Used Telesis Eclipse Laser, Old YAGs Worth Buying?

[goldenfab]

I found a Telesis Eclipse Laser Engraver Yag 150 Watt CW600 CW200S for sale locally. I don't have an immediate need for it but I though it would be a good capability to engrave metal directly. I have a CO2 laser that can mark parts but not engrave them.

I can't find much info out on the machine and the manufacturers website doesn't show this model so I assume they don't make it anymore. The nameplates on the power supply and laser have date codes of 2001 and 2004. I have not called the manufacturer yet to see if its still supported. It's advertised as working but not under power and will need a chiller. Are these things better left to be someone else's problems or are they reparable and usable?

 

[Strostkovy]

How much do they want for it? Better be pretty cheap if it lacks a chiller and isn't under power. Like a few hundred dollars cheap. I paid under $3k for my 50 watt fiber engraver brand new.

 

[goldenfab]

I agree. I decided to pass on it. What brand fiber laser did you get? I hear the cheap ones do ok for what they are.

 

[Strostkovy]

Mine has a Raycus fiber source but otherwise was an AliExpress special

 

[turbo2ltr]

I found a Telesis Eclipse Laser Engraver Yag 150 Watt CW600 CW200S for sale locally. I don't have an immediate need for it but I though it would be a good capability to engrave metal directly. I have a CO2 laser that can mark parts but not engrave them.

I can't find much info out on the machine and the manufacturers website doesn't show this model so I assume they don't make it anymore. The nameplates on the power supply and laser have date codes of 2001 and 2004. I have not called the manufacturer yet to see if its still supported. It's advertised as working but not under power and will need a chiller. Are these things better left to be someone else's problems or are they reparable and usable?

Funny I ran across this thread...because I was looking at the same unit.. I ended up picking it up today. Then found out it's 100W not 150W. But honestly I got it so cheap even if it doesn't work, it will be fun project. It definitely needs to be gone through before firing it up. Of course I know absolutely nothing about these types of lasers so I don't plan to take it apart too much other than to make sure it's not leaking and just general cleanup.

I know you are supposed to have a chiller on these.. Is that because the water needs to be cold, or just because it produces enough heat you need one to keep the temps in check? Passive water cooling won't work for small short jobs?

 

[Garwood]

So, you figure you'll just gonna dump bottles of distilled water into a funnel and let it run out onto the ground while the laser is on?

 

[turbo2ltr]

So, you figure you'll just gonna dump bottles of distilled water into a funnel and let it run out onto the ground while the laser is on?

Hmm, no. First, it has a separate DI water closed loop with a water to water heat exchanger.
And I was asking about non-refrigerant type water to air cooling for the non DI loop.

 

[EmGo]

If you got it for nothing and just want to play around, sounds cool but for real work, new ones are so cheap and so much more capable that this doesn't make sense.

 

[Garwood]

Hmm, no. First, it has a separate DI water closed loop with a water to water heat exchanger.
And I was asking about non-refrigerant type water to air cooling for the non DI loop.

It's a good thing you didn't include those details in your question. We sure like playing 20 questions to get the basics.

 

[turbo2ltr]

If you got it for nothing and just want to play around, sounds cool but for real work, new ones are so cheap and so much more capable that this doesn't make sense.

No real work here, just playing. Got it for a few hundred.

 

[turbo2ltr]

It's a good thing you didn't include those details in your question. We sure like playing 20 questions to get the basics.

Sorry that my ability to ask questions is not up to your standard.

 

[EmGo]

Got it for a few hundred.

After seeing these things, I'da saved the few hundred for a useful one.

Disclaimer : I'm in love with these. Can't believe how useful they'd be around the shop, home, heck, at the damn grocery store - the ones with a little frame that you can walk up to something and lasermark it ? Better hope the graffitti guys never discover these . Parts, serial number plates, tools, wood, stone, plastic; hell, you can throw up a jpeg and laser a photo onto a big leaf.

Tres cool and pretty cheap

work, boring

https://files.catbox.moe/xnve8z.mp4

fun, less boring

https://files.catbox.moe/ramotz.mp4

Christmas wrapping paper, stones, coke cans, pens, plastic items of all kinds, cloth, telephone poles, signs, hmmm .... laptops, phones, anything valuable, light switches, instrument panels, scales (ruler-type), maybe the worn-out letters on my "classic" keyboard ... did I say I'm in love ?

 

[turbo2ltr]

I found a Telesis Eclipse Laser Engraver Yag 150 Watt CW600 CW200S for sale locally. I don't have an immediate need for it but I though it would be a good capability to engrave metal directly. I have a CO2 laser that can mark parts but not engrave them.

I can't find much info out on the machine and the manufacturers website doesn't show this model so I assume they don't make it anymore. The nameplates on the power supply and laser have date codes of 2001 and 2004. I have not called the manufacturer yet to see if its still supported. It's advertised as working but not under power and will need a chiller. Are these things better left to be someone else's problems or are they reparable and usable?

Well be glad you didn't buy this thing. Even though it was sold under the pretense that it worked, I found a thread on cnczone from the seller stating that it didn't work and it has exactly the same issue.

Not only did he know it was a 100W and not a 150 watt as advertised, but he knew it had issues yet told me it works. Pretty shady for someone that works for law enforcement, and shame on me for not making him prove it works like I should have. If I had paid the original thousands he was asking, I'd certainly be more upset. For $400 it's been a fun learning experience and I'm not giving up yet.

In any case, I got it powered on. I got the internal DI loop working and leak free. I got an external water loop working. I figured out there is a connector on the back for an external E-stop and shutter control that was missing causing the unit to not fully power on. But even after all that I have the same issue described in a 2018 post about it https://www.cnczone.com/forums/gene...628-100w-nd-yag-lamp-pumped-laser-firing.html

I did on one occasion get it to seem like it was ready to fire, so I will continue down that road

I wish I could isolate the phase converter as it's so loud. I want to be able to hear what the laser is doing.

One question I have is, is the pump light on all the time or only when it needs to lase? I assume its the latter, but also unclear exactly how it's controlled. Can the lamp be turned on and off instantly like that? I see two modules in the optics that appear to be some sort of shutter (they have motors on them), and then there is the Q-switch which apparently bends the laser with ultrasonic sound? (thats what I read) I assume this is how the laser is modulated from 10 - 100khz? Ok that's more than one question.

Next I will be connecting the computer up to it and seeing what happens if I command it to fire.

 

[turbo2ltr]

OK so good news, I didn't blow myself up, I still have two working eyeballs, and no extra holes in me.

Speaking of which, I found it amusing that the manual has a warning stating that "All laser related deaths on record have been due to electrocution". I mean high voltage and water, what could go wrong. lol.

Also good news, I got one step closer!

So it does have a "finicky" startup. Sometimes it doesn't start and you have to start the startup sequence again. But seems like the second time the bulb fires up and it stops lighting up warning lights.

I tried to use the software to test fire the laser at 10% and nothing happened at the business end.

I then noticed when start it, I can see light making one of the white plastic water fittings coming out of the block glow and the intensity changes when switching between "power" and "standby" using the front panel.

I ran one of the jobs that came with the software (power/freq test) and still nothing. Though I can see the light in the water elbow modulating when the job is running. Just nothing out of the head. I also can't see the red dot either, both of which I assume I have some sort of shutter issue. Or worse yet, an alignment issue. Problem is I am not well versed on how these are supposed to work.

Nothing seems to be getting overly hot. Nothing smells hot. Though currently my external water is a cooler with distilled water in it and a pump, and it warmed up that water pretty quick so I couldn't run it very long. Looks like I'm close enough to getting it to work I'll see if I can find a decent priced chiller.

There is connector on the back that has an external E-stop input that you have to short out (was the cause for the "external" warning light). It also has two pins for a "remote shutter" switch. I have not been able to discern any difference in behavior with those pins shorted or open. Though that may be the source of the issue.

In the optics chain I see what I believe to be the shutter. There is a little nub sticking out that clearly travels in an arc and I can move it. I can't see it when it's powered on so I have no idea if it's opening. Maybe I'll see if I can put a camera and flashlight in the enclsoure to record when its powered up. It has some open/close monitoring switches (which is what the nub is for) but there is no connection to the switches, only the motor. I don't see any loose wires anywhere in the system so I don't think they are used.

I will continue my journey this weekend.

 

[Strostkovy]

Be aware that lasers have a minimum pump energy to begin lasing, and things like mirror misalignment or lasing medium damage can increase this threshold. If you can change the energy of the pulses, a higher energy is more likely to make the system lase.

I don't know how many optical components are in the cavity on this particular laser. Seems like since there is an ultrasonic Q switch it must not have polished and silvered ends (at least not both) like the simplest yag or ruby lasers do.

 

[turbo2ltr]

Be aware that lasers have a minimum pump energy to begin lasing, and things like mirror misalignment or lasing medium damage can increase this threshold. If you can change the energy of the pulses, a higher energy is more likely to make the system lase.

I don't know how many optical components are in the cavity on this particular laser. Seems like since there is an ultrasonic Q switch it must not have polished and silvered ends (at least not both) like the simplest yag or ruby lasers do.

Thanks for the info. If I could increase the power, I don't yet know how to do that. I was afraid to leave the job running more than a few seconds as I'm afraid of where all this energy is going if it's not coming out the head. lol. Though I guess if there was something wrong, the damage is already done.. From what I've been able to learn so far, it sounds like the optics are able to turn on and off the light amplification process (I was thinking it was like a CO2 laser where if the tube is on, it's lasing.)

I think what I want to pursue next (and the safest thing) is why the laser diode is not appearing at the output. That should tell me if I have 1: an open optical path and 2: some inkling of an alignment.

Here is a little tour of the optic chain.

The device downstream of the Q-Switch I was thinking might be some other q-switch, but a mechanical one. Thought I read that it's not unheard of to combine an acousto-optic and a mechanical switch together.. But I really don't have a clue.. lol.

Back to work!

 

[Strostkovy]

I expect the rear optic is a dielectric mirror. These are made of alternating layers of two slightly different glasses at the correct thickness for the reflections at each interface to add up for a particular wavelength. They are transparent to other wavelengths, so the laser diode light will go right through it into the laser.

That middle optic is likely a lens or diffraction grating or filter or similar to limit the modes that the laser can operate in. Are you sure that white line is a water line and not an air purge? It could also be a saturable optical element, where once the random emissions of the lasing medium gets high enough (corresponding to the amount of energy absorbed in the lasing medium) it becomes clear and allows the laser to fire. This is the most basic form of Q switching. (seeing the acousto-optic switch I don't think it's a saturable element).

Shutters often direct the beam to a beam dump when closed. If this laser doesn't have that, it will almost certainly refuse to fire the laser unless switches indicate it is in the correct position. Very common for those motors to actually be rotary solenoids that spin 90 degrees when DC power is applied and spring back when power is lost. Though, as I look at it more a beam dump wouldn't make sense here as it seems to be in the optical cavity, and beam dumps have to be outside that.

It seems like the last unit with the motor would have to have the partially silvered mirror (could also be a thinner dielectric) for the output of the resonator. Perhaps the motor is a second safety shutter on the beam output or moves a sensor into or out of the beam? It could also physically adjust the optical cavity in some way. Just guessing here.

Following that there is likely a lens to better collimate the beam.

Be aware my experience is with CO2 lasers and I'm just learning about dye and YAG lasers as a hobby with limited practical experience so far.

RP-photonics is my favorite website to learn about these concepts.

 

[turbo2ltr]

Thank you so much for the information. You may just be learning but I'm still behind you so I am grateful for your input.

The line is definitely water.

So I powered the red dot laser with a power supply so I could safely be around the rest of the optics and chased it through the chain.
I confirmed:

• The first shutter (the water cooled one) is normally open which I wasn't expecting.
• The optic after the q-switch is indeed a shutter, it is normally closed, not water cooled, and has a wired monitoring switch.

I powered the second shutter with a power supply and it opened. Then:


There's a dot! This also gave me the opportunity to adjust my stack of garbage so it was in focus. I was a bit too close.

So now I know

• The optical path is clear when the shutters are open
• The red dot works.

Next I put volt meters on the red dot supply and the 2nd shutter and powered up the system. This told me

• Power is getting to the red dot so I'm 99.9% sure I should see something when things are correct.
• At no time did the system send power to the second shutter.

So clearly it's not happy with something and refusing to open that shutter. And technically, the other shutter could be closed once the system was powered on, I have not tested that.

I bought parts I need to build the "customer interlock" that is in the schematic. There is a "remote shutter" which I have tried shorting and leaving open but have not tried changing it while the laser is powered so I think I need to focus on that next. It uses some impossible to find 4 pin bayonet style connector so I bought a similar style connector to replace the panel mount with.

There isn't much going on in this video other than me running around trying different things and mentally taking note of stuff before everything got too hot. I figured I'd record in case something spectacular happened. lol. Turn down the volume, all you can hear is the rotary phase converter.

The contraption I'm pointing at the laser is a homebrew thermal camera. Figured I'd see if there were any hot spots. Didn't see any. You can occasionally see the glowing water elbow too.

 

[Strostkovy]

Is your flash tube just glowing? It should not do that. Have you looked the the circuitry responsible for dumping the capacitor voltage into the flash tube? Sometimes there is a switch, but often it's just relying on the bulb itself to break down once voltage gets high enough.

Without dying, try to see if the tube is flashing or glowing. If glowing, your capacitors may not have sufficient capacitance or low enough ESR and the tube will just be in glow discharge from the current limited high voltage source that charges them. A glow discharge will not reach the lasing threshhold.

I suspect that you should be able to open the shutters and pulse the flash lamp at full power and get a beam. Those acoustic switches only make minor changes to the Q factor (as far as I am aware). If that does not work, you may need to apply a 20khz or so signal at relatively high voltage into that optical element. Hopefully the information you have found on it gives a voltage.

 

[CarbideBob]

How much is your time worth to resurrect this thing that will die again just to engrave parts?
More than the guy/gal at the McDonald's drive-up window?
Am all in favor of this as a learning experience.