Fanuc C4000A terminology 3

[RPosty]

Hello Everyone,
I am a Humble Maintenance guy who is responsible for putting the smoke back into machines when operators let it out. I have been working on several different types of CO2 and Nd/Yag Lasers for a little over 10 years now. PRC's, Coherents, Lumonics etc. So I am pretty comfortable jumping into the unknown. (did i say humble?). Anyway we now have an Amada 3015 with a Fanuc Laser which I am now learning to maintain. Mind you, I have never been to school for Lasers, I was an Avionics Tech in the USAF then NH Air National Guard where I was troubleshooting to the component level for 30 years (just retired). I got into Lasers when one of my Weekenders (Guardsmen) had a couple Laser techs quit at the same time. So everything I have learned is through working on them. I am having a little trouble trying to grasp what Fanuc is saying:

1. What do they mean when they say obtain maximum power Based on O.C. by using R.M. as the reference?
-on other resonators, I would adjust Rear, then output. If I replaced all optics, I would use a HeNe in place of the O.C. then using crosshairs I would align all the way to the Rear, install rear then align rear till it came back onto the HeNe's output. What is your surefire way to tune a Fanuc C4000E?

2. What is a Hot vs Cold mode?

Thanks Everyone

 

[LASERNINJA]

Well... Let me first start off by saying "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME".

Meaning, this is pretty in depth stuff and just casue I offer a little help, doesn't mean anyone can do it.
1 Set the machine to generate beam without opening the shutter. M758. I like full power, full freq, and 50% duty. Let the power stabilize for at least a smoke break. On the some machines you have to disable feedback, others, the 50% takes care of that.

2 You have to connect a FLUKE digital meter to the power monitor board.

3 The output coupler is the one closest to the shutter with the black beam cover over it. Slowly turn one of the micrometers and watch the DC voltage on your meter. You should see a peak in the voltage around one range of the micrometer position.

4 Then move to the other micrometer. Repeat.

This is peaking power relative to the rear mirror, and all the fold mirrors for that matter. A full 4kw tune is way more in depth than this. This is the quick and dirty for the do it your selfer. I believe that any change in "internal" alignment effects all the mirrors down stream.

When your done, you shoot a mode burn. Cold, is right after the laser has been at idle, Hot is right after you have the machine generating 4000W for at least a minute. It take two people to do this.

 

[Foostrap]

Good comments from laserninja. For the hot mode, I like to have it "warming up" for at least 3 minutes instead of 1.
Make sure you have special CO2 laser safety glasses when attempting this. This is usually how people get hurt.

 

[RPosty]

Thanks Guys (I think guys),
Glad I asked, I thought they meant cold mode to be quick shot, and Hot Mode to be longer shot. I am very familiar with CO2 lasers, so I won't be in Harms way or put anyone else in harms way for that matter. I did a little more reading and found at the end of the chapter detailed instructions for aligning the internal optics. Not why they wouldn't explain it in the beginning, but whatever. I should of known to read anything translated from Japanese from right to left I guess.

What I learned is that Fanuc isn't happy with just peaking the mirrors. They want me to record micrometer reading of the O.C. (which I would do anyway), then adjust it clockwise then counterclockwise to find the recorded readings opposite null on otherside of peak, then set it halfway between which may or may not be peak. then adjust the rear for peak. then repeat this for the rest of the mirrors.

This machine has a shutter disable, Laser Alignment and a Maintenance key in the electrical cabinet, but the book doesn't really explain what they do. I think I can accomplish what I need to anyway with parameter manipulation. The Amada Tech gave me a list of what to change, so I am in good shape there I think. He is pretty good, always on road though.

 

[RPosty]

From your collective experiences, is the Fanuc's method of alignment overkill or critical? Does simply peaking each mirror accomplish same thing or is the putting the micrometer halfway between two opposite and equal dips yield the best beam?

 

[RPosty]

Ok, I am going to use this thread as my first Tuning Blog, Jump in if something I post seems reply worthy.

I replaced all the Internals this morning, I reset HV off Parameter to last week to trick it into a 7 cycles of Auto-aging. First thing I have noticed that strikes me as odd is The DCV on Bank 1 is much higher than on 2,3 and 4. when I looked at it, it was at 740 watts, 730 tube pressure. Also RFV was higher too. Currents were somewhat close to each other. Last week when they would call for 4000 watts, bank 1 would trip for RFI. I noticed that laser would only get to 3700 watts with Power Coefficient of 1193, so I chocked it up to optics which had almost 10K hours on them.

at 740 watts 730 tube pressure:

DCV1 - 917
DCI1 - 420
DCV2 - 690
DCI2 - 405
DCV3 - 680
DCI3 - 405
DCV4 - 720
DCI4 - 410

RFV1 - 3806
RFI1 - 1112
RFV2 - 3581
RFI2 - 956
RFV3 - 3606
RVI3 - 938
RFV4 - 3650
RFI4 - 1064

RF5-8 matched up with 1-4 of course.

I am going to research adjusting the power supplies next, just throwing it out here to see if this means anything to anyone here.

Thanks

 

[RPosty]

Well, Today went well. Laser optics yielded me the full 4000 watts after tuning. I did not attempt to do the alignment the Fanuc way, looked way to tedious and trying to read the micrometers does not look fun. fortunately Amada had lines marked on them so I could get them back if necessary. It wasn't necessary because peaking each one put them exactly where they were with the old optics. That is one hell of a resonator. I was very pleased with that. During the aging process while I had time I changed a spotted 1/4 wave by the output coupler, and aligned the mirror with the Hene with a crosshair at the table hoping to avoid re-aligning ever single external optic which we aligned the other day. about am hour later I noticed the HeNe target at the table moved. Then I remembered reading here the other day about the optic cooling lines. I cut the zipties, and sure enough, target moved. so thanks for that thread. I think I will get new spring washers, because the upper optic holder did seem a little to easy to move. I think I will replace the lines too, I think they have gotten to rigid. This is something that happens with other lasers I work on. The cooling oil lines get stiff over time then transmit the pump vibrations to the plasma tubes. lastly we had a bad Focus Lens which was the real cause of all their issues. after a few seconds of cutting, the laser would lose focus. Optics where way overdue anyway and we were low on power, so we planned to change them anyway.

I did have trouble figuring out how to tune the laser with the shutter closed, so I just disable Compensation, feedback and some other parameter tweaks and tricked it into a long Autoaging which worked fine. I will have to see if I can get a procedure from Amada and see what the Keys and shutter disable actually do.

Cliffs:
Pretty happy with my first experience on the Amada System and used some tips I read here in other threads.

Big Thumbs up to the Laser Engineering Forum!

 

[RPosty]

Got 4063 RF Power Supply again this morning. Same thing, Power Supply 1 is tripping for RFI (led on power supply itself). I checked fans and Chiller Temp. I am thinking maybe I should back off one of it's adjustments, but got to do a lot of reading before I mess with that, I know I have to be careful in there. RF Power Supply 1 is definitely drawing more current than the other 4.

Anyone else have any experience in adjusting power supplies? anything to watch out for? is Fanuc Manual best way to go, or does anyone have a quick down and dirty, don't try this at home, Procedure?

"I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, 'cause they are stuck on me"

 

[RPosty]

Found it, Fan is intermittently dying. bearings feel good, but it is occasionally stopping, swapped it over to different bank, problem stayed with fan. The 4063 thread was really helpful, thanks again.

"I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, 'cause they are stuck on me"

 

[Foostrap]

Glad you got it going.

 

[RPosty]

Hello everybody,
Well, The Amada for the most part is running pretty good, however about once a day it is still tripping for RFI on Power Supply Bank 1, with basically same info in last post. DCV1 and RFV1 (and DCW1) all reading higher than the other banks. Other machines broke hard, so I haven't researched it since I posted it or called Fanuc or Amada yet about it, which I will be doing after I post this. I have some free time (yeah right lol), so now i am going to address it.

What is your experiences with these power supplies? are they tuneable in the field without throwing too much off, or do they need to be returned to be tuned properly? just looking for second opinions, I like to hear as many points of views as I can when it comes to these things.

Thanks

"I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, 'cause they are stuck on me"

 

[LASERNINJA]

Someone may have stated this already. If that is the case, I apologize.

1. Make sure you do not have any laser gas leaks. Close off the bottle, let it sit overnight and check it the following morning. 20% over 8 hours is acceptable.

2. Make sure you do not have any internal leaks. Find a leak check procedure and investigate.

3. Try a different gas supplier. You never know...

4. If you have not found a problem with 1-3, lower the operating tube pressure from 730 down to 700. You may loose about 50 watts. Tube pressure is 15240 and 15241. Change both of them.

PSU #1 always runs hot. More voltage, more current. It has to do with they way the machine is set up to have a base discharge at idle. Please do not attempt to adjust.

 

[RPosty]

Thanks Laser Ninja, this is very helpful, especially knowing they set up bank #1 that way. I did check for a gas leak last night to this morning per Amada's suggestions, no leak. I have instructed the operators to come get me when it faults and not to reset so that i can look at the power supplies to see what is tripped. I pulled the history and come to find out that there hasn't been any 4063's since I changed the Fans, Optics and tuned it. They told me it was the same fault, so i assumed 4063, it was a 4076 instead, so now I need to monitor the monitor, move cable see if I lose power. Cut quality and power both have been stable, so now i am thinking it is maybe bad intermittent power meter connection. it also only recorded the fault once in a week. so not sure what has tripped the laser with no recorded faults. they tell me about once a day. of course I watched it today and it never tripped.

"I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, 'cause they are stuck on me"

 

[RPosty]

Does anyone have a Leak check Procedure for the Amada 3015 with a 4000A Resonator? does not seem to be a procedure in the manual. I will be Calling Amada today. Basically getting 4076 faults in the mornings, so thinking maybe shop air is sneaking in overnight somehow. maybe atmospheric pressure is set too low too.

"I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, 'cause they are stuck on me"

 

[RPosty]

nevermind, i see it in the procedure Laser Ninja sent for the 4063 faults. was a long day yesterday.

"I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, 'cause they are stuck on me"