Performance or lack of...

[WyeModels]

I have been running my 3060 for about six months and generally I have been pretty happy with it, but at the weekend i went to see a friend who has just got the same machine and I was shocked at the difference in cutting speeds it takes me a couple of passes to cut 2mm medite at 15/80 whereas he was going through easily on the same settings
My water temps are fine, and I only tend to cut for short periods (10mins) so that isnt an issue, it all seems to point to the optics. I have spent an afternoon cleaning, realigning and checking the mirrors and they are all good. Where should I be looking from here? any advice gratefully relieved

[PhillyDee]

Have you checked the focal length also? Make sure it is focusing at the correct spot.

Don't forget that tubes wear out also. Performance will steadily decline.

[Spooky]

hiya,

2mm medite should cut somewhere about 20 to 22 speed and 75 power on a 3060 with a 40 watt tube.

I'd agree with Phil, have a look at both sides of your final lens and ensure that is clean as well as checking final alignment and focal height,if all those are ok then it *may* be tube degradation but lets rule out the obvious stuff first

best wishes

Dave

[WyeModels]

The tube has less than 50 hours in it. Im pointing the finger at the final mirror and the lens, but there is no adjustment for the final mirror, both have been cleaned, and focal height is 62mm. I will recheck all the mirrors, but I think they are pretty close. I do have a spare mirror but all look good to me, I may have to think about getting another lens just to shift that from the equation.

[Daven]

Is the lens up the right way too? Every little helps

Dave

[PhillyDee]

There is final adjustment for the last mirror, its called sticky labels used as shims!

[Spooky]

Focal height 62mm??

[WyeModels]

It is 62mm from the assembly mounting to the workpiece, it is the way Chris showed me. I stripped the entire head at 6 this morning which has yielded some improvement, there was some manufacturing debris in one of the threads which was tilting the assembly. Next thing is to realign the whole lot, I think I am on the right track and it is the final mirror lens.

[PhillyDee]

I measured all the parts for the lens assembly on my LS3020 and found the value given was off by 0.5mm. Not a lot, I know!

[WyeModels]

I has taken me since 5 this morning, but I think I have cracked it, Im getting through 2mm medite at 20/80 and I can probably lower the power a bit. I have dissembled the whole assembly and debured, lubed and adjusted everything, which improved things a lot.
Basically there were a lot of small things causing the loss of performance, but the main culprit was the thread on the collar that holds the final mirror in place, this was putting the lens about 2mm out, so although everything was correct according to the height gauge it wasnt really
Thank you to everyone for suggestions, it helps when you have spent a day and a half chasing rainbows