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Thread: Help! Epilog laser stops firing halfwa y through job.

  1. #1

    Help! Epilog laser stops firing halfwa y through job.

    Good afternoon,

    Our Epilog Laser Mini 50W stops firing half way through a job. The gantry (head) keeps moving like its cutting. Although the laser has stopped firing. If we stop the job and wait 10 seconds and restart it will start firing again.

    Here is a list of what we have checked.
    1. Door
    2. Magnets
    3. Clean lens
    4. Air flow
    5. New UPS
    6. Room temp is fine
    7. Firmware update (after problem begin)
    8. Beam alignment
    9. Air assist

    Any ideas, please let us know.

    Thanks,

    Marjie and Ressie
    iTag Studios
    iTag Studios LLC. Think.Design.Make.

    We are Macs, PCs, Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, Epilog Mini 50W, various saws and cutting blades, pencils, sketchbooks, paint, and possibly glitter

  2. #2
    Sounds like it might be overheating. Make sure the fans are clean. Also how warm is the room that it is in? If its not air conditioned and you dont have good air flow things can get a bit warm.

  3. #3
    I noticed the air assist is blowing hot air... could that be a problem?
    iTag Studios LLC. Think.Design.Make.

    We are Macs, PCs, Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, Epilog Mini 50W, various saws and cutting blades, pencils, sketchbooks, paint, and possibly glitter

  4. #4
    I've had an overheating issue with my mini 35-watt, but it totally shut down the machine and reset when it wasn't happy. After a cooling off period, it started up and ran just fine.. How long into the job is it shutting down? I eventually started pausing my machine for 5-minutes every 25 minutes on my longer jobs, just to let it cool down some. I also put a fan on the air intake over the laser tube. Always cringe when it over-heats, and Epilog says it's not too good for the system, but found a way to restart my jobs so I didn't loose the time and materials into the job. Sorry I can't offer more, good luck!
    Bruce Clumpner
    Brandon Services Laser Engraving
    Academy Commemoratives - Personalized Memorabilia for the U.S. Service Academies
    Irvine, CA
    -
    Epilog 75-watt Helix, 40-watt 18-Mini
    Started with Corel Draw V1 now feeling the pain of CorelDraw x7
    CS4 photoshop
    CS4 illustrator
    PhotoGrav

  5. #5
    The laser stops firing about 8 minutes into vector cutting. Thank you for your reply
    iTag Studios LLC. Think.Design.Make.

    We are Macs, PCs, Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, Epilog Mini 50W, various saws and cutting blades, pencils, sketchbooks, paint, and possibly glitter

  6. #6
    I have questions about cleaning the fans, how do you clean the fans? Are you talking about the fans on top of the Laser? Is there a procedure? Can I use a can of air to blow it out?
    iTag Studios LLC. Think.Design.Make.

    We are Macs, PCs, Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, Epilog Mini 50W, various saws and cutting blades, pencils, sketchbooks, paint, and possibly glitter

  7. #7
    Fans will collect dust. As they do they become less efficiant. Also they can become off ballance and slow down or stop. When I clean fans I use a vacuem and air compressor. The problem is you dont want to blow the dust that is accumulated into the laser. Also if there are any filters they may be clogged. I dont thing the fans on the mini has any filters it blows directly into fins of some sort og giant heat sink. Make sure this is not coverd with dost if it is it will cause over heating.

    Honastly I would contact the manufacture and see if there is any thing you can check.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Moreton, Wirral, UK
    Posts
    3,287
    I think you also need to have a look at the encoder strip and give that a clean. The encoder strip looks like a little thin piece of plastic that is on the gantry under the dustcover, check the manual or on Epilog's website. It does sound like you are getting overheating and somewhere along the line the laser may be cutting off. Like Mike says, if you try to clean the fan blades be careful how you go about it, dust dropping back into the laser casing may cause a collection of dust in the wrong place and cause shorting, a vacuum cleaner is a good option. I am suprised that you say the air assist is blowing out hot air, I know that mine doesn't, the psi going into the laser is only about 30 - 35 psi, once inside the machine, the piping carrying the air narrows and increases the psi considerably because it is being forced through smaller aperture. If the psi you are pushing into your machine is higher at the start heat will be generated as the pressure is forced through.
    Epilog 45w Helix X3/X5 Corel Microflame Generator (flame polisher) Heat Bender


  9. #9
    Michael the fans actually look pretty good. I did vaccum them just to be sure. I have sent a technical support request to Epilog, I don't expect to hear back until Tuesday due to the 4th July. Thank you for helping.

    Oh yeah I love your CNC it looks beautiful! I just ordered a Romaxx WD-1 (ETA July 19, 2011) it seems pretty solid. I am very interested in hear more about your book. Thanks again!
    iTag Studios LLC. Think.Design.Make.

    We are Macs, PCs, Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, Epilog Mini 50W, various saws and cutting blades, pencils, sketchbooks, paint, and possibly glitter

  10. #10
    Good News!! Epilog is sending out a new Laser Tube!! Should be here tomorrow! Thanks you all for your support!!
    iTag Studios LLC. Think.Design.Make.

    We are Macs, PCs, Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, Epilog Mini 50W, various saws and cutting blades, pencils, sketchbooks, paint, and possibly glitter

  11. #11
    I had this happen to me today. It is 100% an over heating issue. I had my exhaust dampered to about 25% to keep from pulling the over 100 degree temps outside from coming in. Well just was not pulling enough air through the machine and the laser turrned off.

    Started again and set the damper to 50% and was cutting all day. So if you have not solved your problem I would look at a couple things.
    1. What is the ambient temp in the room.
    2. How much air are you exhausting.
    3. Good air flow around the cooling cans.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Sammamish, WA
    Posts
    7,630
    No one in our area has A/C (72 today) but in my shop I have a big window A/C unit, 10,000 BTUs and keep it at or below 68 to protect the laser, computers and plotters. It only cost about $300.



    Sammamish, WA

    Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.

    "One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher

    "The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Anaheim, Ca
    Posts
    908
    I just did a post on this and I had to add A/C to my unit in an outside environment I have been running 12 -15 hours daily and no issues. I took a 9000 BTU portable unit a plastic container some 4" pipe and fittings and a T, put one vent near the area I work in and Vented the other end 6" above the intake fans with 5 - 2" holes in the bottom side of the pipe shooting towards the intake fans now I run at 78 -82 degs on exhaust air from the laser temp of the heat sink on the laser it holds 74-78. When it is 90 + outside the under side of the steel roof is over 140 deg I have 2 walls a roof and an "L" shaped counter the rest is open to outside it is hot in this area. Good Luck
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Craig Matheny; 07-22-2011 at 11:12 PM.
    Craig Matheny
    Anaheim, Ca
    45 watt Epilog Laser, 60 watt Epilog Laser,
    Plasma Cutter, MiG Welder
    Rikon 70-100 Lathe
    Shop Smith V510, To many hand Tools and
    Universal Repair Kit (1- Hammer and 1- Roll of Duck Tape)

  14. #14
    I have a Danby Premier 12,000 BTU portable that I purchased last year it works great but I had not been using it this year. Its good the units shut the laser down if they get too warm. Thats a good safty feature provided its supposed to do that.\

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