Galileo

[maxon]

Gaston,

I wish things were as simple as purchasing an off the shelf laser diode from a supplier, fit it in there or pay a techie to do the work and presto you have your platesetter upgraded. The fact that someone already mentioned nichia is definitely not going to help you but only adds to the confusion, I cannot help myself sorry for the shade of sarcasm. Well the truth is there are no two identical laser diodes, doesn't make any difference if it's Agfa or whatever ctp manufacturer, all diodes are selected and characterized for lasing effect and their corresponding driver board set up/programmed at the factory, plus they all require specific optics adjustments because of unique beam emission which has to be corrected it's all a hell lot of work reserved for factory assembly lines, special optics jigs, focus, heat dissip. characteristics, all possibly the most tedious and important step in a machine assembly. That's why manufacturers try to reduce this amount of work at a controllable level and provide their field service engineers with replacement kits and minimum procedures instead of a bag of diodes, lenses, boards, transistors and whatever.
I mean yes, if they say swap the traverse well that's nothing much you can do about it. Same thing goes with Heidelberg, Fuji and others. I'm in no way connected to Agfa just happens I know a few things. So Gaston you're on a wrong route here trying to reverse engineer everything just to save a few bucks. Well, a lot of bucks in your case.

 

[gastonpresente]

Gaston,

I wish things were as simple as purchasing an off the shelf laser diode from a supplier, fit it in there or pay a techie to do the work and presto you have your platesetter upgraded. The fact that someone already mentioned nichia is definitely not going to help you but only adds to the confusion, I cannot help myself sorry for the shade of sarcasm. Well the truth is there are no two identical laser diodes, doesn't make any difference if it's Agfa or whatever ctp manufacturer, all diodes are selected and characterized for lasing effect and their corresponding driver board set up/programmed at the factory, plus they all require specific optics adjustments because of unique beam emission which has to be corrected it's all a hell lot of work reserved for factory assembly lines, special optics jigs, focus, heat dissip. characteristics, all possibly the most tedious and important step in a machine assembly. That's why manufacturers try to reduce this amount of work at a controllable level and provide their field service engineers with replacement kits and minimum procedures instead of a bag of diodes, lenses, boards, transistors and whatever.
I mean yes, if they say swap the traverse well that's nothing much you can do about it. Same thing goes with Heidelberg, Fuji and others. I'm in no way connected to Agfa just happens I know a few things. So Gaston you're on a
wrong route here trying to reverse engineer everything just to save a few bucks. Well, a lot of bucks in your case.

Thanks for your explanation, its insightful.
my questions are related to past experience where i had to buy things from agfa due to commercial policies that had nothing to do with technical specs.
So when this problem came in, i started asking around again.
Do to the economic crisis, every saved buck is valuable.
Thanks again.
Do you know how long a laser last (violet 60mw) in standard conditions (textbook conditions)?

Again thanks for your explanation

 

[VladCanada]

I've just scraped my post got ready to publish and I want to put my signature under every word at maxon's post!
Thanks, buddy!

 

[maxon]

Thanks for the appreciation Vlad

Gaston, violet laser diode exposure units are rated for 7000 to 10000 hours by most of the platesetter manufacturers. That is actual imaging time, as these lasers are off (well, almost off) in standby waiting for data. This translates into more than 6 years daily production of up to 300 plates per day in one shift for instance. Manufacturers say it should last for the actual life of the machine ... it's not at all overstated. I've seen 60 mw violet platesetters which say less than 15 percent laser 'wear out' in diagnostics and they've been used for 5 years already.
The laser diodes themselves 60 or 120 mw are very reliable if properly operated. Trouble can only come from the electronics around these lasers i.e. the driver module taking care of current, voltages, temperature stability, emmission monitoring etc., essentially taking very good care of the diode. A hidden design fault in these driver boards (if any), an air filter perhaps the operator or service guy forgot to clean or replace, or a very problematic mains supply can drive the diode outside its safe operating limits and shorten its life or fry it. It's quite uncommon, as I said they're pretty reliable, but I've seen dead lasers. Reliability is comparable to 10 mw red diodes usually found in imagesetters.

Long gone are the days of HeNe and Ar tubes ...

 

[ifixparts]

Parts

Parts

If anyone is in need of anything, we just got in a shipment of re-certified used parts. They're less expensive than new parts and are guaranteed to work.

We have some diodes, circuit boards, several types of motors and more.

Check out the Galileo section of our online store at Galileo - Violet

or

on eBay at iFix PrePress Parts items - Get great deals on Miscellaneous, Circuit Boards items on eBay Stores!

 

[gastonpresente]

Thanks for the appreciation Vlad

Gaston, violet laser diode exposure units are rated for 7000 to 10000 hours by most of the platesetter manufacturers. That is actual imaging time, as these lasers are off (well, almost off) in standby waiting for data. This translates into more than 6 years daily production of up to 300 plates per day in one shift for instance. Manufacturers say it should last for the actual life of the machine ... it's not at all overstated. I've seen 60 mw violet platesetters which say less than 15 percent laser 'wear out' in diagnostics and they've been used for 5 years already.
The laser diodes themselves 60 or 120 mw are very reliable if properly operated. Trouble can only come from the electronics around these lasers i.e. the driver module taking care of current, voltages, temperature stability, emmission monitoring etc., essentially taking very good care of the diode. A hidden design fault in these driver boards (if any), an air filter perhaps the operator or service guy forgot to clean or replace, or a very problematic mains supply can drive the diode outside its safe operating limits and shorten its life or fry it. It's quite uncommon, as I said they're pretty reliable, but I've seen dead lasers. Reliability is comparable to 10 mw red diodes usually found in imagesetters.

Long gone are the days of HeNe and Ar tubes ...

Maxon,
Thanks for that answer. I just saw your answer.
Well our Laser lasted 4 years... so thats why i am asking these questions.
Now Agfa says that they are going to replace only the laser 60mw at 18k. And if i want to change the whole carriage is 64k.

Any insight on this?
Sounds like we have poor conditions for our CTP

 

[maxon]

Hello Gaston, I cannot speculate on Agfa or your local dealer price quotations for exchanging a laser or the traverse, but yes you are right it's an awful lot of money. To be more precise, the kind of money that would make you wonder if it's a wise idea to invest in the ageing Galileo machine anymore.
Other CTP manufacturers quote laser exchange units well under 10k... food for thought. Your 5 mw diode should have lasted much more than 4 years, sounds like premature failure to me.

My advice is to review all statistics, how many failures did you have over the last couple of years, how much did all service cost to decide whether this galileo is worth keeping. Bear in mind it's been discontinued by Agfa long time ago, for how long would you expect to find spares (other than scrap/dismembered machines) ?
Just my 2 cents, sorry can't help any further.

 

[l46088]

Ultre72P Imaging Error - Refer to Engine

Ultre72P Imaging Error - Refer to Engine

Sorry, didn't know how to start a new subject, so here goes.

Windows NT
Harlequin Rip
Ultre Imagesetter 12" Film

I see two messages:
First (in the Output Controller Window) "Laser Diode Failure"

Second (in the main history-type window of Express Rip)
"UltreP Internal Engine Name is UltreP - Ultre72P Imaging Error - Refer to Engine"

We use this for our small print shop on a daily basis. This new message makes me think that the "Internal Engine UltreP" is software and may have a problem communicating with the actual imagesetter. The dongle and all cables have been removed and replaced, so that's not the issue.

Is there a driver?? The folks that sold this to us "No longer supports it".

Any help would be grately appreciated,

Sincerely,
Sue