Is our Verslaser past repair???

Help, advise and examples created by the Universal Laser Systems (ULS) VersaLaser laser cutting / marking machine supplied by Denford

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Angiei
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu 13 Dec , 2012 16:18 pm
Hardware/Software: Versalaser VL200

Is our Verslaser past repair???

Post by Angiei » Wed 02 Oct , 2013 10:13 am

Hi Graham or anybody else that can offer advice.

I work in a school using a Versalaser VL200. We’ve had problems with it for the last couple of years, mainly with the extraction (using a CCAC cart) not working probably (it was working intermittently but has not worked to my knowledge in the couple of years that I’ve been here). I’m guessing that our only option is to spend lots of money (which the school will probably not do) on replacement parts and to get an engineer out, but I’m really clutching at straws to see if there’s anything else that you can advise.

A few months ago, a piece of acrylic caught fire and as well as damaging the lid (which we have now replaced), it also burnt through the X axis belt and also the cable that would normally link to the air assist cone.

We replaced the belt and also replaced part of the air hose cable by shrink wrapping it and we were then able to use the cutter without any problems for about a month.

I’ve cleaned and checked as much as I can over the last couple of days and the situation at the moment is that the cable for the air assist cone has again come apart, this is causing problems with the carriage moving. If you manually free the cable so there is movement, and set a job off e.g a simple circle, it will only cut half of that circle, and only seems to want to do it at the top left, ignoring the position on the design. The machine also does a lot of clicking before it starts a job, probably because of the problems with the carriage moving. I have looked at the possibility of focusing the beam and resetting the axis’ (which I presume should have been done anyway after changing the belt) but we do not have the focus tool or the standard table, only the honeycomb VCA.

After taking the back off the CCAC cart, I found that the red wire was not connected together at all and the others were loose. Since addressing this, the red and amber lights on the Versalaser software flash when running a job (previously it was all three flashing) and the yellow flashes when the table is moving up and down. On the back of the units, amber flashes and green will light when a job is running - is this how the lights should be? Also another factor is that the carbon filter only has 9% life left and the HEPA filter is due to be changed.

My thoughts are that I’ve done all I can do on my own and that we really do need to replace these filters before we can look into why the extraction may not be working. I have stressed to the school that we shouldn’t be running it without extraction and the fact that we should also use a compressed air unit and /or air assist cone.

If the only option is to get an engineer out, do you know any that are situated near the North East to maybe help reduce some of the costs? Also can you tell me if the extraction cart should make a noise when working i.e. –should I know if it is working or not?

If you need any more information, please ask away as I’m tearing my hair out here and any help would be much appreciated!

Many thanks

Angie

Martin
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Location: Brighouse

Re: Is our Verslaser past repair???

Post by Martin » Wed 02 Oct , 2013 12:50 pm

HI Angie.

Where are you located? I presume you are talking the Newcastle area when you say North East.

What machine do you have? VL200, VL300?

The LED's on the air assist unit & extraction unit should flash yellow when connected to a computer & then when asked to run the green should turn on. At this point you should be able to hear the units running. The extraction unit has a pair of carbon brushes in the motor that do wear out over time.

If you wanted to save a bit of money you could send the machine down to Denfords for us to look at or we could call in when in the area to cut down on travel costs.

Angiei
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu 13 Dec , 2012 16:18 pm
Hardware/Software: Versalaser VL200

Re: Is our Verslaser past repair???

Post by Angiei » Wed 02 Oct , 2013 13:08 pm

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the quick reply. It's a VL200.

It sounds like the lights are doing what they're supposed to then. What's involved in checking the brushes and replacing them, is this something an engineer would need to do?

Yep, we're in North Shields just outside Newcastle. Would it be possible to give me some idea of cost of either sending the machine to Denford or someone calling in when in area so I can relay back to school? Presumably if we sent it down, you'd need the cart as well??

Martin
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CNC Guru
Posts: 1897
Joined: Fri 24 Feb , 2006 17:09 pm
Location: Brighouse

Re: Is our Verslaser past repair???

Post by Martin » Wed 02 Oct , 2013 15:11 pm

You would need to speak to BRADDERS regarding costs & yes we would need the whole unit.

The extraction unit is held on to the cart with 2 screws. If you drop it off the motor plate should then release. if you slacken the 4 screws off holding the brushes in you can flick off the plastic cover then remove the screws to inspect the brushes. The connection slides down the side of the brush & can be levered out if you need to replce them.

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