With CO2 lasers there is often the temptation to substitute after-market lenses, mirrors, nozzles, and consumables for OEM-specific parts. While it may seem like a good idea at the time, opting for cheaper parts will usually come back to haunt you in the long run. We often see problems stemming from a failure to have the chiller serviced annually by an industrial chiller service company or failure to replace beam path bellows that may have holes or tears. Laser gas is another area that’s often over looked – Running low or out of laser gas can contaminate the resonator.

The chiller is another critical laser component; and when neglected, it can cause premature failure of components inside the resonator, power supplies, and optics.  If bellows aren’t replaced once they develop holes, the beam path becomes contaminated which shortens the life expectancy of the optics, causes the beam to grow in diameter and ultimately affects focal length at the cutting lens.  All of these effects introduce more variables and inconsistencies into the cutting process and the end result is lost parts due to blow-outs as well as poor edge quality and slower cutting speeds.

Contributed by:
Patrick Medlin – President, Advanced Technology Sales & Service

ATS
1130 Tarrant Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27409
Tel: 336-393-0030
pmedlin@atsservice.com

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