Shenhui g350 Beam Combiner & 1m tube upgrade

[ewa_taylor]

I took some time this weekend to upgrade my Shenhui g350 (aka ebay 50 watt laser) by installing the Light Object beam combiner and 45 watt 1 meter tube. I had to cut some holes and build some brackets to allow the red dot laser/beam combiner mount to fit, but it was simple enough with just a jig saw and a drill. Alignment was a snap with the new red dot, and it was easy to wire into the existing power supply. Seriously, without an integrated red dot aligning the machine with masking tape and pressing the pulse button has often taken me 4 or more hours. It took about 2 minutes after installing the combiner. I added a simple toggle switch on the front panel, and now I have the feature I missed most from my Epilog engraver days!

The 45 watt 1 meter tube, despite being rated 5 watts lower than the stock 850mm tube, is clearly more powerful than any of the 4 previous 850mm tubes I've used in my machine. My shenhui came with a removable side panel already in place to accommodate longer tubes. After scooting the tube back to allow room for adding the red dot laser and considering the 150-mm-longer tube, the high voltage end of the tube is now sticking out about 5 inches. I'm planning on cutting a box out of plexi or birch, painting it blue, and screwing it to the cabinet.

I couldn't be happier. Thanks you guys, for stocking and developing quality products at good prices and shipping same day.

Lest you guys think I'm just shilling for the company here, this is my business's website: http://etchedwithaloha.com

And here are a couple pics:

[Tech_Marco]

Great job!

A reminder to you about the machine your have D350. It was installed a 850mm laser tube which is not a 45W but 40W. You may need to pay a little attention to the power supply they put it there. If it is a black one with open casing, you better watch out. There is no output at 50% but must be set to 52% and I believe they installed a green monster (resistor) in series with the laser tube to avoid the over shooting from LPSU to the tube.

Second thing to notice is that they may not have a ground wire connect to the GND on the AC socket! You may connect a wire to the ground and to the metal case to discharge the statics jammed from the LPSU. Once a while, you need to clean the the laser tube at the HV end and the surrendering or you will get statics problem. The water bottle or the water chiller must be grounded because it will store electrics charge. I know it well because I have these units before. I still have one and need to retrofit it and will put it on craigslist for sell. Good thing is that the mechanics parts from this machine is good and the motor drivers are Leetro. But the optics are suck so you may want to replace it in the near future. The laser head and the reflection mirror is hard to adjust and it is a little bit out of alignment by default design. Since the machine is only 500x300 so the little out of alignment didn't make a big impact to the power.

By the way, if you're doing a lot engraving work, you may want to use a 38.1mm focus lens instead of the stock one 50.8mm for better result. The D350 comes with a manual Z table and you can made adjustment to accommodate the focus point. Just my through


Marco

[SScnc]

By the way, if you're doing a lot engraving work, you may want to use a 38.1mm focus lens instead of the stock one 50.8mm for better result. The D350 comes with a manual Z table and you can made adjustment to accommodate the focus point. Just my through
Marco

Since you mention that, I've been thinking about ordering a 38.1mm lens as I've been doing a lot of acrylic reverse engraving for LED edge lit projects. I did finally learn to use low power and multiple passes to get a more frosted, smoother look but not perfect, will switching to a 38.1mm produce a noticeable increase in quality ? I do like to engrave small details and small fonts. And it's my understanding that a 38.1mm allows for higher DPI engraving, 600+ (?)

My current lens is 50.8mm.

Thanks,
Steve

[bratan]

That's very cool! I'm also upgrading my SH-350. I didn't think of moving tube, that's great idea!
Instead I fit LO beam combiner after 1st mirror(had to 3D print bracket for it)...
Stock tube is actually 40W overdriven to 50. I just got 60W SP tube as well as PSU from this site and plan to upgrade in few days.
You can cut simple acrylic extender for the tube, I'm making one now...