Air Assist Upgrade

[glenboy]

Hello!

I have been reading through earlier posts about air assist and agree it's the key to getting the best cuts. I am looking to upgrade my air assist from the standard Hailea compressor that came with the machine (LS3020) - this compressor is useful for keeping the smoke and grime off the lens but does not really blow a jet of air down to the focal point to help with the actual cutting.

Which type of compressor should I opt for:

1) Compressor with a large tank that had a large FAD but is rated for intermittent load. http://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-fcdv4 ... 240v/33988 or http://www.screwfix.com/p/sumo-smb160cp ... 230v/85587

2) Compressor with a smaller tank with a small FAD but is rated for continuous load. http://www.screwfix.com/p/bostitch-sb-6 ... 240v/53926

I am just looking for an improvement to the compressor supplied - I only want to throw a couple of hundred quid at this upgrade as a temporary upgrade while I save up for a clarke Shhh 7/100 or similar.

Any other Air Assist knowledge/advice/information/tips would be very much appreciated!!

Thanks y'all,
Glen

[tweakie]

Hi Glen,

Just a thought but, in the past, I have done some jobs (like the Aztec Calendar) which have taken in excess of 6 hours so continuous duty operation would be essential for me.

Tweakie.

[glenboy]

Hi Tweakie,

That was my initial thought, but I wondered if a 50L tank at 10bar would last long enough to ensure the compressor motor had plenty of time between cycles?

Do you think i would see a noticable improvement between say the continuous stanley compressor and the original Hailea piston compressor that came with the machine? On paper the stanley will be held at higher pressure and has a larger FAD but will this improvement be realised if I simply swap out the compressor and leave the original air assist tubes...?

Cheers for any help.

[tweakie]

That's far too technical for me Glen, sounds like a lot of calculations (assuming I even knew the formulae) to prove that one way or the other and oviously the tube and nozzle size will play a great part in all this.

Tweakie.

[Daven]

I think I'm right in saying that Dave (Snoopy) left the original tubes in place on his set up - he may be along later and confirm

Dave

[Spooky]

Hiya Glen,

The bostich has a 30% duty cycle 20 minutes in the hour.

To be honest none of those are going to help, while they will deliver more air (I can post the actual numbers if you need them) they are all direct drive.
In the small print they are also giving DBa at 4 Meters NOT at 1M like you would normally get, 71 DBa at 4m is LOUD, (they also note a 10DBa variation) so you could potentially be looking at 80DBa, that's border line hearing damage

Have a look at this post http://oplaser.co.uk/opsupport/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3 these are bigger Hileas that Simon has just bought and I'm waiting to have a chat with him about his results. They are 100% duty cycle and under £100 so you may not need to go to the 7/100 or Bambi kind of thing after all.

The standard hose system on the machines is rated at 100 psi so no problems there, it's an open system any hows so pressure isn't really going to be a problem.Pressure only gets nasty when you have a restriction or reduction in the flow or a blocked pipe but as the most you will use is 20 psi that isn't really going to be a problem

hope that helps

best wishes

Dave

[glenboy]

Cheers Dave, Dave and Tweakie,

Should the air assist feel like a poweful jet exiting the cone? The current set up isn't offering much at all - i could blow through a bit of silicone tube strapped in place and give more air assistance! Now there's a thought! however, my duty cycle is probably less than 30% and I shouldn't be operating machinery when feeling light headed and dizzy!!

I'll have a look into the bigger Haliea. If you could let me know anything you hear from Simon, that would be great.

Cheers guys,

Glen

[Daven]

Cheers Dave, Dave and Tweakie,

The current set up isn't offering much at all - i could blow through a bit of silicone tube strapped in place and give more air assistance! Now there's a thought! however, my duty cycle is probably less than 30% and I shouldn't be operating machinery when feeling light headed and dizzy!!

That's better than me - I tried it and fainted

[glenboy]

Merry Christmas To All!!!!!

Just thought I'd update my air assist upgrade post. I went for the Hailea ACO-500. It's hefty! Louder than the smaller Hailea that came with the machine, but I've mounted it on a foam pad and it's perfectly acceptable.

I have also replaced the tubing that runs from the back of the machine to the cone. The original tubing on the LS 3020 is 2mm ID and was way to lossy. I have replaced it with a 4mm ID and it's made the world of difference. Small increases in pipe diameter have significant effects on the losses through the pipe.

I'm loving the LS 3020, but as I look to ramp up production I am looking to get a bigger laser cutter - I was thinking of getting the LS 6840 - purely for the ease of getting it into my house.

My question is this: does the extra money just buy a bigger bed or are the components (stepper motors, air assist, extraction etc.) all better quality. As I understand, the LS 3020 is a "budget" model that is affordable for the amatuer craftsperson & schools to have a dabble with laser cutting - this cost down must be down to inferior (but perfectly acceptable) components when compared to the more expensive machines.

Is the LS 6840 going to cut and engrave at faster speeds compared to LS3020? The stats on the HPC website indicate a significant cut speed increase 50mm/s (LS3020) -> 400mm/s (LS 6940). In reality, how fast could the 6840 accurately cut 300gsm card?

I don't really know if this post is a series of questions or a bit of a ramble?

Any answers/comments/advice/general ramblings are welcomed.

Best,
Glen

[Spooky]

The 6840 is a great choice and of all the machines is my personal favourite.
The difference in software and quality is streets apart from the 3020 !!

Power and speeds are limited by tube output in the main and not by the steppers so maybe a 60watt tube would be a good idea (it already has a 60 watt psu so you only need to specify the bigger tube at time of purchase)

best wishes

Dave