80W RayFine - just dropped half power

[Ryan Matthews]

Bill your memory is correct - this is the second PSU - I'll definitely trace the wires back to the controller and check for loose connections or pinching. thanks for the tip.

[John Lifer]

Ryan, didn't you buy machine with 220V incoming line voltage? Is the PSU direct off the line or is it 120v with transformer dropping to 120v? Mine is 120V incoming.
Just wondering!

[Ryan Matthews]

Hey John - yes - I did buy the machine with 220v incoming line voltage - The PSU is direct off the line with 220v. maybe I should have gone with the 120v....you've seemed to have fewer issues than I have ;-)

[Bill George]

How do you know you have 220 volts? On 220 or actually 240 in most cases you can have one side of the line open as open fuse or wire burnt off issue and have the unit appear to work just fine. I have seen it happen a lot as I was a troubleshooting electrician as industrial and not a house romex installer! Unless you measure with a good voltmeter you don't know.

[John Lifer]

Bill hit it. Make sure both sides are hot. And knowing how good those Chinese parts are, look for something damaged before the PSU! Oh, No telling, mine might crap out tomorrow! I for one power Everything to my outlets, I don't run anything into those chinese sockets.....

[Ryan Matthews]

Bill and John - thanks for the suggestion. I'll reinspect the power lines coming into the PSU and measure voltage.

The wiring setup is 240v dedicated circuit - Tripplite line conditioner - machine. The last time I checked the voltage going to the PSU I just checked the combined voltage of the two lines. Read 222 consistently. My understanding is that L1 to L2 nominal voltage reading should be ~220 - L1 to Ground should be ~110 - L2 to Ground ~110.....am I overlooking something before I get home and get the multimeter back in there?

Thank you all for your suggestions - this group is a huge help - as my wife doesn't like to work "under the hood" ;-)

[Bill George]

You should have just 220/230 across L1 L2 , There is no neutral on those Chinese - European 220 volt circuits. US yes. They run one hot 220 and one other leg that may be grounded as a neutral. The plugs may or may not be polarized. The US 220 works fine as is on those machines.

[Ryan Matthews]

Bill - I double checked the wiring and also the voltage going into the PSU - L1 L2 reading was 221v steady coming from the Tripplite conditioner. When I bypass the conditioner and plugged the machine straight into my outlet - the reading at the PSU fluctuated a bit but held fairly consistently at 245v - - I feel comfortable that the Tripplite conditioner is functioning as it should leveling the power output and holding steady at 221v. Which all appear to be making it to the PSU uninterrupted.

When performing the checks that RayFine suggested -
1. connecting IN and 5V and then firing the TEST button on the PSU the MA reading remained the same as it has been.
2. When testing the voltage between GND and TL I had a steady reading of 4.84v with the controller set to MAX PWR of 99% - - however when I reset the controller to MAX PWR of 69% the TL and GND Voltage was unchanged at 4.84v - - the communication with RayFine indicated that at roughly 70% PWR the reading should be around 3v...........not sure what the lack of change means - I've asked them for more feedback if my adjustment via the controller lowering the Max Power down to 69% should have led to their desired effect or if I should have made the changes in the vendor settings and then written them to the machine?.....I'm waiting to hear back.

Thanks again to all that have commented and made suggestions. I really appreciate that group here and the pool of knowledge that exists.

Regardless of my tests they have shipped a new PSU - - so at least this is moving forward - - - if the new PSU has no positive impact they are prepared to make a warranty replacement on the tube.

Will keep you all posted....and if anyone has any other thoughts of things to try I'm all ears.

Thanks again.
Ryan

[John Lifer]

I dont have anything else to contribute, other than at least they are taking care of you one way or another. Keep up informed. As to mine working well, I'm not giving mine near the workout your wife is to yours!

[Dave Sheldrake]

Based on what you just said I'd say the mainboard is the problem, if there is no change in the signal voltage when the power is changed that will be the most likely problem

[Ray Scott]

Sounds like the problem is surely the Laser tube or the Laser Power Supply. The problem is that you can't test a laser tube without a known-good power supply and a good light laser power meter. Many people use the milliAmp meter to correlate the current flow to the output of laser power. I have seen failed power supplies and fouled laser tubes. Either situation can provide low milliAmp readings.

You can test the laser power supply with a special resistor. We use the 100watt resistor with value of 100,000 ohms. Don't overheat the resistor! Some laser companies send a resistor with their laser machines for testing later.

thank You,

[Ryan Matthews]

Dave,

On the bright side - the new PSU arrived and after I installed it I seem to be back in business. 99% power runs at 28Ma so it appears that we're back in business. However - the signal voltage issue persists.....Can you walk me through how you would test for this? My understanding was to measure the voltage between G and TL. When doing so with the controller set to 99% power my reading is 4.88v - - when I "pulse" the voltage drops to .23 after it bounces around a bit - - but then when I change the MaxPwr setting on the controller to 69% the voltage remains 4.88v and drops in the same manner when I 'pulse' the laser.... I thought it should be dropping to around 3v at 69% max PWR.

Am I missing something or simply misunderstanding something....or worse - is this a condition that leads to PSU failure at some point down the line as I'm on my third PSU now in 5 months.

Thanks all for the help and comments.

For those still reading - and considering RayFine for an order - Blanca is amazing - even though i've had some issues with the machine - she has always responded promptly to emails and calls for help - definitely a great customer service agent.

Ryan

[Bill George]

I could be wrong but I think that 0-5 volt signal might also be a PWM signal, and you will need to google that to get a good answer. But you need a special meter to check.

[Ryan Matthews]

Bill - thanks for the reply - I'll try and do some googling on that tomorrow when I have some time.

Cheers.
Ryan