LG900 Laser Owners Club - Anyone interested?

[TheWorkshopGuy]

Hi ALL..
I was wondering if other owners of the LG900 Laser would be interested in starting up an owners club, where we could share each others ups and downs and other useful information. I don't actually recieve my machine until this coming Friday. I can't wait to get it though...
We could all exchange email addresses and Skype contacts.
I think it would be a helpful thing for every one involved.
I live in St. Catharines Ontario Canada.
About ten miles from Niagara Falls.
I Look forward to hearing from other owners.
Please just "PM" me and I will send you my email address.
Thanks
David

[FlyGuy007]

Great Idea, count me in.

Thanks
Mike

[Robottawa]

I have an LG500, 60 watt. It is not that different from the 900, maybe you want to include other sizes. I am running lasercut 5.3 from Corel 12. I am doing mainly lamacoid engraving but am working on photoengraving on marble.

Rob

[FlyGuy007]

I'm running the JW Weike LG900 with an 80 tube upgrade. I usually use Corel12 and mine an older serial model not the new fangled USB models.

Pain in the ass to get running as the software is bad to say the least, but once running it's been a workhorse and not nearly as delicate as I suspected. My current tube has about 600-700 hrs on it and so far it's running great.

I run regular tap water in it and chlorine bleach to keep the water from going bad. This has caused some issues but they take months to come up.

1. The water jacket on the exit of the tube will corrode and eventually block if water is left in it. I recently had this happened. I pumped about 100psi air into it which popped the AL end off the water jacket, I cleaned it out, reapplied epoxy to the end and 24 hrs later it's once again running like a top.

2. Don't run your tube at 100%, I have had three break in half at about 300 hrs running that hot. I now run at 88% and it runs fine , if only a little slower.

Thanks
Mike

[avetek]

happy to be part of it - I have an 80 watt 900 machine now for about 18 months - has not done a huge anount of cutting but my work is primarily production cutting for a friends model business. Been a great machine with only a few problems I am running Lasercut 5:0 with only one occasional problem (1 in 100 melt down of the file while cutting - I reload it and off it goes for another 100 ) I think it is an overload issue of some description . I solved my problem of crystalisation in the end of the cooling tube by using distilled water and antifreeze.
Happy to give my experiences

[TheWorkshopGuy]

Well believe it or not I am still playing the waiting game for my machine to arrive....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to put it mildly.
Spoke to the broker today and now it will be next week at the earliest.
I'm glad to hear some of you would want to be part of an owners club. I think it will be a great resourse for us all.
Mine is NOT USB powered I did not order that option so I will be using a conttroller card with mine.

I do have a couple of questions.. if someone can answer them.
It says that the machine is compatible with CorelDraw.
Do the printer drivers load direnctly from CorelDraw like with the Epilogs etc??
Some have told me the older versions do not do this.

I have heard from Skip (another member on here) and he told me to use distilled water and propolyne based antifreeze in the laser tube. Apparantley it works well. I've purchased both now and will be using that. I also ordered the upgraded chiller they say that's a better unit. It actually refrigerates the water.

AveTek and FlyGuy,
I was not aware that you could upgrade the LG900 to 80 watt.. That's good to know.

Robottawa,
Yes any owners are welcome to be part of the group. I'm sure we can all help and share ideas.

Anyhow when I finally get my machine and have it set up I will post all my newbie questions..LOL

Have a great day,
David

[TheWorkshopGuy]

Hmmm. I just got another call from my broker and I can pick up the machine tomorrow.. YaHOOOO.. Finally!

[TheWorkshopGuy]

Well I've got my machine finally! Had to pick it up at the airport so I rented a van.. Big mistake the machine was to big. I am truly amazed at how big these units are, and how much they weigh.. WOW!!!
Anyhow I un-crated it and got it in the van thank GOD!
Got it back home during a torrential downpour. Got SOAKED getting it unloaded with the tow motor. The door opening was 42" the machine is 40" real tight squeeze, but we got it in. I've taken several pictures but am way toooooo tired to post any now. Was up at 4 am...
So... my first impressions are VERY good. I've unpacked it and I've got to tell you these units are built like a tank. Great paint job and all of the parts and accessories that I ordered we're intact. One slight problem the regular chiller came at 110 Volt 50hz. In Canada we are 60hz. All ot the rest of the machine was the right hertz. I bought the BIG Chiller unit so it won't hurt me but I will contact them about it.

More later.. and some pics but I'm just tooo dam tired right now.
David

[FlyGuy007]

I have the CW3000 chiller.... absolute trash for me. With my 80w tube it goes from 21C to 31C in about 20 minutes of cutting. Unless it's -30 and I put it outside it won't cool at all. It just can't keep up with the larger tube. It's poorly designed as well. The radiator inside and the exhaust fan do not make even remotely a tight fit so I don't think much air is actually pulled through the cooling fins. I think some shrouding between the fan and the radiator would pull a lot more air through the fins and improve the efficiency quite a bit.

The normal pond pump they ship with the system and a large plastic Rubbermaid container with cold water works way better for me. When the water gets warm, just scoop a gallon or two of warm water out and replace it with cold water.

The laser cuts well at 20-24C, I start to notice less penetration above 24C and buy 30C I am getting very poor results cutting .090 PETG.

Mike

[TheWorkshopGuy]

Originally Posted by FlyGuy007 I have the CW3000 chiller.... absolute trash for me. With my 80w tube it goes from 21C to 31C in about 20 minutes of cutting. Unless it's -30 and I put it outside it won't cool at all. It just can't keep up with the larger tube. It's poorly designed as well. The radiator inside and the exhaust fan do not make even remotely a tight fit so I don't think much air is actually pulled through the cooling fins. I think some shrouding between the fan and the radiator would pull a lot more air through the fins and improve the efficiency quite a bit. The normal pond pump they ship with the system and a large plastic Rubbermaid container with cold water works way better for me. When the water gets warm, just scoop a gallon or two of warm water out and replace it with cold water. The laser cuts well at 20-24C, I start to notice less penetration above 24C and buy 30C I am getting very poor results cutting .090 PETG. Mike

Hi Mike,
Well that is exactly why I ordered the CW5000 Chiller instead. It was a lot more money but it is actually a refrigerated unit. It weighs about 150lbs. I do not have it hooked up yet but I will soon and I will give you an update on how well it works. I will also post some pics of it for you. Actually they recomended it to me, over the old one.
Today I hope to have my machine operational. I'm a little apprehensive about the setup because I've never set one up before but I assure you I will be taking my time and hopefully be successful.
I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.
David

[TheWorkshopGuy]

I'm about to do the Laser alignment on my new machine for the first time. This is the only part that intimidates me. Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated. A video would be awesome..
Thanks
David

[FlyGuy007]

http://www.imajeenyus.com/v6/laser_c...lignment.shtml

This is a pretty good one, although we have it a bit easier because our tubes independently raise and lower front and rear.

Also check the other topics in the forum just a few down has a nice video link. But the page above ties it together better but it's nice seeing the video and then reading through the link a few times.

Mike