FSE 40W Deluxe Hobby Laser Trouble shooting

[Bec Weir]

I bought a FSE 40W Deluxe Hobby Laser in September 2011. After a few hours of cutting, it didn't go. It wouldn't connect with my computer for more than a few minutes, and then when it did, it wouldn't cut.

After seven weeks of pretty much constant back-and-forth emails and phone calls to FSE (on one occasion they took control of my computer in Brisbane Australia from Las Vegas), it was decided to replace the whole laser, as it was thought the Motor Control cards (all three of them) were burning out.

The second laser arrived on 11 November 2011 and for the life of me, I couldn't get the mirrors to align. Nothing Henry said to try would allow the mirrors to align. they just wouldn't.

A few days before Christmas 2011, I happened to bump the x axis mirror and saw that it moved. Turns out that a hex-nut bolt that was supposed to hold it in place was the wrong one (it was too short) and was held in by a burr of thread in the stepper motor housing.

I tried to comment about this on the FSE Forum, but was told "as it is a warranty issue, it was not appropriate to discuss it on the forum"/

After the bracket was fixed, the supplied extraction fan stopped working after only 20 or so hours of cutting MDF. The workings of the laser became so gummed-up with MDF glue/resin that I had to remove the entire x axis gantry. Whilst doing this, I found one of the bushings on the z axis was bent, but easily replaced.

After I had cleaned EVERYTHING, I found that the laser would not cut with the power above 8MA. An email to Henry, and I was told that the laser tube or the power supply was probably burnt out and as my laser was out of its' 60day warranty period, I'd have to buy new ones.

As The laser has only cut about 60 hours out of the 83 hours that the laser had been turned on (I have a separate line for the laser with a power meter on it), I thought this pretty steep, as the laser (either of them) really hasn't worked properly since I first received it in September.

So, here is my story, and this is a thread for solving what you have discovered that is wrong with the 40W Hobby laser from Full Spectrum Engineering.

[Bec Weir]

Problem: Laser disconnecting and not engraving.

Solution: Never found out what the problem was with three Motor Control Cards and Retina Engrave USB Cards replaced.

[Bec Weir]

Problem: Mirrors not aligning, despite following FSE guidelines.

Solution: Check all brackets are secure and the hex-bolts are of the correct length.

Pencil line on stepper motor body showing how much the bracket was moving with gantry movement. Short hex bolt circled.


The differences in the size of the hex bolts. On the left is what was in my machine, on the right is what I removed from my first laser. The circled bits of metal are what was left of the first few turns of thread in the stepper motor.

[Bec Weir]

Problem: Large amount of soot or gum deposits in the cutting area.

Solution: Check that the supplied extraction fan is still running and not faulty. I removed the fan blades and motor from the supplied fan housing and attached an in-line marine blower fan to extract the gasses. Blower fan was bought from Amazon.com

[Bec Weir]

Problem: Extraction fan not working

Solution: Motor and fan blades from supplied fan removed and an inline 12V bilge blower (240CuFt/min) was bought from amazon.com to replace fan.

[Bec Weir]

Problem: Laser tube not working when power dial turned up to a working power level.

Solution: Laser tube burnt out or power supply faulty. Check water cooling pump and system is working. Replace faulty laser tube, if it still will not cut, then the power supply is probably faulty.

Look on ebay for cheaper alternative 40W CO2 laser tubes, where they can be had for 1/3 the FSE price.