Epilog Laser Power Problems

[Keith Outten]

Dave,

Now is a bad time to ask me if I would choose an Epilog again...my engraver is down and I'm afraid the problem is in fact the tube. Over the course of the last two weeks I was involved in a very large job and I put some very long hours on my engraver. The power started to decrease and it is now to the point where vector cutting is not possible. I have made two calls to Epilog Tech Support and they have had me checking the mirrors first and now doing a beam alignment test. Honestly I don't even understand the results of the test I did yesterday morning so I will have to wait until I discuss the issue with the technician this afternoon before I know what the next step will be.

I was told that If the tube needed to be rebuilt I had several options, the most agreeable to me is for me to send Epilog my tube and a check for $1500.00 and they would run diagnostics on my tube and send me a rebuilt tube if necessary. This is much cheaper than having Epilog send a replacement tube and then return my tube to them in their shipping container. The good news is that I don't have any engraving work that is pressing right now, I'm running my CNC router and doing some dye-sub projects so the down time isn't as big an issue at this point. If I was in the middle of a big job I would have to go the most expensive route to get my engraver back up and running as quickly as possible.

What upsets me at this point is that although my engraver is three years old it couldn't possibly have 1000 hours on it, in fact it is much less. The good news is that the machine has been reliable up until now and lately very profitable so the cost of repair is less of a factor than the down time. The mirrors on my machine do show some degrade around the outside edges which according to tech support should not be a problem. I'm not sure why this has happened as I have been very carefull selecting materials that are laser safe. I do expect to have to purchase new mirrors in the near future.

I'll let you know this evening what my next step in the process is going to be, much depends on the technicians recommendations at this point as it is possible that the beam is not aligned properly.

[Sylvia Feller-Dow]

I am dealing with the same problem. Mine has a bit more hours but the tube seams to be the problem. I was quoted about 1000 for a new one and hopefully it will solve the problem. That is a lot of money though for what in my eyes is not a huge amount of time. Epilog must do very well with replacement parts.
Syl

[David Harvey]

Edit: Duh...I just took notice that Keith's original post was back in '05! Well, Sylvia, maybe some of below will be helpful to you.
Keith, what ended up fixing your machine anyway?

Hi Keith,
I think you have a Legend 24TT...right? I've had one (40w)for the last 5 years and it has gone thru several fixes, but no laser tube yet. I haven't even used it in the last 8 months...it's become mostly a backup system for my EXT.

Sorry you are having the problems...I know the frustration, but I know that Epilog will pull you thru this. In all the discussion so far, I haven't seen any mention of your lens. I did have to replace my lens once, several years ago. It caused a similar problem to what you are experiencing. Have you pulled the lens and examined it up close? Mine had a small spec in its center which caused havoc with the beam, ie. very poor focus. You may want to give that a look at. Yes, the apparent power loss occured, like overnight...good yesterday, not good today.

Also, have you taken a past engraving job that did well and tried it again with the same settings and same material?

When I suspect alignment problems on mine, I create a 1" rectangle and position it at all 4 corners of the layout, lay a piece of scrap acrylic in the same areas on the bed and make a vector run with settings that were previously known to cut thru the material. If your alignment is off (...and alignment on this machine is not the easiest to set), all four rectangles won't cut thru. ..a sure indication alignment needs to be tweaked.

Also, what parameter was it that you were told to change in your setup?

Hope some of this may help...quite likely you've already tried it all, but it never hurts.

[Bob Savage]

Epilog must do very well with replacement parts.

I've requested information from a few laser mfg's (Epilog and ULS being two fo them), and based upon the sales response I've recevied, I can only surmise that they're doing VERY well with sales outside of complete laser systems. I actually received NO response from Epilog when I requested additional information about the used laser on their website.

The general lack of initiative is quite striking, considering this economy.

[Steve Clarkson]

I've requested information from a few laser mfg's (Epilog and ULS being two fo them), and based upon the sales response I've recevied, I can only surmise that they're doing VERY well with sales outside of complete laser systems. I actually received NO response from Epilog when I requested additional information about the used laser on their website.

The general lack of initiative is quite striking, considering this economy.

Bob,

I'm VERY surprised about the lack of response from Epilog......they have been superb to me. I would suggest you send a PM to Peck Sidera on here......he's the best and will get you an answer.

[Bob Savage]

Bob,

I'm VERY surprised about the lack of response from Epilog......they have been superb to me. I would suggest you send a PM to Peck Sidera on here......he's the best and will get you an answer.

Tell me about it, I'm actually a bit baffled and wonder if there isn't some other "Bob Savage" that's blackballed from the laser equip industry.

Epilog sent me the package quickly and a reseller in the area sent me a "come to our laser and Coreldraw semina" e-mail, but my question about the seminar went unanswered, despite my "potential customer" statement in my reply.

Universal took about a week to send me the packet, but a local rep in Fountain Valley called me the following day. He said that he would send me a package with information too... that never arrived.

I'm looking used only now though, since I simply cannot afford new at this time for something with a big enough work surface for the fun stuff I want to burn up.

On the upside, I'm in no hurry now that I've decided to just stick with IT and figure out the laser as a hobby. I'm just going to hang around here and bug you guys until I get one, and then I'll REALLY start bugging you guys.

Thanks for the contact name.

[Peck Sidara]

Thanks Steve.

Bob, I'm not sure what happened or why your original inquires went unanswered, not typical at all from either the factory or our reps in the field.

I'd be more than happy to assist in anyway possible, send me an email or PM with a compilation of your questions and I'll make sure they're answered in a timely manner.

Thanks for the opportunity to earn your business.

email pecks at epiloglaser dot com

[Jeanette Brewer]

Epilog sent me the package quickly and a reseller in the area sent me a "come to our laser and Coreldraw semina" e-mail, but my question about the seminar went unanswered, despite my "potential customer" statement in my reply.

Bob,

At the risk of suggesting the obvious here (similar to tech support's "is it plugged in?" common query) -- did you double check your junk/spam folder?

We are not the responsible distributor in your neck of the woods but many (most?) of our fellow laser mfg. distributors work the way we do which is -- we reply to EVERY email received within 24 hours. If you don't get a reply from us within 24 hours, it means we did not get your email (or, much more frequently, our reply is in your spam folder).

Good luck with your search for a new/used laser. If you move to Texas (or nearby state) before you buy a laser, call us!

[Bob Savage]

Peck, thank you.

Bob,

At the risk of suggesting the obvious here (similar to tech support's "is it plugged in?" common query) -- did you double check your junk/spam folder?

We are not the responsible distributor in your neck of the woods but many (most?) of our fellow laser mfg. distributors work the way we do which is -- we reply to EVERY email received within 24 hours. If you don't get a reply from us within 24 hours, it means we did not get your email (or, much more frequently, our reply is in your spam folder).

Good luck with your search for a new/used laser. If you move to Texas (or nearby state) before you buy a laser, call us!

Hi Jeanette,

I did ensure that nothing was getting caught by the spam filter. Gmail is very good at spam handling, but when I don't receive responses, I do check there just in case. Perhaps my message ended up in the local dealers spam box.

In any event, thank you for the input. Interestingly enough, I was looking at housing costs in TX just last week, but the 100+ degree weather we've been having in CA reminded me why I don't want to move there!