I had to get another K40 ordered since I rely on engraving wood blocks for my business and my first laser was starting to act up. The new one came with a ribbon disconnected and laying in the bed along with quite a few loose screws and wires in bad spots.
I got things sorted out and new distilled water in the reservoir and started the laser. Now the laser is burning a odd shape (see pictures)
I did clean the mirrors and the lens with no change. When I test fire the laser at the home position it seems fine. The other spots pictured have the problem.
Need suggestions please! Now I have two questionable lasers. I am good to test and repair both but the idea was to get a new one and get back to work then fix the original one…
If you put a piece of paper in front of the first mirror, does it look right? If it has a similar pattern coming out of the tube, you got a dud tube that is already in TEM01.
@mcdanlj and others, I contacted the seller of my new laser and he asked me to check the light path and then see if the problem still existed. I did not do this because the problem was the odd burn pattern and the alignment seemed OK. I assumed the lens or mirror had a defect. But after I tweaked the alignment the problem went away. Before the burn looked like a sideways comma, it had a very separate and distinct “tail” off to the left of the primary burn site. Odd that this was due to alignment but glad it seems to be resolved.
