Help! Trotec lens replacements

:confused:

I dropped and cracked my Speedy 100 lens (hmm, 10 days ago now). I immediately ordered a replacement lens both from laser research optics AND 1 from ebay.

Funnily enough the Chinese got here first. I left everything on my machine alone, since it was working acceptably before I broke the lens, stuck the new one in (verrrrry carefully), but no go. I used the same settings 100/80/300 for engraving and 100/.2/1000 for cutting on 1/4" birch ply.

• the raster did not remove and same amount of material
• the cutting seemed like I was out of focus, thick charred line that did not cut anywhere near through. I adjust the height while it was cutting, and the "best cut" came when the air assist nozzle was almost touching the ply. And there was a fair amount of flame also.

So I was glad I got the one from Laser Optics too. Until I arrived toady and I am having the EXACT same issues.


Is there something I'm missing? I've looked around the forums, and it seems people have successfully swapped out lens on their machines....or am I doomed to pay the Trotec price for a lens from them? (Twice the Laser research price, and 10x the Chinese price).

I have orders sitting in limbo and am not sure what to to. :(


Thanks in advance your kind help,
Jonathan

take the lens and hold it over some paper and measure the height when it comes in focus. You may have a 1.5" lens and focusing at a 2" lens level. What position is your lens in? above or below the knurled thumb nut? What color is the original carrier tray of the lens? Red or Black?
If it is a 1.5" lens it will use a different carrier tray and it will fit under the thumb nut. If it is a 2" lens it will be above it. I had the same issue. I found out that, at one time period, the red carrier can be either 1.5" or 2" but the position is not the same.

Well, you were right Michael. After posting my initial plea for help. I pushed up the air assist foot so I could keep adjusting the height while cutting. I ended up about 1/2" higher than I was previously. I now get a clean cut and good rastering. I must have been mistaken in what the original focal lens was.

Total Operator error! :mad:

Thanks for your response though, you were a TON more helpful than Trotec tech support (that's why I love this forum)

After getting the focus right .Did the ebay one work as well as your original ?Was there a differnce between the ebay and laser research one?

How much was the replacement from China? Just curious.

Well, I am catching up on orders now, so I haven't put in the chinese back in yet. I am anxious to try it and see, here are the prices/ shipping-

China - $45.00, it was delayed by chinese new years, but got here in under three weeks.
Laser research Optics- $165.00 +tax, They sent me the wrong diameter lens the first time, then lost the "resend" order, so the chinese one got here first.
Manufacturer- $395, said they could shipp out the next day. When I called tech support when the replacement lens wouldnt work, they were not interested in walking through my possible errors (except for reminding me the convex side went up)

I'll let you know if the Chinese lens (lens case says laserlands.com) when I catch back up.

-Jonathan

Just out of curiosity, we recently ordered a couple chinese ebay lenses from the same vendor that Jonathan mentions. ~$34ea shipped for 19.02mm x 2.5" ZnSe lenses for our ULS machines, they arrived in about 2 weeks. We've had one on one of our 120W machines for a few weeks and we've noticed no discernible difference in resolution or performance compared to previous replacements from LRO (mostly vector cutting). The focal length is more like 2.4" than 2.5 but once we recalibrated the focus tool, it doesn't really matter.

-kg

We have gone through quite a few 1.5" lenses due to our heavy rubber stamp workload, even with air assist the frequent cleaning & constant 100% power tends to give them a lifespan of 9-12 months. The most economical way I have found is to remove the worn lens from Trotec's holder using a socket that just fits inside the lens area on the bottom of the lens holder. Use a larger socket that fits around the metal rim on the top of the lens holder to hold it up and give the old lens a place to drop. A quick rap with a hammer on the smaller socket pops most of the lens out and the rest of the cleanup can be done with an Xacto and picks. Be sure to wear a respirator and gloves when handling the broken lens and shards, selenium poisoning is no fun!

I order replacement optics from Design Research Optics in RI, we get the 1.5" lenses for the Speedy II/300 series for $80. A very thin coat of gel super glue along the rim mounts the new lens nicely, in fact some of my replacements have been cleaner than new lens+holder assemblies from Trotec! If you manage to get any excess glue on the lens itself you can soak a cotton swap in high grade acetone, swirl around the glue area, sop up with a dry swap, and then buff lightly with a dampened acetone swap to remove any haze.

Jonathan,

Did Trotec refuse to help you solve problems with a lens you purchased from another vendor?
.

Jonathan.. I looked up both links and do not see lenses for universal lasers.. who did you get the lenes thru?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill Hibbert

Jonathan.. I looked up both links and do not see lenses for universal lasers.. who did you get the lenes thru?

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You need to register with Laser Research Optics to see their prices (ULS lenses are $165)
http://www.laserresearch.net/laseren...ufacturer_id=1

If you go the ebay route, for a universal laser you're looking for a 19.05mm ZnSe focus lens of whatever focal length you use (50.8mm=2").

Here is one of many ebay sellers of laser optics:
ebay com/Laserlands/Focus-Lens

It is unclear exactly what the difference is between their ~$35 lenses and the "improved" ~$64 ones.

-kg

Sheesh, if that's the unmounted price, I'd pay ULS prices and get the holder so everything is plug and play.