Laser Section Down 8/10/2022

[rijuta]

@cvrana The material I was using was 10mm thick EVA foam, and I had confirmed it to be safe to use on wiki.

Here is the amazon link to it: Amazon.com
I still have it kept there.

I was cutting it at 90% power and around 13 mm/sec speed.

It was cutting perfectly fine for about 45 - 50 mins:

I’ve cut multiple sheets like these, and some smaller ones for testing too.

After about 45-50 mins, it started a minor at which point I realized that the air nozzle is not working.
I definitely should have checked the air nozzle beforehand, which was a major mistake from my side. I will check it for all my projects next time onwards.

Could you please confirm if the material is safe to use in laser cutter again and if yes, what should the speed/power settings be to not put it on fire again?

[cvrana]

I’m honestly inclined to chalk this up to a freak accident. So far the only issue that I’ve been able to determine as a problem was as you mentioned not checking the air nozzle before beginning, which is something that I’ll be sure to stress more to people to actually do before prints of flammable materials.

The only other issue I see is that you should limit your power to 70%. That’s for any material and any job, not just things like EVA foam.

[jphelps]

Team, I was advised that I should have left all the empty argon tank valves in the open position when I opened the spare tank. I’ve now done so which reduces the overall high side system pressure because the other tanks were empty. I.e. the tank with 2000 PSI spread itself across it’s tank and 5 other empty tanks reducing the overall system pressure as a result and anyone monitoring the hi pressure in the tanks will notice this large drop.

This is OK; The system is working normally. I wanted any members monitoring pressures to be aware of the reason for the drop on the high side.

Thanks!

[Photomancer]

@procterc

m

Not sure how much temperature swings affect pressure, especially high day time temps and sunlight on the tanks, could be 100psi swings. Think how hot the surface of a parked car can get.

By shutting the tank down, you’ll see how fast the HP line pressure drops and the LP line. If you set LP to zero and the HP doesn’t drop then you know it’s not in the LP side of the gauge. Shut off between above HP and then turn back on, if no loss, then in gauge. Otherwise some where in other lines connecting tanks into a gang.

[TBJK]

Guys I got notification that the argon is now below 300. May be time to shut it down again. That was a lot of argon lost quickly

[cvrana]

isn’t this the large drop that was mentioned by opening the other tanks? In theory it should have gone from 2000psi to just over 300psi because the total volume was effectively being multiplied by 6. I feel like this is the expected thing.

[jphelps]

Tim, see my previous post; A big drop was expected. I also believe @rlisbona has replacements on order and we’ll see them hopefully on Monday.

[dryad2b]

That’s @rlisbona , I believe.

[TBJK]

My apologies, 680 miles over 2 days, as well as being out in the heat all day apparently effects my reading comprehension. Just happened to get the alert & check on it

[rlisbona]

The pressure monitoring system was estimating 22 days of Argon yesterday afternoon. It shows the peak pressure when Jay opened the spare bottle, and after reopening the 5 mostly empty tanks it dropped dramatically but was close to 500 which makes sense if the newly opened tank filled the remaining 5. Its not showing me an estimated time left today. I’ll order a new 6 pack monday morning.

There was larger than typical usage or leaks just prior to opening the 6th bottle.
-Randy

[got_tools]

Looks like a crypto market chart

[nquiremuse]

The fact that the laser area is (1) poorly maintained/kept and (2) can not bounce back from instances like this - makes me wonder why members like me have been paying extra to use it - highway robbery. The laser makerspace in my hometown is never not organized, clean and free.

[artg_dms]

And the business model of your hometown makerspace is? Membership dues? Paid staff? Part of school / university / library / etc? Might want to reconsider…

[michaelb]

You’re more than welcome to clean it up.

[Burgerro]

This does nothing to contribute to the conversation. It appears you can (1) chip in and help out with this volunteer, community aspect of the makerspace or (2) buy your own or use your hometown’s equipment.

[mdredmond]

@nquiremuse

makes me wonder why members like me have been paying extra to use it - highway robbery.

Oh boy! Another customer.

You don’t pay extra to use it when it’s down. You only pay for actual use.

[Jerry_Kassebaum]

From the online camera it looks like the “Laser Down” signs have been removed. Does that mean the lasers are back up and running? If not, will it be posted here when they are back in service?

[cvrana]

Yes sorry Laser is back up at this point. We are also having the maintenance day this evening if anyone would like to come.

Sorry for the confusion about everything. Eat as we can tell the system doesn’t have any appreciable leaks and we should be good to go

[TSki]

I believe they are currently up and running.

But it looks like Blitzen is having issues: Blitzen out of alignment

Fusion may be up or down: Let's Talk about the Fusion - #8 by mikea59

And Donner might be having issues: Laser Section Down 8/10/2022 - #29 by barnzcharmz

[cvrana]

Yup, we’re dealing with all those this evening at the maintenance day.