The Lightblade Learning Lab with Russ Sadler
The Lightblade Learning Lab is a series of videos that Russ did for Thinklaser Limited based on using the Lightblade 4060 Laser Cutting and Engraving Machine. Thinklasers Lightblade 4060 has a 400 x 600mm bed size and was supplied with a 60W EFR laser tube. In this session, Russ covers laser machine maintenance. This video is also valid for K40 Laser maintenance.
Contents for Laser Machine Maintenance
- Introduction
- Starting with the beam path.
- The head assembly.
- Disassembly
- Checking the lens for dirt.
- 2.5mm drill also useful for cleaning aperture.
- Removing the lens by unscrewing the retaining screw with a special tool.
- Holding the lens with a special tool (design can be found here)
- Cleaning with provided cotton bud, lens tissues and Isopropyl Alcohol (aka IPA, also available as Servisol IPA 170, datasheet available here).
- Re-assembling the lens tube (concave or flat side of the lens towards the ‘O’-ring and retaining screw).
- Cleaning the nozzle with the provided Acetone (available in larger quantities, e.g. here) should not be used for cleaning the lens!
- Checking the mirror and how to clean laser mirrors with Acetone.
- Cleaning No. 2 Mirror with Acetone.
- Cleaning No 1. Mirror with Acetone.
- Cleaning the laser tube’s ‘window’ with Isopropyl Alcohol (only!)
- Cleaning the slideways by wiping them with a cloth and DM-90 (Molybdenum lubricant).
- Vacuum cleaning the bed and inside the body of the machine.
- Cleaning the pre-filter (if fitted).
- Consider deleting unwanted files.
- Summary.
My thanks go out to Tom at Thinklaser for giving permission to embed these videos on this site. If you are looking for a new laser machine from a quality supplier, then I would suggest you check out their website: www.thinklaser.com.
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Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance
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[Music]
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Oh welcome to another light blade
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Learning Lab spring is in the air it’s
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time we had a bit of a clean-up on the
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machine do you know how difficult it is
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to tie a bow behind your back now let’s
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get serious for a minute if you can take
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me seriously dressed like this you’ve
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got to love your machine this machine
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now he needs a spring clean but it needs
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some regular maintenance and attendance
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if you serve it well it will serve you
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well so today what we got to do is go
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through a little bit of a maintenance
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routine oh goodness me now I’m giving
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you the impression that I only clean
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this machine once a year not true it
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requires constant attention in some
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areas now other places you can leave and
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just check it occasionally so today
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we’ll go through in no particular order
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of importance the sort of things you
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should be doing and maybe the frequency
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with which you should be taking a look
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at let’s start from the busy end of the
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machine chewy
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okay so drop the table out the way for
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the moment just recently I’ve been
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making out top-secret rubber stamp if
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you remember
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and that in itself produces dust because
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although the rubber or whatever the
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rubber binding material goes away
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evaporates it leaves a powdery fellow
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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material behind and as you can see it’s
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it’s left quite a lot of debris around
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on the outside of the nozzle now if it’s
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done that to the outside of the nozzle I
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wonder what it might have done to the
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inside of the nozzle so one of the first
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things we’ll do is we’ll start taking a
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look at what’s happening at the bottom
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end of the system here and to do that
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I’ve got to release the autofocus pen
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and we take the lens and nozzle assembly
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out and let’s have a look to see what’s
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inside it’s always hearth worth having
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looked down inside there from time to
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time despite the fact you might think
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there’s no chance of muck and debris
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getting down in there we’ve got a hole
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in the top here and hey have I got a
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cobweb or a spider in there hmm that’s
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interesting we’ll take a look at that in
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a minute
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because I only check that about a week
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ago this is something that I do and you
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should do very regularly take a look
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inside and oh my goodness me can you see
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that lens look at much frost enos there
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is on that lens now that is a really
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really bad sign if you run your machine
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with high power with that amount of
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debris on the lens
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there’s a possibility that you could do
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quite serious damage to your leg in the
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center there there is an area which is a
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different colour to that round the
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outside that’s the beginning of
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something pretty bad
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that is debris that is being burnt onto
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the face of the lens there now this lens
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is covered with an anti-reflection
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coating the infrared rays will actually
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hit that solid material and heat it up
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and so they’ll be heating up one face of
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the lens particularly the center part of
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the lens and that material will start to
Transcript for CO2 Laser Maintenance (Cont…)
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get burnt onto the coating not only does
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it get burnt onto the coating but it
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also reduces the efficiency of the light
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being transmitted through the lens so I
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cannot explain to you how crucial it is
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to keep your lens clean I would hope
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that your machine was supplied to you
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with one of these standard think lace-up
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lens cleaning kits but if you didn’t get
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one of these kits then make sure at
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least you have some of these components
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that you can buy cheaply you can buy
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this material which is called isopropyl
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alcohol I happen to have bought it in a
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spray form like this it’s about six or
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seven pounds it’s not a fortune but it’s
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worth its weight in gold now you’ll also
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be supplied with something called
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acetone I buy acetone in one liter
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containers I use it for other purposes
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as well but the one thing you mustn’t
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use it for is your lens we should go
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back to this isopropyl alcohol and we
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will do some work on the lens now your
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lobby’s also be supplied with some
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rubber gloves I don’t know which is more
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dangerous you handling the lens and
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putting finger marks on the lens or the
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lens which is basically a toxic material
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underneath a coating which obviously
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makes it less toxic so whichever way you
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like to look at it the sensible thing to
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do is to wear some gloves that are
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provide now there are other some there
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are some other useful things in this kit
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which we will talk about later on but
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we’ve got the two essential things out
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at this moment
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in time which is the cotton ball bud and
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the isopropyl alcohol and there’s one
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further item that comes in the pack
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which is absolutely essential and that’s
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called a lens cleaning tissue now as
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part of your maintenance kit something
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else we recommend you have you can get
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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these from all sorts of places tour
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shops you’ll be able to buy them online
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from ebay or somewhere and that is a two
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and a half millimeter drill this hole in
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the end of the nozzle here there’s just
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as important as anything else I know
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it’s just a hole but it needs to be
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clean and it needs to be the right size
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now we will clean that nozzle up before
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we put it back on but at the moment I’m
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not going to do that what we’re going to
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do is to take a look at that lens now in
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your kit you’ll also find that you’ve
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got one of these which is a lens removal
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tool now you can I make a prudent
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suggestion before you do any work on
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lenses do it on a soft surface I’m
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putting some tissues down on there and
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there’s three or four layers of tissues
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because if you drop this lens onto a
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hard surface depending on what sort it
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is it can chip or shatter it might look
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like glass and it is a glassy material
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but it’s not mechanically very strong we
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shall need to unscrew the retaining cap
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[Music]
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now the lens has come out stuck to the
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retaining screw because the retaining
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screw itself has got an o-ring on it and
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the o-ring tends to stick the lens to it
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so there we go we’ve got the lens out
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now okay now this is manufactured
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slightly undersized here so that you can
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open it up and pick up your lens like
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that
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now you can clamp the lens and get to
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both sides of it without doing any
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damage to your hands because you’re not
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holding any toxic materials but the more
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important thing is you’re gripping this
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lens tightly around the outside so you
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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don’t have to put it on your hand or
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anything to do the cleaning process now
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do not use anything other than this
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isopropyl alcohol for cleaning your lens
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and just do small circular motions away
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from the center
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and then when you let it dry and you can
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blow on it and you’ll see that as he
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blow on it
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it leaves a nasty little film behind
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well let’s not worry about that film for
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a moment we’ll do the other side now
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this is the side where we potentially
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are in the process of burning on some
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debris now as you can see as I hold that
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up to the light I have given it just a
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quick wipe over but that quick wipe over
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has not removed the debris off the
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center so we’re going to need to do it
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gently
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I’ve just left it for a few minutes the
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alice’ propyl alcohol and if you look
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you’ll see that it has started to soften
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the material that’s in the center there
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and again with a few careful motions
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circular motions
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we should be able to and just there look
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there are a couple of can you see the
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debris that’s on there look
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[Music]
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then there are a couple of spots there
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which are really quite hard to take off
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I’m not really scrubbing it
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I’m just making circular motions gently
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and that’s why I’ve got this long stick
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so that I just can’t press too hard on
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it this is where we need our cleaning
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tissue because we now have to very
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carefully clean the surface to remove
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the film no do the same to the top side
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as well
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now to put the lens back in here’s what
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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I recommend you do
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there’s the screw fitting there with its
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with its tightening notches put the
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o-ring on top and with the flat side or
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the flatter looking side because if you
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if you want to check whether or not
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you’ve got a meniscus lens fitted to
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your machine the best thing to do is to
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put it up a kick against a line of text
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like this and try and read the text
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backwards if the text is distorted and
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it’s not in a straight line across the
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middle of your lens it means you’ve got
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a concave surface on the bottom for your
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lens and that is something called a
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meniscus lens but whether it’s concave
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or flat you need to put that side face
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down to the o-ring so we’re drop that
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back on to the o-ring now make sure
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first of all as we said it’s clean down
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the inside there and if you look in
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there you can see oh look I’ve got some
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cobwebs or some debris or something
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inside there which I need to remove
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don’t attempt to put this in drop the
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lens in there put the tube on top of the
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lens
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then you can then pick it up as I’ve
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done here with my finger try and keep it
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upside down as well like this because
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you’ve got a rubber glove on you’ll find
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it very easy to sit the freedom on your
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rubber glove and screw it in that will
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make sure that the lens sits flat all
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the time that it’s going in carry on
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doing it until it just begins to get a
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bit stiff your lens is now more or less
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whole so all you then need to do is just
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00:11:38.919 –> 00:11:43.709
apply a very small amount of twist and
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00:11:41.019 –> 00:11:45.790
you can feel the o-ring starting to bite
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and as soon as you get some resistance
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stop just make sure the lens doesn’t
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rattle so you’ll know that the lens is
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00:11:51.489 –> 00:11:55.839
nice and tight in its seating now we
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00:11:53.47 –> 00:11:59.439
don’t need this isopropyl alcohol at the
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moment so we’ll put the lid on because
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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it does evaporate
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[Music]
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we don’t have anymore lenses to play
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with so we can now put this back in the
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00:12:09.52 –> 00:12:14.050
toolkit
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this has got some debris on it we don’t
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00:12:14.05 –> 00:12:16.540
need that anymore so we’ll throw that
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00:12:16.09 –> 00:12:19.170
away
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00:12:16.54 –> 00:12:21.610
and look at the state of that nozzle
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00:12:19.17 –> 00:12:24.130
there could be all sorts of debris on
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00:12:21.61 –> 00:12:27.460
there and so this is where we need
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00:12:24.13 –> 00:12:29.170
something fairly aggressive and acetone
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00:12:27.46 –> 00:12:31.630
is nicely aggressive it’s far too
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aggressive for lenses because it might
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damage the coating the anti reflection
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coating that’s on the lens but when it
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00:12:35.68 –> 00:12:40.510
comes to something like this
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00:12:36.91 –> 00:12:43.120
look hey it does a great job of cleaning
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00:12:40.51 –> 00:12:45.010
up your nozzle now those of you of a
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sensitive disposition please look away
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because some people can’t can’t stand
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this scratching especially with a
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00:12:50.32 –> 00:12:54.370
fingernail I’ve let this nozzle get into
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00:12:52.48 –> 00:12:55.660
a little bit of a state and I suppose I
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00:12:54.37 –> 00:12:57.880
should have done this a little bit more
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00:12:55.66 –> 00:12:59.740
often because it’s outside the Machine
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and it doesn’t really affect the
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performance of the machine it’s just one
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of those love and care things before you
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destroy this lovely that will cut more
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00:13:07.33 –> 00:13:11.710
bugs you can use some acetone and clean
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00:13:09.97 –> 00:13:13.990
down the inside of the nozzle does work
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because I’ll guarantee that when we take
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00:13:13.99 –> 00:13:17.380
this cotton wool butt out of here you
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00:13:16.24 –> 00:13:20.630
will be horrified
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[Music]
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that it’s absolutely minging and
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00:13:31.7 –> 00:13:37.310
yeah we’ve pushed all sort of debris
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00:13:34.67 –> 00:13:39.440
down to the bottom there and with a bit
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00:13:37.31 –> 00:13:45.340
of luck maybe the other end of that
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00:13:39.44 –> 00:13:47.540
stick will pass nicely through our
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00:13:45.34 –> 00:13:48.680
nozzle hole just clean it down the
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00:13:47.54 –> 00:13:52.490
inside there with a little bit of tissue
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00:13:48.68 –> 00:13:56.030
as well so we’ve now sorted the business
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00:13:52.49 –> 00:13:58.580
end of the machine now before I put that
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00:13:56.03 –> 00:14:00.760
back now there are a couple of other
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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things that are supplied in your kit
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we’ve got a torch and we’ve got an
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00:14:06.14 –> 00:14:11.950
inspection mirror we can shine the torch
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00:14:08.81 –> 00:14:15.020
upwards just stand on the deck like that
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00:14:11.95 –> 00:14:17.450
and we can take a look in here at the
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00:14:15.02 –> 00:14:21.080
mirror now look you can see that that
305
00:14:17.45 –> 00:14:23.240
mirror in there is not looking crisp and
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00:14:21.08 –> 00:14:25.070
clean it’s looking a little bit on the
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00:14:23.24 –> 00:14:28.280
hazy side we will use some acetone
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00:14:25.07 –> 00:14:31.190
because these mirrors in here are made
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00:14:28.28 –> 00:14:35.120
of metal called molybdenum they are
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00:14:31.19 –> 00:14:36.950
basically almost bulletproof you can you
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00:14:35.12 –> 00:14:40.790
will find it very difficult to scratch
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00:14:36.95 –> 00:14:41.180
them but still treat them like a baby’s
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00:14:40.79 –> 00:14:44.840
bottom
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00:14:41.18 –> 00:14:48.290
very gently please we might be using
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00:14:44.84 –> 00:14:50.170
quite an aggressive solvent on this but
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even so
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[Music]
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don’t go mad there’s the film that’s
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come off of the face of the mirror
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00:14:57.66 –> 00:15:02.860
acetone will leave a film on the mirror
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00:15:00.04 –> 00:15:06.370
again with your lens tissue just try and
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00:15:02.86 –> 00:15:08.230
give it a gentle clean all over well I
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00:15:06.37 –> 00:15:11.310
think you can now begin to see the torch
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00:15:08.23 –> 00:15:15.070
itself the bright light of the torch so
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00:15:11.31 –> 00:15:17.350
there is no longer cloudy that mirror if
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00:15:15.07 –> 00:15:19.870
you’ve got any doubt at all you’ll have
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00:15:17.35 –> 00:15:22.060
to take that mirror out and give it a
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00:15:19.87 –> 00:15:24.250
thorough clean but I’m happy that that
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00:15:22.06 –> 00:15:25.720
mirror is in pretty good condition now
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00:15:24.25 –> 00:15:28.870
that’s the most difficult mirror to
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00:15:25.72 –> 00:15:32.680
access all the other mirrors now I got
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00:15:28.87 –> 00:15:34.240
to be pretty easy to do and there’s our
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00:15:32.68 –> 00:15:37.720
number two mirror and as you can see
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00:15:34.24 –> 00:15:39.220
it’s not in tip-top condition I haven’t
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00:15:37.72 –> 00:15:41.650
really been looking after that Hawaii
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00:15:39.22 –> 00:15:44.470
one of the things to note is that if the
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00:15:41.65 –> 00:15:47.170
mirror is dirty you will get debris
338
00:15:44.47 –> 00:15:49.330
burnt onto the surface this is only just
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00:15:47.17 –> 00:15:51.550
a very gentle haze on here so it’s not
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00:15:49.33 –> 00:15:54.580
really a major problem a little bit of
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00:15:51.55 –> 00:15:57.530
acetone on that mirror
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00:15:54.58 –> 00:16:00.140
[Music]
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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00:15:57.53 –> 00:16:01.450
we’ll fix it I haven’t got to go too
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00:16:00.14 –> 00:16:03.830
hard
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00:16:01.45 –> 00:16:06.590
I’ll give it a final polish with some
346
00:16:03.83 –> 00:16:08.300
lens to you and there we go I think
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00:16:06.59 –> 00:16:10.250
we’ve got a fairly clean mirror there
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00:16:08.3 –> 00:16:11.810
now and here we are at the back of the
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00:16:10.25 –> 00:16:13.990
machine I’m going to clean mirror number
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00:16:11.81 –> 00:16:13.990
one
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00:16:22.06 –> 00:16:29.170
now after mirror number one there’s one
352
00:16:26.05 –> 00:16:30.700
more important thing that we must do and
353
00:16:29.17 –> 00:16:32.170
it’s probably one of the main reasons
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00:16:30.7 –> 00:16:34.210
why you’ve been given this inspection
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00:16:32.17 –> 00:16:37.390
mirror because it’s difficult to see and
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00:16:34.21 –> 00:16:39.010
because it’s difficult to see it’s
357
00:16:37.39 –> 00:16:42.180
probably something that you might well
358
00:16:39.01 –> 00:16:44.320
easily forget now here’s our laser tube
359
00:16:42.18 –> 00:16:48.370
just in the back of this brass piece
360
00:16:44.32 –> 00:16:51.400
here that’s a plain piece of zinc
361
00:16:48.37 –> 00:16:54.100
selenide which is partially mirrored on
362
00:16:51.4 –> 00:16:57.010
one side that lets the laser light out
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00:16:54.1 –> 00:16:59.110
of your machine so that’s just as
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00:16:57.01 –> 00:17:01.660
important as any one of your lenses if
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00:16:59.11 –> 00:17:05.829
you get material burn onto the face of
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00:17:01.66 –> 00:17:08.350
that window let’s call it then that damn
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00:17:05.829 –> 00:17:11.260
that debris will heat up and it will
368
00:17:08.35 –> 00:17:13.350
crack that window now I’ve actually seen
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00:17:11.26 –> 00:17:15.970
this happen where somebody has actually
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00:17:13.35 –> 00:17:19.569
managed to produce smoke in this area
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00:17:15.97 –> 00:17:23.010
and they have managed to occlude that
372
00:17:19.569 –> 00:17:25.959
lens if you let it get like this picture
373
00:17:23.01 –> 00:17:28.840
check the cracks out behind the debris
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00:17:25.959 –> 00:17:30.610
you’ve basically cost yourself a lot of
375
00:17:28.84 –> 00:17:34.630
money
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00:17:30.61 –> 00:17:37.120
it’s a new tube now only ever use
377
00:17:34.63 –> 00:17:40.299
isopropyl alcohol on this particular
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00:17:37.12 –> 00:17:42.700
window it’s quite difficult for me to
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00:17:40.299 –> 00:17:45.100
get you a good picture to look in there
380
00:17:42.7 –> 00:17:48.309
but let’s just see if we can do it there
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00:17:45.1 –> 00:17:51.669
is just the merest haze on the front
382
00:17:48.309 –> 00:17:53.860
face just the merest haze which wouldn’t
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00:17:51.669 –> 00:17:55.690
normally worry me but what I’m going to
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00:17:53.86 –> 00:17:59.919
do in this particular instance is just
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
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00:17:55.69 –> 00:18:01.630
remove it better safe than sorry it’s
386
00:17:59.919 –> 00:18:03.580
going to be difficult to get to and you
387
00:18:01.63 –> 00:18:07.120
might well have to break one of your
388
00:18:03.58 –> 00:18:10.120
cotton ball buds down so that you can
389
00:18:07.12 –> 00:18:11.940
get to it be very very gentle with your
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00:18:10.12 –> 00:18:14.440
actions
391
00:18:11.94 –> 00:18:16.419
so as we can see there’s a little hint
392
00:18:14.44 –> 00:18:19.440
of yellow on the tip of that buddy
393
00:18:16.419 –> 00:18:22.090
so we’ll just poke some tissue in there
394
00:18:19.44 –> 00:18:26.320
we’ll put the cotton wool budding behind
395
00:18:22.09 –> 00:18:29.230
it so now we’ve got a lovely clean exit
396
00:18:26.32 –> 00:18:30.789
window on the tube itself okay so we’ve
397
00:18:29.23 –> 00:18:33.639
done one of the major maintenance jobs
398
00:18:30.789 –> 00:18:35.139
which is the beam path and that’s
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00:18:33.639 –> 00:18:38.019
something you should check as I said
400
00:18:35.139 –> 00:18:39.760
fairly regularly the mirrors are not
401
00:18:38.019 –> 00:18:44.169
quite so bad you can check those
402
00:18:39.76 –> 00:18:46.210
visually every week or so the lens is
403
00:18:44.169 –> 00:18:48.880
very important because you should check
404
00:18:46.21 –> 00:18:50.470
that probably every day almost or every
405
00:18:48.88 –> 00:18:51.909
time before you use the machine
406
00:18:50.47 –> 00:18:53.980
depending on how much you use the
407
00:18:51.909 –> 00:18:55.840
Machine of course but it’s worthwhile
408
00:18:53.98 –> 00:18:58.000
just dropping the lens out and having a
409
00:18:55.84 –> 00:19:00.279
quick look at it the window on the laser
410
00:18:58.0 –> 00:19:01.809
tube the chances are that you only need
411
00:19:00.279 –> 00:19:04.179
to keep an eye on that with a casual
412
00:19:01.809 –> 00:19:07.240
inspection maybe once a month once every
413
00:19:04.179 –> 00:19:09.399
two months after the beam part what’s
414
00:19:07.24 –> 00:19:11.740
the next most important thing well
415
00:19:09.399 –> 00:19:13.360
people say to me what about the slide
416
00:19:11.74 –> 00:19:15.130
weighs what should I do for the slide
417
00:19:13.36 –> 00:19:17.049
words how can I see how can I protect
418
00:19:15.13 –> 00:19:20.049
them and grease them and oil them well
419
00:19:17.049 –> 00:19:22.500
to be honest they’re almost the best
420
00:19:20.049 –> 00:19:26.970
things you can do with those is nothing
421
00:19:22.5 –> 00:19:30.190
now inside these bearings here we’ve got
422
00:19:26.97 –> 00:19:32.429
not only lithium grease which is
423
00:19:30.19 –> 00:19:36.899
basically on the recirculating ball
424
00:19:32.429 –> 00:19:36.899
track that’s inside here
425
00:19:37.17 –> 00:19:43.980
they’ve also got a flexible front here
426
00:19:40.44 –> 00:19:45.780
this red front along with something else
427
00:19:43.98 –> 00:19:48.180
that’s in there and even more flexible
428
00:19:45.78 –> 00:19:50.370
part which is basically a wiper blade
429
00:19:48.18 –> 00:19:52.500
that keeps these surfaces are
430
00:19:50.37 –> 00:19:55.710
particularly the surface here where the
431
00:19:52.5 –> 00:19:58.410
bearings run keeps those clean and wiped
432
00:19:55.71 –> 00:20:01.640
and if we take a look at the end of my
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
433
00:19:58.41 –> 00:20:03.930
slide way here you’ll see what I mean
434
00:20:01.64 –> 00:20:06.210
can you see how the grease and debris
435
00:20:03.93 –> 00:20:09.570
has collected just here here and here
436
00:20:06.21 –> 00:20:14.100
where I’ve driven the head along I would
437
00:20:09.57 –> 00:20:17.190
fairly regularly go along them and give
438
00:20:14.1 –> 00:20:20.960
them a nice wipe make sure you keep all
439
00:20:17.19 –> 00:20:28.200
the dirt and debris away from the rails
440
00:20:20.96 –> 00:20:29.940
now this is a personal opinion but it’s
441
00:20:28.2 –> 00:20:34.080
what I’ve been doing on my machines for
442
00:20:29.94 –> 00:20:38.840
the last two and a half years and I
443
00:20:34.08 –> 00:20:42.000
haven’t seen any signs of wear at all so
444
00:20:38.84 –> 00:20:45.900
that’s my advice
445
00:20:42.0 –> 00:20:47.730
it is possible to get grease into these
446
00:20:45.9 –> 00:20:51.660
bearings but these bearings are supposed
447
00:20:47.73 –> 00:20:54.060
to be packed with grease for life so the
448
00:20:51.66 –> 00:20:58.220
great thing about a system like this it
449
00:20:54.06 –> 00:20:58.220
has been well engineered
450
00:20:58.559 –> 00:21:05.070
although I’ve just said to you don’t put
451
00:21:01.86 –> 00:21:10.259
anything on the rails I’m lying slightly
452
00:21:05.07 –> 00:21:15.419
because I do use this now this is a dry
453
00:21:10.259 –> 00:21:18.090
film molybdenum lubricant and I don’t
454
00:21:15.419 –> 00:21:22.919
spray it on the rails but what I do I
455
00:21:18.09 –> 00:21:27.440
spray it onto a tissue and I wipe it
456
00:21:22.919 –> 00:21:30.659
along the rails that way I’ve got a dry
457
00:21:27.44 –> 00:21:33.340
protective film that doesn’t attract
458
00:21:30.659 –> 00:21:36.390
dust and dirt
459
00:21:33.34 –> 00:21:38.910
[Music]
460
00:21:36.39 –> 00:21:44.070
and the molybdenum disulphide is
461
00:21:38.91 –> 00:21:46.290
basically a dry dry lubricant so it’s
462
00:21:44.07 –> 00:21:49.320
not doing any harm and it’s giving my
463
00:21:46.29 –> 00:21:50.970
rails a certain amount of protection now
464
00:21:49.32 –> 00:21:52.500
the ax ax is a little bit more difficult
465
00:21:50.97 –> 00:21:57.030
to get to because you can’t get to it
466
00:21:52.5 –> 00:22:01.450
easily all the way but just do the best
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
467
00:21:57.03 –> 00:22:07.329
you can along the front and the back
468
00:22:01.45 –> 00:22:07.329
[Music]
469
00:22:08.88 –> 00:22:15.180
so that’s all I would recommend you do
470
00:22:11.16 –> 00:22:16.370
to your rails now you know how much I’m
471
00:22:15.18 –> 00:22:20.940
in love with this thing
472
00:22:16.37 –> 00:22:24.150
not very now forget the obvious things
473
00:22:20.94 –> 00:22:27.480
keep the face clean I’ve been doing a
474
00:22:24.15 –> 00:22:30.720
lot of work with powdery stuff things
475
00:22:27.48 –> 00:22:32.970
like granite slate the rubber which has
476
00:22:30.72 –> 00:22:35.040
got some compound in it oh yes we did
477
00:22:32.97 –> 00:22:37.290
Korean as well and look it doesn’t take
478
00:22:35.04 –> 00:22:38.390
much for all this debris to build up in
479
00:22:37.29 –> 00:22:41.979
the machine
480
00:22:38.39 –> 00:22:41.979
[Music]
481
00:22:44.71 –> 00:22:50.370
get somewhere don’t look growing often
482
00:22:47.26 –> 00:22:50.370
check out the big pieces
483
00:22:50.6 –> 00:22:57.769
[Music]
484
00:22:53.649 –> 00:23:03.259
now if you did follow my advice and make
485
00:22:57.769 –> 00:23:05.839
a a pre-filter pre-filter then we need
486
00:23:03.259 –> 00:23:08.059
to make sure that we keep this clean as
487
00:23:05.839 –> 00:23:10.789
well and this is a something you just
488
00:23:08.059 –> 00:23:13.249
could just open this front door and you
489
00:23:10.789 –> 00:23:16.519
can check this very easily once every
490
00:23:13.249 –> 00:23:18.679
week two weeks just to see whether it is
491
00:23:16.519 –> 00:23:21.619
clogging up because I’ve been doing the
492
00:23:18.679 –> 00:23:23.889
rubber and the granite engraving
493
00:23:21.619 –> 00:23:27.229
particularly the rubbery gravy the
494
00:23:23.889 –> 00:23:29.929
powdery stuff has collected on the front
495
00:23:27.229 –> 00:23:33.109
here this would normally be brown if I
496
00:23:29.929 –> 00:23:35.359
was doing wood cutting or MDF cutting or
497
00:23:33.109 –> 00:23:38.570
something like that so we’re gonna take
498
00:23:35.359 –> 00:23:44.209
this out and all we do is just literally
499
00:23:38.57 –> 00:23:46.190
this it comes out look how much stuff is
500
00:23:44.209 –> 00:23:48.469
collected on the surface there can you
501
00:23:46.19 –> 00:23:51.559
see that now that would have all gone
502
00:23:48.469 –> 00:23:55.219
and started choking up the primary
503
00:23:51.559 –> 00:23:57.499
filter in the Purex unit now the primary
504
00:23:55.219 –> 00:24:00.589
filter in the Purex unit is an expensive
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
505
00:23:57.499 –> 00:24:04.940
item to replace what we’re going to do
506
00:24:00.589 –> 00:24:08.809
now is for less than a pound so when I
507
00:24:04.94 –> 00:24:10.940
just undo the four screws and we take
508
00:24:08.809 –> 00:24:14.210
this element off
509
00:24:10.94 –> 00:24:17.570
and there we go we can see how much
510
00:24:14.21 –> 00:24:18.860
debris has collected on this filter
511
00:24:17.57 –> 00:24:21.470
element look at it
512
00:24:18.86 –> 00:24:23.309
[Music]
513
00:24:21.47 –> 00:24:24.989
[Laughter]
514
00:24:23.309 –> 00:24:28.469
and look I brought all this for about
515
00:24:24.989 –> 00:24:31.349
three or four pounds now we don’t have
516
00:24:28.469 –> 00:24:32.669
to be too special about this that’s all
517
00:24:31.349 –> 00:24:35.639
we’re going to do is to make it that
518
00:24:32.669 –> 00:24:38.549
size just quick drop the corners off
519
00:24:35.639 –> 00:24:41.279
where thee where the screws are going to
520
00:24:38.549 –> 00:24:44.909
go it does not have to be an artwork
521
00:24:41.279 –> 00:24:46.310
because nobody is going to see it it’s
522
00:24:44.909 –> 00:24:49.380
going to save you pounds
523
00:24:46.31 –> 00:24:50.970
[Music]
524
00:24:49.38 –> 00:24:56.040
but there we go it’s all clamped around
525
00:24:50.97 –> 00:24:57.680
the outside now let me just pop it back
526
00:24:56.04 –> 00:25:04.580
into place
527
00:24:57.68 –> 00:25:04.580
[Music]
528
00:25:05.98 –> 00:25:09.799
what have we got to do on here this is
529
00:25:08.179 –> 00:25:11.450
nothing to do with maintenance well
530
00:25:09.799 –> 00:25:13.610
you’re absolutely right we don’t have to
531
00:25:11.45 –> 00:25:15.860
touch this keypad but what I would
532
00:25:13.61 –> 00:25:19.130
suggest you do is that from time to time
533
00:25:15.86 –> 00:25:20.809
you press the file button and take a
534
00:25:19.13 –> 00:25:22.490
look at how many files you’ve got in
535
00:25:20.809 –> 00:25:25.220
your filing system you’ll see that it
536
00:25:22.49 –> 00:25:28.370
says one at the top there click up to
537
00:25:25.22 –> 00:25:29.899
the top go backwards and see how many
538
00:25:28.37 –> 00:25:35.269
files you’ve got in there at the moment
539
00:25:29.899 –> 00:25:37.039
I’ve got 25 I used to have 99 manage
540
00:25:35.269 –> 00:25:40.820
your filing system on the machine
541
00:25:37.039 –> 00:25:44.029
because if you get more than 99 I’m not
542
00:25:40.82 –> 00:25:47.179
sure that will actually take 100 I think
543
00:25:44.029 –> 00:25:49.039
it stops at 99 files and says the
544
00:25:47.179 –> 00:25:50.899
machine has gone wrong it presents some
545
00:25:49.039 –> 00:25:53.389
sort of strange messy junk which tells
546
00:25:50.899 –> 00:25:54.470
you there’s no file space available take
547
00:25:53.389 –> 00:25:56.779
a look at the files that you’ve got
548
00:25:54.47 –> 00:25:59.389
stored in here that you’re unlikely to
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance (Cont…)
549
00:25:56.779 –> 00:26:01.850
need or they were once off throw them
550
00:25:59.389 –> 00:26:04.159
away space in this file system is at a
551
00:26:01.85 –> 00:26:06.440
premium so just make sure you include
552
00:26:04.159 –> 00:26:08.600
this as part of your regular maybe once
553
00:26:06.44 –> 00:26:10.340
a month webs every 2 or 3 months you’ll
554
00:26:08.6 –> 00:26:11.269
come in here and just throw away the
555
00:26:10.34 –> 00:26:14.210
stuff you don’t want
556
00:26:11.269 –> 00:26:15.860
I now have gotten a habit of after I’ve
557
00:26:14.21 –> 00:26:19.750
used a file that I know I’m only going
558
00:26:15.86 –> 00:26:22.039
to use once I immediately delete it
559
00:26:19.75 –> 00:26:23.840
there are other things you can check
560
00:26:22.039 –> 00:26:26.720
from time to time things like about
561
00:26:23.84 –> 00:26:28.760
tensions but to be honest they’re not
562
00:26:26.72 –> 00:26:30.830
the sort of thing they’re not likely to
563
00:26:28.76 –> 00:26:32.929
change very much well as I’ve mentioned
564
00:26:30.83 –> 00:26:35.539
to you several times before this is a
565
00:26:32.929 –> 00:26:37.940
nicely engineered machine and really it
566
00:26:35.539 –> 00:26:39.409
doesn’t need much maintenance if you
567
00:26:37.94 –> 00:26:42.500
have a pure X or a Beaufort
568
00:26:39.409 –> 00:26:44.480
recirculating filter unit you only have
569
00:26:42.5 –> 00:26:46.159
to keep an eye on the display and it
570
00:26:44.48 –> 00:26:47.840
tells you whether or not you need to
571
00:26:46.159 –> 00:26:49.760
change your filters or whether a filter
572
00:26:47.84 –> 00:26:51.710
changes coming up so there’s nothing you
573
00:26:49.76 –> 00:26:54.830
can do about that you have to wait for
574
00:26:51.71 –> 00:26:56.480
the unit to tell you this machine you
575
00:26:54.83 –> 00:26:59.389
could be proactive with your maintenance
576
00:26:56.48 –> 00:27:02.149
and as I said to you you need to keep an
577
00:26:59.389 –> 00:27:04.789
eye on particularly the lens and the
578
00:27:02.149 –> 00:27:05.440
nozzle that’s where your major problems
579
00:27:04.789 –> 00:27:07.330
are going to
580
00:27:05.44 –> 00:27:08.500
that’s something you should do very
581
00:27:07.33 –> 00:27:11.260
regularly
582
00:27:08.5 –> 00:27:13.660
I can’t say what very regularly means
583
00:27:11.26 –> 00:27:15.580
because it depends on the use that you
584
00:27:13.66 –> 00:27:17.620
put your machine to if you’re using it
585
00:27:15.58 –> 00:27:22.000
in production then I would check that
586
00:27:17.62 –> 00:27:26.110
lens once at least a day and maybe twice
587
00:27:22.0 –> 00:27:27.310
a day at break times well it’s not much
588
00:27:26.11 –> 00:27:28.510
more I can tell you about the
589
00:27:27.31 –> 00:27:33.400
maintenance of this machine because
590
00:27:28.51 –> 00:27:34.840
there isn’t much more to maintain thank
591
00:27:33.4 –> 00:27:38.550
you very much for your time and I’ll
592
00:27:34.84 –> 00:27:38.550
catch up with you in the next session
Transcript for Laser Machine Maintenance
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