The Right Environment for a Laser Cutter

All lasers generate heat as a by-product of the process inefficiencies so the room temperature is of a major concern. Overheating can cause a catastrophic and somewhat expensive failure of the laser. The effective removal and control of this heat is key to prolonged and reliable use. All lasers will have an inbuilt cooling mechanism by way of fans (air-cooling) or some kind of chiller unit (water-cooling).

Most people understand this, however, an often overlooked aspect to temperature is how cold the environment gets, especially when the laser cutter is not in use. Even in the hottest of countries the temperature can fall to below freezing overnight.

During weekends and other non-working days, some environments are not temperature controlled so the temperature can fall/rise to abnormal levels. Extremes of temperature will cause many elements within the machine to expand and contract. This is particularly bad for RF lasers manufactured from metal.

Humidity is another influencing factor. High humidity, especially when combined with rapid changes in temperature, can cause condensation to form on sensitive electronics components, in turn causing those components to short-circuit.

An ideal ambient temperature for the room is between 15-30c. Rapid changes in room temperature can also cause adverse reactions. For these reasons we see spikes in support calls after times of long public holidays, such as Christmas for example.