Maintenance Tips for CO2 Laser Engraving Machines

A laser engraver operator with five years of experience shares his real-world maintenance tips, revealing common mistakes in daily maintenance, and providing practical techniques for cleaning equipment, protecting lenses, and maintaining the cooling system to help you avoid problems and extend the life of your equipment.

Preparation for preservation.

Don't get too excited and start working right away. First you need to put on a dustproof glove and goggles.Laser marking machines are especially sensitive to dust and grease, particularly in the optical lens area. Even a single particle of dust can cause the marking to be blurred.A toolbox should always have a dust-free cloth, a special cleaner, and an air blower. I have seen people wipe the lenses with ordinary paper towels, and the end result is scratches that render the lens useless.

Be careful with power checks.

I've seen newbies wipe down machines while they're plugged in, and accidentally switch them on, almost frying the motherboard.The first thing to do before maintenance is to shut down the computer and cut off the electricity. Then you wait half an hour for the equipment to cool down. In the summer, the parts inside the computer can still be very hot to the touch even after the cooling fans have stopped.

The three cores of daily maintenance.

A battle of life and death for the lens.

The focusing and expanding mirrors should be cleaned at least once a week.The technique is similar to that used for cleaning a camera lens: First blow away the dust, then put a few drops of lens cleaner on a clean cloth and wipe in a spiral from the center outward.Never use alcohol to clean a coated lens! I learned that lesson the hard way, at a cost of NT $ 2,000.

Lubrication is a crucial factor.

Many factories like to use butter to lubricate their guides, but the result is that after six months a lot of iron dust builds up, turning the butter into a kind of abrasive paste.He tells everyone that they must use white lithium grease and thin coats of it every month. This both reduces noise and prevents the rails from wearing.

Cooling systems to prevent overheating.

Have you ever seen someone fill a fish tank with tap water? After three months the pipes are all clogged up.It is necessary to use distilled water or special cooling liquid, and to check the water level once a week.In summer, when the water temperature exceeds 25 ° C, add ice quickly. Don't wait until the warning light comes on before you get worried.

90 % of people fall into the trap of over-maintenance.

When I first started out, I made the rookie mistake of using compressed air to blow off the lens.Later my master scolded me for my mistake: the high pressure air would push the dust into the lens coating.Now we use a medical bulb syringe to blow out the wax slowly, which takes a little longer but is more reassuring.

The right way to shut down the laser is to first turn off the laser itself, then the power supply, and finally the main switch.The right way is to let the equipment go through the automatic shutdown process, just like you can't just pull the plug on a computer.

Warning signals.

If the lines are getting faint, the lens might be dirty. If the lines are off-center, check the lubrication on the guide rail. If the fan is making a strange noise, turn off the machine immediately-it's happened in the workshop next door, and the laser tube ended up looking like a rainbow.It is recommended that a common problem and solution list be printed out and posted in a conspicuous place near the equipment.