Page 1 of 1

Laser not firing - old chestnut!

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 2:30 pm
by LinkspanModels
Afternoon all,

Before I put in a call to HPC Laser, I would welcome any magical cures that folk can come up with here.

Laserscript 3060 with HPC Laser chiller unit

Machine has been idle for a month but was working fine before that.

Got a rush job on and now I cannot get the laser to fire at all. No air bubbles in the tube (tube is less than 12 months old and has not had a massive amount of use), chiller seems to be working ok, head tracks the job fine but just not firing. It doesnt fire when pressing the 'laser' button on the panel either. Power on the LCD panel is showing 100%/100%.

Got me completely baffled has this - hope someone can help???

Cheers
Carl

Re: Laser not firing - old chestnut!

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:03 pm
by LinkspanModels
Just been scrolling through past issues and it may be that we also have a flow sensor issue - cant see how it can be anything else.

Will give HPC a call in the morning....

Re: Laser not firing - old chestnut!

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 4:32 pm
by Daven
May just need a clean - they do clog up a bit;)

You can bypass it but only if you are happy the water is flowing! I made a flow alarm for this reason as mine stuck open so laser would fire with no flow!

Best
Dave

Re: Laser not firing - old chestnut!

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 4:42 pm
by LinkspanModels
Hi Dave - Yep, the water is flowing well. I have in the past hour done the following:

Drained all the water and blown through the pipes to clear water that will not drain under gravity.
Removed the flow sensor (black plastic container with an electrical lead from it in the input pipe under the laser bed?), dismantled it and cleaned it. It is now moving well inside.
Cleaned the pipes.
Fitted it all back together, filled with fresh water and run the air bubbles through for 45 minutes until no more.

Guess what? Still no laser firing.

I did jump the pins on the flow sensor connector (the one leading to the circuit board) and the laser did fire, but not when all connected back together.

Maybe the electronic 'box' attached to the side of the flow chamber is duff? Either way, I will order a new one tomorrow.

Cheers
Carl

Re: Laser not firing - old chestnut!

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 5:16 pm
by LinkspanModels
Rigged up a bypass plug for the flow sensor from a spare r/c servo plug.

All working tickety-boo now :D :D

Deffo a duff flow sensor unit - will order new in the morning.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to work I go............

Re: Laser not firing - old chestnut!

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 5:31 pm
by Daven
Well done ;) You may get away with cleaning it - I have a spare I rotate when they clog ;)

Best
Dave