Laser Machine Service near Letchworth, on 4 x OMTech 100 watt and 1 x Precision Machine – Race Time Solutions
A visit to a new customer, Race Timing Solutions was requested as the customer wanted to have their fleet of flatbed machines serviced. They had 3 of an older variety of the OMTech machines, 1 newer version of the OMTech offering manufactured in 2024 and 1 Precision machine. The laser service was conducted by our highly experienced service engineer ‘Gavin Edwards’. The laser service visit included: –
Upon arrival at Race Timing Solutions the machines were visually inspected, the machines were in various levels of conditions.
OMTech 100 watt Machine 1 – ‘RINGO’
It was noted that there was very little air coming from the end of the nozzle. The system was checked for any leaks, none were found. The attached air pump was then checked and was found that it was not of sufficient size to produce adequate airflow. This was recommended to be replaced.
The rest of the machine was then checked over. All mirrors and lens were inspected, all had some form of marks on them, but were all cleanable
The system was then re-aligned and the laser power from the nozzle was checked and was shown to be 93w @83% 28mA.
- Inspect, Clean and Lubricate all Linear/Guide Rails
- Calibrate Bed Level
- Electronics Inspection
- Safety Interlocks Inspection & Test
It was noted that the safety Interlock on the main door of this machine was utilising a proximity switch. These simple proximity switches do not meet the UK safety standards for Laser safety as the switch itself can be easily defeated by the use of any magnetic piece of metal.
OMTech 100 watt machine 2 – John
The system was visually inspected. There was nothing that was majorly wrong with the machine, so the standard service items were carried out without issues:
- Inspect and Clean all Mirrors and Lens
- Nozzle Inspection & Clean
- Water Cooling Chiller Inspection, Clean, Drain & Refill
- Inspect, Clean and Lubricate all Linear/Guide Rails
- Calibrate Bed Level
- Auto Focus Pen Inspection & Clean
- Electronics Inspection
- Safety Interlocks Inspection & Test
Again as with the ‘Ringo’ machine above, the safety interlock for the main door was not upto current safety standards. The laser power was tested from the exit aperture of the nozzle and was shown to be 94w @78% 28mA
OMTech 100 watt machine 3 – George
The system was visually inspected. There was nothing that was majorily wrong with the machine, so the standard service items were carried out without issues:
- Inspect and Clean all Mirrors and Lens
- Nozzle Inspection & Clean
- Water Cooling Chiller Inspection, Clean, Drain & Refill
- Inspect, Clean and Lubricate all Linear/Guide Rails
- Calibrate Bed Level
- Auto Focus Pen Inspection & Clean
- Electronics Inspection
- Safety Interlocks Inspection & Test
Again as with both ‘Ringo’ and ‘John’ machines above, the safety interlock for the main door was not upto current safety standards. The system required some realignment and it was found whilst doing this procedure that the Up/Down adjustment on mirror 2 had been thread locked, making alignment more difficult. Once completed the laser power was tested from the exit aperture of the nozzle and was shown to be 94w @82% 28mA
New OMTech 100 watt machine 4 – Liam
The system was visually inspected. There was an initial issue with powering the system on. This was quickly resolved. The next issue with the machine was purely down to either manufacture or design. The issue being that when the main door was opened the system would produce an audible alarm and had to be reset on every single occasion. This was not able to be changed as it was fully wired into the system through a controlling PCB.
The remainder of the service was carried out
- Inspect and Clean all Mirrors and Lens
- Nozzle Inspection & Clean
- Water Cooling Chiller Inspection, Clean, Drain & Refill
- Inspect, Clean and Lubricate all Linear/Guide Rails
- Calibrate Bed Level
- Auto Focus Pen Inspection & Clean
- Electronics Inspection
- Safety Interlocks Inspection & Test
Whilst checking the calibration of the X-Y axis it was noted that the X -axis was producing images 1mm bigger than requested. The axis was recalibrated to cut and engrave what was being requested.
With the new design of the OMTech machine the main door interlocks had been changed. However instead of an industry standard safety interlock, it was 2 simple microswitches. These can also be easily defeated to disable any safety features of the door, the slight improvement to the design was that the microswitches were of enough distance apart to not be defeated by 1 object. The laser power was tested from the exit aperture of the nozzle and was shown to be 82w @85% 28mA
Precision 100 watt machine 5 – Paul
The system was visually inspected. It could be quickly seen that the system did not have a functioning door safety interlock, the customer was advised that this would be needed to be changed.
Otherwise the service was carried out with only the X-Axis belt requiring to be tightened: –
- Inspect and Clean all Mirrors and Lens
- Nozzle Inspection & Clean
- Water Cooling Chiller Inspection, Clean, Drain & Refill
- Inspect, Clean and Lubricate all Linear/Guide Rails
- Calibrate Bed Level
- Auto Focus Pen Inspection & Clean
- Electronics Inspection
- Safety Interlocks Inspection & Test
The laser power was tested from the exit aperture of the nozzle and was shown to be 80w @70% 28mA
A number of jobs were then run on all machines and all was shown to be working as the customer expects. The customer was happy with the results of all machines and the quality of the work carried out. This concluded the laser service.
Any of the consumable items mentioned above, Lens, Mirrors, Laser tubes, Power supplies are all available and can be bought separately in our online shop.
If you would like further information on our Laser Machine Service near Letchworth capabilities or anywhere else in the country, or any other Laser Training requirement or Laser Application, please request a call back or, talk to one of our service engineering specialists by going to our contact page – link below.
