This video will illustrate how to test for laser power:

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LOSE POWER IN MY LASER TUBE

This video will illustrate how to test for laser power:

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HOW TO KNOW IF THE POWER SUPPLY OF THE LASER TUBE IS DAMAGED

Upgrade your mirrors to SI coated mirrors, using a HQ ZnSe lens and even pushing up to a beam expander will all boost power. The ideal order of experimenation for lowest cost would be changing out for a higher quality lens labeled HQ ZnSE lens. Next would be SI mirrors, which will absorb less heat and reflect better, the last would be to use a beam expander which expands the beam, reducing the heat signature on the mirrors and makes a tighter focal width.

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CAN BOOST THE POWER OF MY BLACKTOOTH LASER?

check your in-going power and make sure that you have a good neutral connection. Frequently the issue is not the power supply but the power coming into the power supply that causes the problem. There is a chance that the power is good coming in but there is a loose neutral connection and that causes it. This is the neutral connection that runs all the way back to the panel in your home.

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WHY DO MY 40W LASER POWER SUPPLIES KEEP FAILING?

A 400w laser tube will not be a simple swap of our laser tube in our blackTooth or our spindle/laser hybrid. The overall size factor of a 80w - 400w is greatly larger than our 40w laser tube and will be the biggest issue. You will have to completely modify our units to retrofit a larger tube, which might be more costly than expected as well as more time consuming.

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Can I attach a 400w CO2 laser tube to you units (for cutting Stainless Steel at 1/8") ?

Cooling is not as tricky as you might think. There is 3 ways to approach this, only 2 really matter for a low scale 40w setup. First one is the cheapest and easiest. The higher the temp of water the worse your performance will be, from what I understand anything in the 30C range is about the most tolerable it gets. Lower is better. But not frozen...from what I've been told a very experienced cutter, he found 8C was the highest power he achieved.

1. Use a 5 Gallon resovoir system which gives you a fairly large space of water to heat up before you need to tend to it. Add about a cup of anti-freeze to the mix of DISTILLED water. You don't want ANY minerals in the water that might build up in your system. The anti-freeze works to keep algae and other ickies from growing in your water.

2. Use a smaller resovoir system (or even closed loop) and install 1 or more radiators found in CPU cooling systems with 120mm fans attached. This will continously cool your water system to ambient room temperatures, but with a tiny resovoir it will be difficult to add things like ice-packs to drop the temps if the ambient is quite hot.

3. Using an industrial coolant system. Overkill and unless your cutting A LOT, this is a very expensive option to take. You can also explore the idea of Peltier cooling but it is extremely expensive electricity/BTU wise compared to an industrial cooler.

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HOW TO COOL THE BLACKTOOTH 40W LASER TUBE

Cooling is not as tricky as you might think. There is 3 ways to approach this, only 2 really matter for a low scale 40w setup. First one is the cheapest and easiest. The higher the temp of water the worse your performance will be, from what I understand anything in the 30C range is about the most tolerable it gets. Lower is better. But not frozen...from what I've been told a very experienced cutter, he found 8C was the highest power he achieved.

1. Use a 5 Gallon resovoir system which gives you a fairly large space of water to heat up before you need to tend to it. Add about a cup of anti-freeze to the mix of DISTILLED water. You don't want ANY minerals in the water that might build up in your system. The anti-freeze works to keep algae and other ickies from growing in your water.

2. Use a smaller resovoir system (or even closed loop) and install 1 or more radiators found in CPU cooling systems with 120mm fans attached. This will continously cool your water system to ambient room temperatures, but with a tiny resovoir it will be difficult to add things like ice-packs to drop the temps if the ambient is quite hot.

3. Using an industrial coolant system. Overkill and unless your cutting A LOT, this is a very expensive option to take. You can also explore the idea of Peltier cooling but it is extremely expensive electricity/BTU wise compared to an industrial cooler.

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HOW CAN COOL THE LASER TUBE?

CO2 lasers can (40w included) can mark glass, but it is not actually etching the glass. When a CO2 laser's focal lasing energy is at the surface, or just past the surface of glass, the air inside that portion of the glass will expand and cause a tiny crack. This gives the appearance of etched glass, but not with the same fineness of etching from, say, sand blasting or acid etching (with hexafluorosilicic acid). If the laser "etching" of the glass is not to the fineness that you desire, you can laser cut the adhesive material used in the acid etching process as an alternative.

You also need to consider the glass you are using. I have learned that not all glass is created equal. Some glass will work well for this (dollar store glass we have tested and works well), and some will not. I believe that lasing tempered glass will probably give some interesting results.


Additional Information:

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Will the 40W CO2 laser etch glass?

How did you test the laser tube? One of the two mirrors or the laser tube end may be damaged.

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[550] What could be wrong when the CO2 laser tube fires a beam inside but it doesn't go out of the tube?

CO2 laser will not cut wood material fast at all. This is just the nature of the laser energy. The wood is a very low absorbent of the laser energy and you will need to run probably around 10 ipm to cut through the wood. CNC is much more efficient for cutting and laser as more efficient at marking or slowly cutting if you need the small kerf. You will also need a relatively high output air source to cut efficiently. The air will blow away the char (carbon) on the wood. The black char will absorb most of the laser energy not allowing the wood to be cut well. We use a compressor for the air source, but you can use a commercial hydroponic air pump instead.

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How fast can I cut 1/4" wood with the 40 watt CO2 laser?

Yes, from our test with clear and opaque acrylic, the CO2 laser can cut fully through.

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Will the 40W CO2 laser cut through clear and color acrylic?

You can find all of the information including the price on the blackTooth Laser cutter and engraver page found here: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/blackToothLaserCutterAndEngraver.aspx

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How much is your ; blackTooth Laser Cutter and Engraver CO2 40W

The instructions to connect the USB CNC Interface for the blackTooth Laser Cutter and engraver can be found on instruction #18 on thispage: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/blackToothLaserCutterAndEngraver.aspx

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Are there any instructions for use the USP breakout board for a CO2 laser?

That is a good question. We have not tried to weld thermoplastics using our CO2 Lasers. It is possible since the laser outputs a heat source and at the right intensity and speed, the thermoplastic can be heated and melted rather than instantaneously vaporized and off gassed. I have done research to see if CO2 laser can weld thermoplastics with positive results.

Our CO2 lasers are typical of other laser cutters on the market, so if their literature, or examples you have found, successfully weld thermoplastics, then ours will probably be able to as well.

In some cutting test with different speeds and intensities, the kerf has welded back together; however, this was caused by an unintentional process rather than an intentional one.

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Can a CO2 CNC laser machine be used for welding of thermoplastic materials?

The lens is 20mm wide and a 50.6mm focal length (the one included). This lens will stand up to at least 30PSI air assist.

The mirrors are 25mm wide mirrors.

Focal length is the distance from the lens to the material for the laser converge into the best focal point. If a lens is listed as 2". You measure 2" from the lens to the material, this will be the tightest point the laser can go before it starts to re-expand again losing focus.

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WHAT IS LASER AND LENS FOCAL LENGTH?

These tubes are rated for 18mA. The power supply is able to push up to 21mA. This is a very dangerous thing to do. If you are pushing the tube beyond 18mA you will cut it's life by QUITE a bit.

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HOW HARD CAN PUSH MY BLACKTOOTH LASER?

No the ZY plate is part of the machine kit not the head combo kit.

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DOES ZY PLATE COME WITH LASER HEAD COMBO.

The Honeywell brand goggles meet ANSI certification Z136.1, relating to the safe use of lasers, and are calibrated to optimally block the specific wavelengths of light produced by CO2 lasers (the details are available in the website description here: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/laser-components-goggles-safety-honeywell.) The generic tinted goggles also block the specific CO2 laser wavelengths, but a good deal of other wavelengths as well. That and frame style variation is the basic difference.

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What is the difference between the tinted laser goggles and the Honeywell laser CO2 goggles

If you need a new laser controller for CO2, we can definitely supply one.

This is the laser controller that we sell: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/Laser-Component-Laser-Control-System

The laser controller works with a program called LaserCAD and is compatible with most typical file types.

The laser controller will work with any laser tube and laser tube power supply that requires 5V digital signals and PWM.

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can you supply a new board and a better software program for a CO2 laser cutter and engraver