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Thread: trouble with Chinese 50w laser

  1. #1

    trouble with Chinese 50w laser

    Hello, I am new to the forum. I have three 50w Chinese lasers. Right now they are all down. I have only had one working for the last month and it went down yesterday and I have 25 orders to fill and I am in panic mode. My power supply went out, So I put in a different one in. Now nothing. The used power supply worked when I took it out of an old machine. Fan runs, lights up. Test button does not fire tube, but I put my test meter on the led going to the tube and it is hot. I bought a new tube and put it in and it does not work. Now I don't know is my power supply bad? Is the new tube not good? Don't know which direction to go from here. What is funny is that on all three machines I have the same problem, they run, I get power out of the power supply and nothing out of the tubes. Any ideas. I covered the basics, water flow, ect.

  2. #2
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    Welcome to the Forum. Three laser machines all down? Hard to troubleshoot and can't believe all have the same problem. On the last one, how do you know the old power supply was bad, did it just burn out or ??? If you put your meter on the HV lead to the tube that's about 20,000 volts, if its working. Unless you have a high voltage meter my guess your meter is now fired.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill George View Post
    Welcome to the Forum. Three laser machines all down? Hard to troubleshoot and can't believe all have the same problem. On the last one, how do you know the old power supply was bad, did it just burn out or ??? If you put your meter on the HV lead to the tube that's about 20,000 volts, if its working. Unless you have a high voltage meter my guess your meter is now fired.
    Or fried even
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Audleman View Post
    Or fried even
    In which case, I would have fired it...

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    are your inter lock switches hooked up and working, what about the ground

  6. #6
    sent a PM to you.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Audleman View Post
    Or fried even
    Picky, picky. Anyway if you put a meter on the HV its going to be smoke city. If someone was holding it they might get fried.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  8. #8
    but I put my test meter on the led going to the tube and it is hot
    I'm guessing set to mA or you now have a dead meter as well.

    3 machines....my guess would be look at the flow sensor first...the fact it's a 50 watt suggests they are 350D/N/C lasers (Shenhui) or equivalent .

    Check flow sensor first, they stick quite quickly ...

    To use the test button you have to unplug the connector to the card or it won't work.

    Before doing so though take a look at those flow sensors (assuming they have them) I have a personal policy of not posting how to bypass interlocks (I don't like being sued) however there maybe somebody willing to do so.

    cheers

    Dave
    You did what !

  9. #9
    Hello, again. On my oldest laser, about a year ago I took the 50w power supply out and put in a 80w power supply and a 80w tube, the other two are just 50w standard. My main laser, was working and just quit firing. I smelt something and noticed the fan was not working on the power supply took power supply apart and noticed it was burnt. So I put back the 50 power supply that came with the machine and a "new" tube that I had ordered. Now no fire, My meter is a cheap test meter and it does peg out when I check the power leaving supply but has not fired my test meter. hehe. The flow sensor has taken off a long time ago and I use a cw-3000 (which I don't like, does not cool enough, wish I had the 5000.) I have tried 2 power supplies and three tubes. One tube is supposed to be new in the box. It just does not make sense to me.

  10. #10
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    Just guessing at what was posted, no flow switch and replacing power supplies and tubes. Not all power supplies have the same connections, wiring can be wrong, tubes can not get water flow and go bad in minutes, tubes can be wrong and I find it hard to believe your putting a standard meter on 20,000 volts (more or less)??

    If the meter has survived maybe its because the power supply was not putting out enough voltage. You also realize that the high voltage power supplies have in most cases a 110/220 volt switch.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill George View Post
    Just guessing at what was posted, no flow switch and replacing power supplies and tubes. Not all power supplies have the same connections, wiring can be wrong, tubes can not get water flow and go bad in minutes, tubes can be wrong and I find it hard to believe your putting a standard meter on 20,000 volts (more or less)??

    If the meter has survived maybe its because the power supply was not putting out enough voltage. You also realize that the high voltage power supplies have in most cases a 110/220 volt switch.

    Thanks for the information. what is the best way to tell if I am getting enough voltage out of the power supply?

  12. #12
    It's the current you can check Paul, don't even think about testing voltage on anything except a dedicated (and very expensive) HT/HV meter.

    The supplies can be set for either Analog or PWM and as Bill said the multiple ways they can be connected is astounding to say the least, I'd seriously consider getting a Pro in to look at it, from what you have said and your experience of high tension supplies, this could end up trashing all the components at best and at worst killing you.

    cheers

    Dave
    Last edited by Dave Sheldrake; 12-19-2014 at 5:52 PM. Reason: doh I need to read names ;)
    You did what !

  13. #13
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    Do you have a mA meter on your machine? I would guess not. Without knowing your portable meter brand or its connections I would hesitate to give any more advice other than do some searching either here or for a You Tube video. To directly read the high voltage you would need a high voltage probe and meter.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

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