. GCC finally sent me a new controller board and we havenÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t lost a motor since. Good point on the power we do not ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“cleanÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â our power with anything. My guess is I donÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t have a problem as nothing else in the shop is having any issues. I have a separate circuit for both lasers I should probably put some power conditioners on them. Our lasers are in a relatively dust free room, separate from the main shop where our CNC machines are. We also do all our sanding in another part of the shop to help control dust. Our problem has been the debris we generate engraving wood. Again, I will try your ideas for removing debris with an additional vacuum hose. </p> <p>I feel much better about our chances to get this laser back into production. I need to spend more time on this site.</p> <p>Thanks again to all who have helped,</p> <p>Larry</p><hr /><a name="a1967_11"></a><p><b>From: Peter</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.11">#11</a>]<br /> 18 Sep 2005<br /><b>To: lbbcb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=EE&msg=1967.10">#10</a>] Unread</p> Hey Larry,<br /> <br /> You are right, this site is a brilliant resource and its thanks to guys like <b>David Lavaneri, Harvey Lentchner and David Takes </b>that its ongoing.<br /> <br /> Not to mention the input of seasoned veterans that frequent the site, I know Rodney has helped us all look at the way we operate and has set quite a benchmark.<br /> <br /> Sincere thanks to all that contribute to Engravingetc. it is a must read for me every single day.<br /> <br /> best regards<br /> <br /> Peter <hr /><h4><a href="lthread_list.php?webtag=EE">Back to thread list</a> | <a href="llogout.php?webtag=EE">Login</a></h4> <h6>© 2025 <a href="http://www.beehiveforum.net/" target="_blank">Project Beehive Forum</a></h6> </body>