[danielcoyle]

My GWeike LC 1390 caught fire and burned up last week. It was a little more than 3 months old. Not sure what caused the fire but it was cutting not engraving when it happened and may have been the result of a piece of cork getting popped out of the sheet material and getting dragged around by the laser head while getting "cut" at high power (100W laser operating at 80%). Was fortunate that nothing else was damaged significantly but there was a fair bit of smoke and soot to clean up.

Feeling the need to move forward quickly I found an unused chinese laser by Laser World Laser Engraving cutting machine,Laser marking machine-Beijing yiehesoft YH-G9060 Laser Engraving and Cutting Machine
that is a bit smaller but has pass throughs and was available, closeby, on short notice via craigslist. I would have had to wait at least 4 weeks for a replacement from GWeike and while they were going to discount the replacement they were not giving it to me (My service from them was mediocre all in all but I am not blaming the machine for the fire at this point). So, it would cost a bit more and take some time. I may still pursue this if i am not happy with the smaller size of the machine I just got OR if I can't get it to work.

I need help with some of the different issues this new machine has and with swapping some things out from the old machine.

I realize the fire may be more interesting to comment on and I definitely welcome any good advice but right now its also critical that I get moving again with this new machine and am particularly looking for help with this so here goes

Old machine ran on 110 and new one runs on 220
I am upgrading the new machine from a 60 Watt tube to a 100W tube salvaged from the old machine. I will also and, as I understand it, necessarily swap the power source (attached a pic) out as the one in the new machine is not adequate to power a 100W tube. Of course the physical configuration of the tube itself in the new machine will require some adjustment.

I am using the water chiller from the old machine (also runs on 110) because it is a better chiller.

I would love to have the machine run off 110 but am fine with making it run off 220. It has chinese plugs on it so they will have to be swapped out. I am wondering how to go about swapping power sources. Is this possible since the old power source came from a 110 machine? How much does it matter that this machine is Chinese 220 and runs at a different frequency than US 220? If I have to I can plug the chiller into a 110 socket and run it seperately but obviously would rather the whole thing run off the same outlet. Any ideas?

also got a bunch of spare lenses with the new machine but they are not labeled. Is there a way to identify focal length by looking at lenses?

Obviously, this is a big setback and I am trying to get back going again asap. Any feedback would be most appreciated.

[Exsecratio]

Hiya Dan, sorry to hear about your problems.

I would love to have the machine run off 110 but am fine with making it run off 220. It has chinese plugs on it so they will have to be swapped out. I am wondering how to go about swapping power sources. Is this possible since the old power source came from a 110 machine? How much does it matter that this machine is Chinese 220 and runs at a different frequency than US 220? If I have to I can plug the chiller into a 110 socket and run it seperately but obviously would rather the whole thing run off the same outlet. Any ideas?

Impossible to say without knowing a LOT more about the guts of the new machine, outputs may be different, the cards could be from the same manufacturer but different types, they could be from different manufacturers,they may work an entirely different way.

Frequency can be a huge problem, even 10% differences the wrong way can cause core saturation leading to overheating and fires (I'm no sparky by any stretch but I know enough about that side of things to know it can end badly and may not show up until it's too late)

Just had a look and I believe US is 220 60 whereas China is 220 50? that's a recipe for a fire.

Swapping parts from two machines of the same type and model can cause problems let alone swapping out parts from two totally different manufacturers.

Is there a way to identify focal length by looking at lenses?

nope

(My service from them was mediocre all in all but I am not blaming the machine for the fire at this point)

Very unusual, Weike have some of the best support services in the industry, it's very rare to hear of anybody who isn't happy.

I realize the fire may be more interesting to comment on

not really, just an expensive lesson in leaving lasers running unattended.

best wishes

Dave

[mactec54]

danielcoyle

Exsecratio
Just had a look and I believe US is 220v 60hz whereas China is 220v 50hz that's a recipe for a fire.

This is not a problem, If it has been built for 220v 50hz, then it will run fine on the 220v US 60hz

If it had been designed to run on 220v 60hz US & you put it on 220v 50hz then you would get a over heating problem

[Exsecratio]

If it had been designed to run on 220v 60hz US & you put it on 220v 50hz then you would get a over heating problem

My mistake, I got it the wrong way round

thanks

best wishes

Dave

[danielcoyle]

Thanks Dave, Mactec

since it sounds like the 220 50hz chinese should run fine on the 220 60 hz US i guess i just have to put a standard 220 plug on it and get it up and going. seems like swapping parts out doesnt make sense so I will probably just end up ordering the 100 W power source in a 220 configuration.

If i wanted to run this thing off a 110 circuit I would need to get a transformer, correct? Any advice on what to get?

[Exsecratio]

Hang fire for a bit Dan,

You may be able to use the parts, (the tube is worth a try) and if some of the cards have survived they might make useful spares, you will need to find out what controller the new ones uses though, the weike will *likely* be a 6535 or US equivalent so if that's the same then worth keeping if it's still ok. Even if they are different the undamaged parts could have resale value (and help recover some of your losses) Z axis motors may well be ok as well.

Main thing is to find out exactly what the parts are in the new one, maybe not a good idea to reuse the electronics but they may still have some value.

best wishes

Dave

PS:

If i wanted to run this thing off a 110 circuit I would need to get a transformer, correct? Any advice on what to get?

I think they are called inverters here, 110 to 220, no idea what type etc , well outside my field

[mactec54]

danielcoyle

You can replace the power cable going into the machine, If it does not have a 4 wire cable, you need to have (2) 110/120V wires a neutral & ground, then to get the 110/120v, you then just take (1) of the 110/120 wires the neutral & ground & you will have what you need, this is very easy to do

If you do it like this you will have 220 & 110V with just the (1) input cable, this is the way it should be done if you want/need 220V & 110V

[danielcoyle]

Thanks again guys.

The tube I am hoping is ok. There is no visible damage and it does not leak anywhere (inside or out) when I run water through it from the chiller. The cradles it sat on were partially melted by the heat of the fire so that is, to me, a curveball as I just don't know if high heat alone will damage/alter the gaseous mixture in the tube or ????

Is there some reason why the drivers, power source etc. would be destroyed/damaged if one cannot see any damage there? They are all positioned to the side and below the table and I am not sure they got the kind of substantial heat the top of the machine got. None of their I/O wires are melted (until, of course, one follows them to their connections near the top of the machine).

Mactec, what you wrote sounds encouraging but I don't follow it 100% (I just don't understand electrical that fluently yet, learning fast.) Will probably take some pics and write back with my best interpretation of what you suggested.

[Exsecratio]

The cradles it sat on were partially melted by the heat of the fire so that is, to me, a curveball as I just don't know if high heat alone will damage/alter the gaseous mixture in the tube or ????

Hi Dan,

Will depend on the type of tube, RECI style with metal end caps will probably be ok, the more usual "wire sticking into the glass" kind of tube may well have been damaged by heat. In reality a tube that is knackered will just arc to the point of least resistance (usually the machine framework) so could be worth a try anyways.

Is there some reason why the drivers, power source etc. would be destroyed/damaged if one cannot see any damage there?

I don't know the layout that Weike use to install the electronics, some machines they are in the top, some the side and some the bottom. Smoke, corrosive fumes, etc can all damage electronics but if they are far enough away from the heat source then you may be ok. The few bucks it would cost to get them checked out would be worth it though, the leccy bits make up most of the price of machines.

The only downside of using *possibly* damaged parts is in causing a cascading fault.

Say the PSU is damaged, you try it and it doesn't work, so you swap for the new PSU and it still doesn't work (as the faulty PSU damaged the new tube), reason would suggest change the new tube, but what about if the now faulty tube had damaged the PSU rendering it liable to damage any tube connected to it.You end up not knowing what is faulty and what isn't.

I saw it happen with a Rabbit 1290 ages ago, eventually every electronic part in the machine had been swapped out and it still didn't work.

(I just don't understand electrical that fluently yet, learning fast.)

I can just about handle putting on new plugs or making LED's light up I'm the last person in the world to give advice on playing with mains voltages

best wishes

Dave

[danielcoyle]

Fortunately I have the Reci tubes so, once i get it hooked up, which is what i am in the middle of now, I'll know if the tube is good or not.

So, the following picture is of the power cable. You can see it is labeled 10amp, 250 volt. It has three wires including, presumably, a ground. You can see the plug itself is chinese and I would have to swap it out for my outlets. Is that all I have to do? Is there anything else I should check about?

The next picture is of the outlet "array" that plugs into the machine and allows me to plug in all the accessories (which have chinese plugs) so everything comes on with the machine. It does not have/is missing a ground wire you should be able to see. Does it need one and, if so, what is the best way/place to connect it at the array?

[Exsecratio]

On the Chinese plug

10amp, 250 volt

That will be it's maximum rating for CE purposes.

Blue = Neutral
Brown = Live
Green/Yellow = Earth

On the block, in the UK plastic housings require no separate earth, it's only required if any of the housing can become live if the item shorts out. I have no idea what US electrical requirements are.

cheers

Dave

[Melody-gweike]

Hi, Daniel,

First, i feel very sorry for your accident. You know, it rarely happened before, but it happens, that is life:violin:

Also sorry to hear you are not very pleased at our service. While your sales girl- Abby has left the company recently. I think you have known that, yes? In our factory, each girls takes care of their own customers' order and aftersales service. And the customers of the ones who left was all taken charge by another loverly girl, she is very busy and did not know the order and your machine well, so please give her some time, hope you understand,

Chinese 220V is Ok under USA 220V. Usually the differences betweeen 220-110, at least are all seperate accessories: chiller, airpump, blower.. and laser PSU, 5v/24v PSU , fan in the control box. Other parts are similar.

[danielcoyle]

Thanks Melody

The machine I had worked well but the autofocus mechanism broke almost immediately and sometimes it would hit the material I was cutting. The spring inside would just pop the thing out and then drop into the material and move it. It was hard to get help with this once Abby left and I gave up trying. The fix I did to make it work may not have been good enough and the material probably got caught up and burned. It is hard to say.

It is difficult to buy a new machine from china and learn to use it and deal with language/instruction issues all at the same time but it was worth it. It was not as much worth it once Abby left as it was just that much harder to get help. I think its always a bit of a risk to buy from China and I got a little unlucky with an otherwise good company. And so, as you said, that is life.

Now I am just trying to fix my problem and get a new laser working. Its too expensive to get a replacement from GWeike at the moment and the new machine I found runs on 220 rather than 110. Can I put the RECI laser tube in this machine (220) from my old machine(110)? Can I use the water chiller or the power source from my Weike(110) machine in this one(220)? I am not sure and I have gotten some good advice already but would love to hear your advice. Thanks

[mactec54]

danielcoyle
The machine I had worked well but the autofocus mechanism broke almost immediately and sometimes it would hit the material I was cutting. The spring inside would just pop the thing out and then drop into the material and move it. It was hard to get help

So this was a mechanical problem with the machine, then this is a fault of the manufacture, & they should replace your machine


The photo with the plug, take some photos of the other end of this cable, as to how it is wired in, this will have to be changed if you have to use 220V & 110V, you will need 4 wires to do both you only have 3

The strip plug is the worst I have seen this will have to be changed, 3 different plug types on the same strip, with no ground any were, is this a 220v supply?? Is this just the 2 wire plug & cable???

[Melody-gweike]

Hi, Dan,

Tube is OK , PSU and chiller not the same for 220v and 110V. Any broken part you can change in warrenty time.

[danielcoyle]

Mactech

Thanks. Right now I am just focused on getting this new machine running. Getting the old one replaced would be great but its complicated by lots of things.

I attached some pics of what I think I am going to do first. That is, just get the current new machine running on 220. No modification at this point with the 100 W bulb or the chiller that runs on 110 etc. If I can get it running then I will figure out the next step. Can you peek at these pics and tell me if swapping out the chinese 220 plug for a US plug using the green wire that dave identified as the ground should work? The other dual (white/red) wire handles the accessories. It does not have a ground wire but the main power does. Should I add a ground wire to it? Sounded like maybe that was not necessary. God I wish I knew more about eletrical stuff. Attachment 189580 Attachment 189580Attachment 189582

[mactec54]

danielcoyle

The plug you have put on is fine for your 220V, Green/yellow or just straight green is always a Ground wire, the other strip connector if this is 220V this is most likely a no go
you can not have just 2 wires for 220V in the US, there is no way you can add a ground to the strip connector, if everything that plugs into the strip connector is double insulated you may get it going, this is a bit like what you did before, with your water pump when you put 220V to it, But this would not be safe unless everything that plugs into it is DOUBLE INSULATED

[danielcoyle]

well, wired the thing into the US 220 as I said and it does nothing. need to get a multimeter and figure out what is going on and where. will update.

[danielcoyle]

well, got the machine turned on. hooked to 220 successfully but didn't want to use the power strip for the accessory items (it is hooked up to a ground wire inside the machine but there is no ground wire on the strip.
Attachment 189992[EBAY LISTING][/EBAY LISTING]
So, I used the CW 5000 chiller from my old machine (running it on 120V from a separate outlet) to get things prepped (the tube, I think, has never been used/filled with water) so I could do a test run. I want to replace the 60 W tube with a 100 W tube and power source eventually.

Well, the tube, turns out, has a crack at the end of it near the water intakes.
Attachment 189994 Attachment 189996
there does not seem to be any cracks in the portion of the tube that holds the gaseous mix responsible for running the laser itself, just the cooling component. can I repair this? if so how would I go about it? getting a replacement seems unlikely as, even though it is new, I bought it second hand.

this is a terrible adventure. but I am, for some reason, not yet too down about things.

[Exsecratio]

hooked to 220 successfully but didn't want to use the power strip for the accessory items (it is hooked up to a ground wire inside the machine but there is no ground wire on the strip.

If any items plugged in to the strip block have a metal casing (such as a chiller) here in the UK that block would be illegal to both sell and use.
Plugged into that your chiller would be isolated from ground (NOT good)

cheers

Dave