Cleaning Supplies

These are just the supplies not the tools.

• Lens Cleaner – Lens Clens (pink) this is the right lens cleaner for our coated mirrors and lenses. https://www.lensclens.com/
• Pec Pads – This creates a lint-free surface to put the optics on while you work. Amazon Link
• Swabs – for cleaning the tubes and other chunky bits of assembly. Amazon Link
• Isopropyl alcohol – 90% preferred but 70% will do. Use with swabs to clean chunky tubes and other parts.
• Lens cleaning papers – Use only on optics. Amazon Link
• WD40 Blue (Multi-Use)  – Used to clean rails. Amazon Link
• WD40 Yellow (Silicone Lubricant) – Used to lubricate rails. Amazon Link
• Regular Paper Towels – The ones in all the dispensers.
• Canned Air – Amazon Link
• Latex Gloves – wear gloves while handling the lens paper and all optics.

Tools

• Needle nose pliers – to remove the cover over the mirrors
• Metal ruler – used to unscrew the cover over the lens inside the tube
• Keys to the laser – needed to open all the things

Cleaning Process

Start by getting all the gear off the shelves and laid out.

Remember to keep greasy human fingers away from shiny dirt/grease-intolerant optics!

Turn on the laser, then bring the gantry to within easy reach of the front.

Cleaning the Belts/Gantry/Rails

1. Lower the Z, uncouple the air assist and remove the laser tube. Set it down somewhere safe.
2. Open and remove the upper (white) side panels on the laser to access both sides of the side rails, and bottom half of the front door, if necessary.
3. Away from the laser enclosure, spray some Blue Can WD40 onto a blue shop towel.
4. Carefully use the oily towel to wipe down the shiny rails on the gantry and side rails. (6 shiny rails in total: 2 rails on each side and the upper and lower rails on the gantry)
5. Use a clean towel to wipe up any excess oil.
6. Carefully slide one of the large swabs between the belt and the frame of the gantry or side rails.
7. Slide the swab along the available length of the belt, being very careful not to touch the shiny rails, as getting oil on the belt is bad – also try not to stretch the belts away from the frames.

Lubricating the Gantry/Rails

1. Away from the laser enclosure, spray some Yellow Lid WD40 onto a shop towel.
2. Carefully use the lubricant-soaked towel to wipe down the shiny rails on the gantry and side rails. (6 shiny rails in total)
3. Using the Up, Down, Left, Right keys on the control panel, run the gantry back and forth on both X and Y axis to confirm a nice uniform distribution of lubricant.
4. Discard all swabs and towels, then clean up your oily/lube-ey mess.

Cleaning the Filter Box

1. Remove the filter from the box.
2. Use the stiff brush to dislodge dust from the inside of the box and the grill that faces the fan.
3. Use the shop vac to vacuum out any dust in the box.
4. Use the shop vac to vacuum out the grill that faces the fan.

Tube, Lens & Mirrors

There are 3 mirrors, 1 lens and 1 tube, lay out a nice area of pec pads on the desk for you to setup your cleaning workspace

Cleaning the Tube and barrel head

1. Keep an eye on which way the tube is oriented as you take it apart (clue: the pink line should always be at the top)
2. Remove the barrel head from the bottom of the laser tube and give it a real thorough cleaning (it’s usually super duper gross and dirty) with isopropyl alcohol and different sizes of swabs
3. Set the barrel head off to the side to dry

Cleaning the Lens

1. Open up the Optics Cleaning Supplies box and grab the small metal ruler and 3d-printed lens stand
2. Insert small metal ruler into the bottom of the tube, using it as a screwdriver to unscrew the lens housing
3. pro-tip: put the tube on a Pec Pad, and rotate it while holding the ruler steady
4. Place pec pad on top of 3d-printed lens holder and invert into the tube
5. Now flip the tube over, and holding the pec pad, pull the tube off of the lens holder
6. You should now have a lens sitting on a pec pad ready to be cleaned
7. Remember: the convex (curved) side of the lens should point UP when the tube is in the correct orientation (this is important for when you put everything back together)
8. Put a single drop of Lens Clens onto the lens
9. Using a pec pad, do a single circular sweep of the lens. Try really hard to not touch the lens with the same part of the pad twice, we don’t want to rub dirt around the lens as we clean it!
10. Continue to wipe around the lens in a circular fashion until it is clean and streak-free
11. By tilting the lens on top of the pec pad, you can check all parts of the lens to see how good of a job you did
12. Flip the lens over and repeat step 8-11 with the other side
13. When you’re done, put the lens back into the barrel, and screw the set screw (the lens holder) back into the tube. Do not tighten this too tightly
14. Put the barrel head back on the tube and set it aside

Cleaning the Mirrors

Mirror in the laser head assembly (we’ll call this Mirror 1)

1. Pull the gantry all the way to the front of the laser
2. Using the pliers as a two-headed screw driver, remove the frame surrounding the mirror on top of the laser head.
3. Using pec pads, one to catch the mirror and the other one to poke it from behind, remove the mirror
4. Clean the mirror the same way you cleaned the lens, put a single drop of Lens Clens onto the mirror
5. Using a pec pad, do a single circular sweep of the mirror. Try really hard to not touch the mirror with the same part of the pad twice, we don’t want to rub dirt around the mirror as we clean it!
6. Continue to wipe around the lens in a circular fashion until it is clean and streak-free
7. By tilting the mirror on top of the pec pad, you can check all parts of the lens to see how good of a job you did
8. You shouldn’t need to clean the back of mirror
9. When clean, put the mirror back into the top of the laser head assembly. Shiny side should point down and toward the left
10. Use the pliers as a screwdriver to screw the frame back on top of the lens. Do not tighten this too tightly

Mirror in the left rail (mirror 2)

1. Unscrew the set screw holding the mirror into the side of the gantry using the pliers. You’ll need to use a pec pad to catch the mirror as it will be quite happy to fall backward onto the floor.
2. Remove the mirror from inside the left side of the laser.
3. Clean the mirror the same way, put a single drop of Lens Clens onto the mirror
4. Using a pec pad, do a single circular sweep of the mirror. Try really hard to not touch the mirror with the same part of the pad twice, we don’t want to rub dirt around the mirror as we clean it!
5. Continue to wipe around the lens in a circular fashion until it is clean and streak-free
6. By tilting the lens on top of the pec pad, you can check all parts of the lens to see how good of a job you did
7. You shouldn’t need to clean the back of mirror
8. When clean, put the mirror back into the frame. Shiny side should point right and toward the back of the enclosure
9. Use the pliers as a screwdriver to screw the frame back on top of the lens. Do not tighten this too tightly

Mirror all the way in the back (mirror 3)

1. Unlock the back door that covers the laser tube, and fold it open
2. Unscrew the set screw holding the mirror into the frame. You’ll need to use a pec pad to catch the mirror as it will be quite happy to fall backward into the case of the laser.
3. Remove the mirror from the frame.
4. Clean the mirror the same way, put a single drop of Lens Clens onto the mirror
5. Using a pec pad, do a single circular sweep of the mirror. Try really hard to not touch the mirror with the same part of the pad twice, we don’t want to rub dirt around the mirror as we clean it!
6. Continue to wipe around the lens in a circular fashion until it is clean and streak-free
7. By tilting the lens on top of the pec pad, you can check all parts of the lens to see how good of a job you did
8. You shouldn’t need to clean the back of mirror
9. When clean, put the mirror back into the frame. Shiny side should point to the right and toward the front of the enclosure (to mirror 2)
10. Use the pliers as a screwdriver to screw the frame back on top of the lens. Do not tighten this too tightly
11. While you have the back open, carefully dust the top of the glass laser tube

Re-install the laser tube in the laser head assembly

1. Slide the tube back into place up into the head assembly
2. Tighten down the brass knob (but not too tight) to keep the tube in place
3. Re-connect the air assist
4. Make sure the bed will not hit the barrel head when reset to zero
5. Reset the bed to zero
6. Place the the focus tool onto the bed in cutting orientation, under the barrel head, under the brass knob and release the tube down onto the focus tool, making a 6mm gap between the bed and the barrel head tip

 

Test the laser and log the maintenance

1. Reassemble everything you have taken apart
2. Lock all locks
3. Try a test cut to see if everything still works 🙂
4. If everything still works, log the maintenance in the #laser Slack channel using /asset amt266
5. If the laser doesn’t still work, try to troubleshoot the issue, and if that doesn’t fix it, mark the laser as DOWN using /asset amt 266 and contact @teamlaser in the #laser Slack channel.
6. Put all the supplies away – leave it better than you found it!

 

 

For more info on cleaning lenses and stuff, look at this blog post from omtech Laser

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Historical Information

Here are some steps for aligning the laser and cleaning the lens, courtesy of DavR:

Alignment:

1. Get a flat piece of material on the laser bed, and the laser head positioned over the leftmost bit, and allllmost touching it but not quite
2. On the laser go into the menu/jog setting / 1.0mm
3. Fire a test laser dot, then jog right 2mm and lower z table 1 mm
4. Repeat 3 ten to twenty times, until it is obvious the burn spot is getting bigger
5. See which dot is most in focus — it will be the smallest (and possibly darkest / deepest cut)
6. Count how many times you need to raise the z table to get back to that setting
7. Fire another test dot, confirm it looks like a nice small in focus dot

Resource: Instructable about mirror alignment

Cleaning Lens: (do with laser cutter powered off)

1. Be very careful, don’t want to scratch the lens. Not super expensive, but will probably take time to get a replacement
2. unscrew the bottom of the lens head somewhere
3. pay careful attention to the orientation of the lens in the tube, you need to put it back the same way up next time (the front & back of lens are not symmetrical)
4. gently wipe any debris off the lens with a microfiber cloth or whatever
5. then use a little more force to clean it with a microfiber cloth and rubbing alcohol to get and smoke that’s adhered to the lens
6. put everything back the way it was

Cleaning the Chiller Filters (The filters must be cleaned every 15-30 days)

1. Make sure the (2) filters on the chiller are clean or the laser may overheat.
2. Turn-off and unplug the chiller before the next steps.
3. They are located on each side of the chiller towards the front, if they look like cotton you are seeing dust build-up not the filter itself.
4. Remove the (4) screws and clean the filters on both sides.
5. There is another screw at the bottom of the filter that holds it to the faceplate.
6. Re-assemble everything as it was.
7. Plug the chiller back in and turn it on!

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