I have an Epilog EX that lives in an insulated, heated workshop. When not in use the top is always closed. If I go for a few days without using it, it has a tendency to sweat a little on the inside. This happens if I am rastering or vectoring.
I get moisture condensation on the surface of the material I am engraving. The moisture is not coming directly from the engraving head as the condensation can be as much as 10 inches from any area that has been engraved.
As this has only started since the weather has gotten cooler and damper I am thinking that it is a general heat/condensation thing going on when I start engraving. I can not attribute it to air from the compressor when doing vectoring as it will happen when doing raster only work.
Generally, this is not a problem as I can just wipe off the wee little moisture. The problems come when I have to do raw wood that I can not finish. I have one customer who brings in beautiful maple slabs that I engrave and then he finishes. The maple slabs are still pretty ‘young’ and will show water spots on occasion.
So finally the question – anyone else have this problem and any suggested solutions?
Mine does the same thing at different times of the year. Now I leave the door cracked a little and run my exhaust for a minute or two. I think the cold is coming in from the exhaust vent. Just a guess.
Harbor Freight Tools has an inline dryer/filter for $19. Install this (or similar) in your air assist line and I’ll be your problem will go away.
The problem sound like your turning the room temperature down at night (or gets cool naturally), then the next morning when you turn the heater on or the sun warms the building, you get the moisture. It’s just like taking a cold beer out of the fridge. The outside of the can sweats.
There are several things which can be done, but none of them are perfect.
You could de-humidify the room the laser is in with a de-humidifier. The laser could not sweat if there is no moisture in the air.
You could keep the room either constantly heated or you warm the room up slower. In my new shop I have a programmable thermostat. At 6:00 am it starts to warm up the building, then at 8:00 it turns the heat up again.
You could change the type of heater to an infra-red header. In my shop I use a little propane infra-red heater which attaches to a 5 gallon propane canister (like on a bbq grill). Infrared heat is like a heat lamp. The heat is transmitted as light, but when it hits something, it will release the heat. If you aim the heater at the laser from 15+ feet away, the infrared energy will warm the laser first and not the air. If the laser warms faster than the air around it will not sweat. Personally I like these heaters. My desk was next to the laser. I’d put the heater on the opposite side of me so that the heater would warm me first, and any heat which didn’t hit me would hit the laser. If I wasn’t too warm, I figured neither was the laser.
If you’re using an air assist, the idea of a water trap is a good one, also don’t forget to drain the water out of the bottom of a compressor, if it has a tank.
Are you using a gate on your hose to the outside so you can shut it and prevent outside air from coming into your laser when not in use? I live in Minnesota and if I forget to close the gate in the winter time my laser gets cold… I usually then wait before lasering cause I understand that the main two things that affect the life of a laser cartridge is heat and moisture.
Thank you for the most excellent ideas. I now have a great list I can implement to solve the problem.