Epilog FusionPro Power Issues

Laser
#1

I don’t know if this has been addressed yet, but the FusionPro is running a little bit weak compared to where it’s been for the last several months. Jobs are taking way more power than they used to for worse results, and plywood in general isn’t getting anywhere near the kind of char that it used to in order to create contrast on its etches. Used to be that plywood would etch and char beautifully at 30% power 100% speed, now it’s taking close to 90% power to get a comperable depth, and or at least 2 passes at the old settings to get anything resembling char at all.

The optics are fine, last I checked, which was right before the chair election. Anyone have any ideas as to what might be going on and what can be done to fix it? It feels like it’s too early for the tube to be going out, but I don’t have a clue what the issue could be otherwise.

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#2

It’s unlikely a tube issue this early since it’s RF instead of HV. We have or at least used to have a CO2 power meter that could be used to check the beam power from the tube onwards at each step.

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#3

Certainly worth doing a power test. I believe there’s a maintenance day coming up where we can open the covers and check for dust/debris on the optics below the table, we should do this in a less dusty environment than the general workshop.

The laser is still under warranty (2 years, iirc from delivery) with Epilog so let’s do what we can but stop before any possible warranty voiding actions.

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#4

We don’t have any power tests from when the unit was new, but at the moment it’s around 60W. I had to hand time it but it was within 2W over a couple of tests.

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PXL_20210212_0426370713024×4032 3.01 MB

It does sound like there’s an issue, but it probably isn’t power related.

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#5

I would hazard it’s more likely focus or alignment related. I know the auto focus needed to be calibrated at one time. Not sure if we did that or not. But I don’t know enough about this unit to really say for sure

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#6

I calibrated it a while back. It should be calibrated to work just fine.

Maybe it was a difference in material on my end, I suppose, but it does feel like something was off.

60W is actually the version we have, so you’re right that it’s not a power thing. Hmm. Maybe I’m just going insane? lol

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#7

My experience has been that a new tube usually runs a bit stronger than advertised (my 50w tested at around 60w). it ususally settles down to it’s actual rating after some use. cheers!

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#8

That’s what I was afraid of. We can talk to Epilog and see if this is expected or not. It feels like more than ‘settling’ at the moment.

We are running on 220v… I wonder if we could talk them into letting us shove a second 60W tube in the empty slot and going full power :thinking:

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#9

The lens is the one element that isn’t part of the test (or shouldn’t be part of the test). Could the lens be the culprit?

#10

I checked it when I went to clean the optics. It looked fine, but I’m not confident in my ability to properly diagonose any potential issues, so someone might also want to come behind me and check it again.

#11

Is it still running on lower power and unusable or is it okay now?

#12

I taught a class on it this weekend and seemed to be cutting fine and at normal power.

#13

Just wanted to double check before coming in. Thanks so much for the update!