Adafruit Learning System

Laser cutters are very expensive piece of equipment - chances are you spent over $5,000 on yours (we spent $15k!) which means its important to keep the machine in good condition. There is nothing worse than having a multi-thousand dollar machine destroyed because of a few minutes' negligence.

You don't even need to do that much, to keep everything in top condition!

Never let the machine run unattended especially when its cutting!

Acrylic is extremely flammable and it goes without saying that wood, paper, mylar, delrin and other materials are as well.

We know of two three four five people who have had to essentially replace their laser cutting machine because it caught on fire unattended. One person had their entire shop burned down because they cut acrylic and left it.

Never let the machine run unattended especially when its cutting!

Its simply not worth it! Adafruit has never had a fire that damaged the machine because we keep an eye on it and make sure someone is within 3 feet at all times. There have been times when material caught but we quickly put it out.

Never let the machine run unattended especially when its cutting!

Every day, or after 8 hours of solid laser cutting, be sure to check the lens and clean it if necessary. The top lens and mirror are right above the laser beam which means they are exposed to a lot of dirt, fumes, smoke and debris. If the lens gets dirty a few things happen.

1. The laser won't cut nearly as well, requiring lower speeds or higher power, to cut.
2. The laser won't engrave nearly as well, with uneven results and blurry images.
3. Eventually, the dirt on the lens/mirror can catch on fire and melt the lens/mirror permanently damaging it.

You can keep the lens and mirror clean by removing it and gently cleaning both sides using a q-tip or (better yet) lens paper. Use the fluid that comes with the machine, do not use anything like alcohol or acetone or other cleaner. Only use the lens cleaner fluid provided!

We find that if we keep the machine cleaned on the inside the only other maintenance we need to do is on the filter. The filter we have (the Electrocorp RSU-CCHR12 now supported by AllerAir) has multiple stages and each one has some maintenance needs.

Once a week (sometimes more or less, depending on how often its used and what we're cutting/engraving) we have to change the inner 'pad' pre-filter and clean out the foam dust-collector. Here are some hints that will indicate that you need to replace the filter.

1. Smoke is collecting in the laser bay, not being sucked away.
2. There are small fire/flares in the bay.
3. There is more odor emanating from the machine.
4. The filter is dirty on both sides.

To replace the inner pad filter and the foam dust collector, open up the machine.