What Generous Of Accountability Consolidation Allowance Is The Best

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RobertSic
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Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 7:12 am

What Generous Of Accountability Consolidation Allowance Is The Best

Post by RobertSic »

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and what a fantastic resource it is! I have been playing with CNC machines for a few years, but I am new to laser cutters having only owned one for roughly a month.

I have searched for some info on this, however what I have been able to find is somewhat inconclusive... I am wondering whether there is some kind of rule of thumb as to appropriate flow rate of coolant through a CO2 laser tube, for a given power output, in order to cool it sufficiently?

I have been having some issues with my 50W Chinese machine, where the power seems to drop away to nothing within a couple of minutes of cutting. If I switch the machine off and run it again a little while later, the power is back, however it once again quickly drops off to nothing. I suspect that something is over heating and causing the power to degrade, and the obvious culprit I would assume is the tube.

It is winter here at the moment and my workshop is a nice cool 15C (59F) and I am not noticing much change in the temperature of the coolant when I run the machine, though the volume of coolant is fairly large at approximately 30L (8 Gallons). The coolant I am using is distilled water with a small amount of antifreeze added.

I measured the flow rate of the coolant through the system, and determined it to be 1.66L/min. Do those of you with experience think that my issue is likely too low a flow rate of coolant? Or does it sound like the degradation in power am seeing is happening too fast for it to be an issue with the tube overheating?

I made a quick video of the machine cutting a scrap of plywood to demonstrate how quickly I am loosing power. The machine is running at 99% power in the video.

Thank you for any thoughts or suggestions you may have.
RobertSic
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