G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review


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Thread: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

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    Default G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    I thought I would give a brief review of my G Weike laser that I've had for about 6 months. I would recommend buying a Chinese laser system. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thanks, Peter.



    I bought The G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser with 80W tube, up/down gantry, 500W extraction fan, air blower, chiller (CW 5000), auto focus. The red dot, spare mirrors and lenses were included for free. Shipping to my nearest UK port was included in price.
    I also considered lasers from Thunderlaser (more expensive) and Shenhui (similar prices but slow on communication).


    Ordering process and delivery
    G Weike were very prompt with all emails and enquiries. A full price list was provided too. I paid for the laser by bank transfer and it was ready to ship with 2 weeks. The shipping process was very straightforward, with the local agent doing all the leg work and guiding me through the process. Apart from paying taxes, It only cost me £120 for delivery from the port to my house (~150 miles). The cost of the laser including taxes and delivery was exactly half of what it would have cost in the UK (i.e. from HPC laser).


    First impressions
    It was very well boxed and took quite a lot of effort to break open. There was no damage to the laser either. I was surprised with how well made it was, lots of welded steel sheet that had been well painted. It all looked very solid, hence the weight of ~350kgs.


    Set up and use
    After plugging in the chiller unit and hooking up all the sockets etc, I tried to do some test work.
    It was immediately obvious that the laser wasn't working. I identified this as 1) a faulty safety switch on the access door and 2) a dead laser tube (water was leaking inside it). Replacing the switch was easy to do. However, G Weike were unhelpful and have not sent me a replacement laser tube as promised. I bought my own tube in the UK at a greater cost (£400) than it would have been through the manufacturer at the time of purchase (~£150). I wish I had bought a spare tube.
    Once the machine was up and running, aligning the mirror was easy (I recommend buying some masking tape and watching a few youtube videos). Within a couple of hours, it was ready to go. I also optimised the focal length too as the laser came with autofocus.
    I opted for the CW5000 refrigerated chiller unit, which again was a wise choice. It ensures the laser tube stays in the 18-20°C range, no matter how hard I push it.
    Software/hardware instructions were provided but within an hour or two I had learned the basics.


    Running files and cutting

    The Lasercut program (included) is a basic design program. Instead all my designs are created in Solidworks and imported as a DXF. The great feature of Lasercut is it's ability to have 'layers' ,which is the ability to cut, engrave etc... all in one file.
    Most of my work is either engraving anodised aluminium or cutting 6mm ply. The quality of the engraved/cut pieces is fantastic, although I now wished I'd gone for a more powerful 100W laser system instead (a few hundred $ more). The air extraction system is essential for doing any wood cutting.
    I've found that the minimum laser power is 12% for cutting/marking materials. In my opinion this means the laser is a bit inefficient. However, I never need to go beyond 50% power for cutting work.


    Pros
    50% cheaper than buying from UK based importers
    Importation was easy
    Solid built laser
    Easy to use software (with a few quirks) that produces great results
    The wealth of knowledge and help available on this forum


    Cons
    The amount of power required to cut some materials

    Anything less than 12% laser power will not cut/mark
    Maximum plywood cutting thickness is ~10mm
    Very unhappy with G Weike for not sending a replacement laser tube
    Buying from China - don't expect any customer service after you've bought it

    Similar Threads:


  2. #2
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    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    A cautionary tale indeed, and one of the reasons I did not buy direct from China myself, none of them would work on the basis of putting the money in escrow etc and it was all a case of give us the cash and then sit back and hope for the best....



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    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    I have gotten a lg900. Now. Was new when I got it basically. Another guy imported it then sold it to me with pretty much 0 miles on it. Mine is a 100w equipped unit. And I to have noticed selecting anything less then 14% as a laser power will result in no marking ability. This could be an efficiency thing or s limitation to how much the power supply can provide on the lower side of % to fire the laser at all. Must be some sort a threshold as 14% gives results and 12% you get nothing. Seems like that could be a bad thing but might be similar to others?

    Either way I've been uping the speeds for engraving and I'm up to 500mms and probably could run faster then that still at only 15% power

    Guess time will tell. But seems like s really nice machine so far. And could consider buying another

    B



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    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    I have also recently purchased and received a G Weike laser. I got the LG900N 80 watt. Other than a bad switch on the autofocus mechanism, which was quickly replaced at no cost, I have had absolutely no problems with this machine. I previously owned an Epilog Mini24 - 45 watt for seven years with no problems, but as the 36 x 24 bed machine from Epilog was far out of my price range, and after numerous discussions with Melody at G Weike, I pulled the trigger on the LG900N. To say that I am pleased with my purchase is an understatement. Would recommend this machine for both cutting and engraving. Would be happy to answer any questions about this machine.

    JW



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    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    Hi, Pvh5,

    Any problem, you can contact us. If the tube within warrenty time(80w+ within 10 months, 80W- within 4 months), the tube manufactuer can exchange for you. While these days it is indeed that Reci has some problems, but it is they are a bit slow(you need to wait about 1 week) not they wouldn't to exchange. You need to take some videos and show the tube end photos, and they will dhl for you for free. The aftersales service of tubes are still good!

    G.Weike Laser
    melody@vip.163.com li@wklaser.com skype:melody.gweike


  6. #6

    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    We've been running the LG900 at 100 watts in our office for the past year and a half. The machine as a whole has been quite nice. Build quality is nice, price was amazing, and it fit the work needs and load of our shop. 9.5/10 would buy again.

    However, we have run into a small issue twice now, and I'd like to throw this out as help in case this happens to anyone else.

    Twice, our power switch has burned out. Once in the middle of a cut and another time just wouldn't switch on.

    This resulted in a whole lot of freak outs on our part and us testing every part we could.

    So, if your machine isn't working, first test the on/off switch. It'll save you a lot of stress.

    Also, we too have noticed that below 15% the laser doesn't fire. This isn't a problem for us, just something we noticed.



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    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    The fact that the laser does not fire at low settings is normal - that's how they work. They have a strike point. Below that nothing happens. This is the reason low power tubes are recommended for engraving. You may struggle to achieve sufficient speed in a stepper controlled laser with a 100W tube if you want to do shallow engraving.



  8. #8

    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    I've got two Weike machines (60w & 90w Reci) I need to get rid of in the Cincinnati Ohio area if anyone is interested.
    I'm getting out of laser business and need to get rid of my last two machines.
    I can work a deal with you that's equivalent to buying from Weike in China, but without the hassles of wiring money, build time, customs, etc.
    Comes with complete PC systems and software. Thanks.

    Frontline Lasers LLC
    www.frontlinelasers.com


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    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    Hi there - great to read some of your content regarding Weike laser cutters your experiences so far - hopefully more good then bad experiences!

    I recently bought the G.Weike LC1490 which is 900x1400 bed and 150w tube. After a few weeks for operation I have encountered a problem with the engrave feature.
    In short when I engrave the file starts out ok but then slowly begins to distort or elongate resulting in a stretched image which varies from file to file. There doesn't appear to be a problem with the cut layer as this goes back and highlights the extent of the distortion but as you can image this is really frustrating not to mention costly on materials & time.

    I have played around with the setting adjusting the speed and power and even the gap which was originally set a 0.1 and my Weike rep. recommended I change as a possible solution, unfortunately even .2 gap still begins to distort. I'm wondering if anyone else has encounter a similar problem with these machines and if you have any suggestions.

    I've cleaned and aligned mirrors, added another fan (I thought it might be a smoke build up but wasn't) and given some of the forums I've read today I will go home and make sure everything is plugged in correctly and all visible screws are tight. Anyone got any other suggestions and possible remedies? I'm still waiting for Weike to get back to me so hopefully they have some solutions but so far they don't seem to be that bothered...



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    Default Re: G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

    Thanks Nolan - not sure if it is as when this first happened I upload my file to the laser cutter ran the file which was an engrave and got a perfect result.
    I then replaced the material with a new piece of wood and ran the same identical file from the cutter but this time if stretched and distorted the engrave - this was the first time this happened?

    I will however delete and reinstall the software so I'll let you know if this works - hopefully it does!
    I've also got access to another machine so I might try swapping the motion card which Weike has suggested in an email I received this morning.. Does anyone know if this is an easy exercise?



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G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review

G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser review