Upgrade Service YAG Laser Machine To Fiber Laser Cutting Machine

Retrofitting a laser could be the simplest and most cost efficient way to get greater productivity and reduced costs

When a laser system’s wall plug efficiency can go from three percent to 30 percent, this change could represent a large enough energy and cost savings to allow the retrofitting of an older laser system with a new resonator.

When asked why companies look at retrofitting lasers, Tom Kugler, fiber systems manager at Laser Mech, says, “Generally companies are retrofitting older style lasers that are less efficient or are more difficult to integrate into their systems. And the biggest change has been getting rid of the old YAG lasers and going to fiber, disk and direct-diode lasers.”

By replacing an older YAG laser with a new continuous wave one-micron laser, companies can rid themselves of the need to replace short-term consumables such as flashlamps, Kugler adds.

“These older YAG lasers have been developed and brought to a level where they offer a long lamp life that’s maybe 2000 to 5000 hours. But it pales in comparison to the 100,000 hour service that a fiber or disk laser offers.

“And then the other issue is efficiency. They offer less electrical consumption. The best efficiency you can get from a YAG laser is around three percent of the energy that’s put into it being taken out of it. Using a fiber or disk laser you can get 30 percent or more. Also you don’t need to service anything after every several thousand hours of use, which makes a huge difference in wanting to retrofit an older system.

 

The Advantages of Fiber Laser VS Nd:YAG Laser

We can simply say that the Nd: YAG is an old generation laser, and fiber Laser is the new Technology. Fiber lasers deliver their energy through an integrated flexible optical fiber. Fiber lasers have a monolithic, entirely solid-state, fiber-to-fiber design that does not require mirrors or optics to align or adjust. These features make fiber lasers easier to integrate and operate in production!

Laser Light Efficiency

Nd: YAG laser has an energy efficiency level of around 4%. So it requires a big water cooler system. The huge cost of electricity. Fiber laser up to 35% conversion efficiency, just cooling with a small chiller will ok.

Lifespan

Fiber laser cutting laser source life span up to 100,000hrs, lamp-pumped Nd:YAG laser around 1000hrs, and diode-pumped Nd:YAG is 10,000-20,000hrs.

 

Maintenance

Free maintenance of Fiber laser, and no need to clean and align the mirror.

 

Cost

In the beginning investment, The cost of the fiber laser is little more than Nd:YAG laser, but considering the running cost and fee of maintenance, the total cost of the fiber cutting machine is much cheaper than the cost of Nd:YAG laser.

Energy Consumption Comparison
Laser Machine Power	Laser Energy Consumption
YAG 620W	35KW
YAG 1000W	70KW
FIBER 1000W	15KW
FIBER 1500W	18KW
FIBER 2000W	20KW

Retrofit Parts List