Good evening Gents.
Re 15 Watt Laser information... 15 Watts / 15,000mW is it's MAXIMUM on power.
Thee lasers are Pulsed at a high frequency & at their full power output.... They are either ON or OFF..... there is no in-between.
so at their 50% power output level, they are in the ON state for 50% of the time.... this allows a small recovery time for the laser diode to disperse heat during its duty cycle.
YES this generates heat in the laser module itself, but the unit is enclosed in a large box-section heat-sink which is fan assisted, thereby allowing it to run for several hours with no problems.
In all fairness to the Laser Diode Module... it should not be pushed much more than 50% of it's rated output.... to compare - my BMW X5 is rated at 250hp with a top speed of some 140 Miles an hour.....
but the engine & transmission won't last long at maximum speed all day every day.
However, it will easily do 200,000+ miles at 70 miles an hour, all day every day for years on end..... These Diode lasers are much the same in their capabilities.
At the power levels & movement speeds to get clean engravings, we are probably looking at about 15-20% output at 50 to 100mm/sec travel speed or less, & the laser can probably run all day without issues -
(provided it has forced air cooling). I would expect the operator to start flagging before the laser does
As per some trial tests when I delivered the machine, it was producing nice sharp etchings of Tan Leather at some 8% output with a travel speed of some 60mm/s...
and will run at this output level Indefinitely or until the operator falls asleep & does not re-start the next work operation.
Understand also, that we also have the luxury that the engraving leather works are a given size, & the materials will need swapping out frequently - allowing the laser module to cool further still.
***As a point of interest, the laser module's heat sink will likely only get warm to the touch even with a 50% power duty cycle of an hour or more any way.
To ensure reliability of these machines, the power supply units have a 400% redundancy, 300% redundancy for the power electronics pushing the X/Y carriage motors, & the laser cooling fan unit pushes 400% more air through it than actually required.
When I started developing & testing these lasers & support electronics 2 years ago, I tortures the lasers, motors & electronics to find the weaknesses. There are some budget items available out there to save a few pennies, but in the end i decided to get the BEST available, & use the Best fan cooled power supplies, the best motherboard electronics & the best lasers available.... then I over cooled the whole lot just in case some thing was over-looked. This has resulted in some robust engineering & electronics that I am very proud of.
Customer Care is something Nova takes great pride in... considering a person can spend £700 of their VERY Hard-Earned money with my business... it is only fair that their new toy simply works, year on year & keeps the customer smiling & earning money.