New epilog mini 24x12 owner first question?

[Wade Shepherd]

Hi guys, I've been a lurker for quite some time but finally took the plunge and bought a mini 24. I'm not a laser shop, just a guy with lots of hobbies that hopes to someday work out of his garage. I built a cnc router many years ago and was looking for a way to sign my name and logo to all my parts. This seemed like a good fit.

My question is, upon first start up of the day my laser seems to miss the first few lines of engraving and then it's fine. I read about laser tickle settings in the forum and it seems this is a pretty common thing amongst many of you guys. But my question is this is a brand new machine should it have this issue? Is it a big deal? Are tweaking tickle settings a fix or should I just run a scrap piece for the first part of the day?

Thanks for the help.

[Scott Marquez]

Wade welcome to the forum, can you post some pictures of what it is doing?
You might consider sending an email to your Sales Rep, I'm sure he would be glad to assist you on your new machine.
Enjoy, Scott

[Glen Monaghan]

That is a common but irritating behavior for Epilogs. I've asked the techs a couple of times and each time was told there was nothing wrong with the machine and no fix available. It can take longer to start firing on Monday morning if the machine has been off all weekend, but doesn't happen again if the machine has been off for a couple of hours from morning until afternoon, so you only have to be concerned about it the first time you run it each day. Depending on what I need to do, I either put in a piece of scrap and engrave a box shape until the beam fires, or (for example, if I'm engraving through powder coat or doing anodized aluminum) just put the substrate in, start the job, and slightly lift the lid as soon as the beam appears to immediately shut off the beam, then hit stop to kill the job, reset, lower the lid, and go.

[Bill George]

New machine? My 10 year old ULS never did it. Make them fix it or take it back.

[Chris DeGerolamo]

When you turn it on and it's ready to run, go into your machine settings (on the machine) and find ALIGN LASER. For me, I press MAINT then the down arrow to get to option 2. ALIGN LASER. Press UP as prompted - This will eventually force the laser to fire. Depending on your age, you may be able to hear it once it fires. Or, just throw a scrap piece of something on the bed and press the UP arrow until it starts to burn.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Null]

Welcome to SMC. I'll second Bill George's advice.

[Brian Leavitt]

Unfortunately, Glenn is correct. This is a common thing with Epilogs. I don't know if all of them do it, but a significant number do. My Fusion has done it since I got it and still does. That's before and after replacing the laser tube, as well as just about all of the electronics. On the Fusion there is a dedicated button for firing the laser. I use it every morning before running my first job. Press the button until I hear the laser fire and it's good for the rest of the day.

It really caught me off guard at first since I have never had to "wake up" the laser tube in any other laser have.

[Kev Williams]

My LS900 started doing it when it was about 8 years old, always figured it was an old tube thing...
Easiest fix I've found is to just throw some scrap in the machine and let it make some warm up passes before running the actual parts.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

As the others have responded, this is a common thing with Epilogs. Mine will not start firing until it has warmed up for about 1 minute. I don't need to engrave anything. I can just let it warm up. I can run it all day and shut it off for 30 seconds to 1 minute and if I power it on again, I will once again have to wait about 1 minute before it will actually fire.

[Glen Monaghan]

Mine will not start firing until it has warmed up for about 1 minute. I don't need to engrave anything. I can just let it warm up. I can run it all day and shut it off for 30 seconds to 1 minute and if I power it on again, I will once again have to wait about 1 minute before it will actually fire.

Neither of mine has ever taken so long as a minute unless it has been off for many days, such as after returning from an out-of-town trip. Normally only takes 2-15 seconds. And has to be off overnight before it happens again. I wasn't previously aware of any Epilogs that exhibited that problem every time you shut them off for as little as a minute... Come to think of it, seems like you might have a different problem because I have always had to actually run the laser, not simply let the machine warm up (ie, sit powered on at idle).

[Chuck Phillips]

Our Epilogs do this too. I power up the lasers first thing when I get to the shop. By the time the first job is run (maybe 5 mins), they are usually ready. If not I just restart the first job as soon as the laser fires.

If your shop is getting cold overnight it will be much more noticeable. IMHO that will hurt your tube life also. Good climate control and dust-free environment are important factors.