K40 Laser Air Assist Upgrade - Cheapest Good Air Compressor

Рет қаралды 41,232

3 жыл бұрын

Finally i got around properly upgrading my K40´s Air Assist by replacing my old low and slow aquarium pump with a more appropriate air compressor straight from .... you guessed it.... China. As some of the Laser units are sold with this specific pump and got quite positive ratings i thought well why not trying it out. So i ordered the cheapest air compressor that seemed to work from a seller on ebay and it only took about two weeks to arrive. I must say that for around 30.00 usd, this pump seems to be alright, it is less noisy than my old one (probably as loud as the K40´s stepper motors), has some dampening rubber feet and runs since i shot the video without issues for about four days now running it 2-4 hours a day.
As i meantioned in the video you are better grounding the pump due to its metal casing also i suggest to get or 3d print you a cable carrier chain if you want to upgrade your Laser!
Generally an Air Assist improves the quality of your cuts and it seems to me that it also improoves the overall performance of the lasertube quite a lot while reducing charring by 80%! It now takes a single pass at around 14 mA @ 10mm/sec speed to cut thru 4mm plywood!
From all the upgrades you can make, you should make this one right from the beginning!
And for the last, NO! i did not recieve any chinese mystery seeds... i prefer my ginger lemon tea!
New Link (220v):
amzn.to/42mykKE
Airassist Nozzle: amzn.to/4973KXu
I hope you enjoy this video about this upgrade, there is always more!
More videos about the K40 Laser Cutter and more other interesting projects and DIY´s on the Mancave Effects Channel, check it out!
Mancave Effects KZfaq Channel:
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Пікірлер: 74

@shadowhenge7118 3 жыл бұрын

The white powder is talc. it's just to keep it more flexible and prevent the internal wires from binding on the jacket.

@nicolascoste516 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks again for wonderfullextratoplevel vidéo. I'll probably buy one pump for my K40. But for now i have to finish my control panel wich look like the Doc Emett Brown amplifier panel for now. Thanks again for your work and all things on tour desk ! See ya

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds awesome! I would be glad to show our KZfaq family a picture of your finished panel! You can send me a picture if you like on my Mancave Effects Instagram or Facebook!

@nicolascoste516 3 жыл бұрын

@@MancaveEffects it's done !

@PhilipDezuttere 3 жыл бұрын

that white powder is not rat poison but lime. it is necessary so that in the production of the cable, the outer layer does not fuse with the insulation of the conductors.

@cofa4011 3 жыл бұрын

Haaa the famous compost tea air pump xD Nice video, thanks for sharing ;)

@milankarakastutorials900 3 жыл бұрын

At 8:05, this white powder is not for poisoning rats, that is fire suppressor. Similar thing you have in FR4 boards (fire retardant, class 4).

@philsowers 3 жыл бұрын

I could watch miniature videos all day 👌

@MaxworX 2 жыл бұрын

😂😂😂 The description of the box is hilarious

@cristicioaba3029 Жыл бұрын

How long can be used in one go? Do you need to pause your work after 30 minutes? I I need to run a 5 hours program will this work continuously 5 hours?

@matthmbg 3 жыл бұрын

Just discovered your channel. Great videos. How did you go with your Flourish and Blotts build? Cheers from Australia!

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Matt, nice to hear! I had finished the build, installed some LED’s inside, even some flickering ones inside the fireplace but i didn’t came around showing it in a video, it would not be woth a whole video i suppose, maybe in a future one. Thanks mate, “Bonjour” from Europe ;)

@MkmeOrg 3 жыл бұрын

Very cool!

@tswarner67 2 жыл бұрын

I’m considering going with the california air 8010 or a pump like this

@gunzi2269 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your videos. They are helping me a lot. What‘s the maximum airflow of this Compressor?

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

45L/minute 240v/25w

@kortt 2 жыл бұрын

I realize this is an older video but was looking on your channel for an update about this air pump? I recently bought a used air brush compressor for my laser air assist but the darn thing over heats. I guess it's not meant to run for long periods of time. Is this air pump still going strong? Does it get hot during use? Thanks, Love your videos btw!!

@MancaveEffects 2 жыл бұрын

I am still using this pump to this day with good results, however i am not using the laser on a weekly basis. So hard to tell if it is reliable enough for professional or semi professional use, it still is a very cheap piece of chinesium.

@stevenanderson7046 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks. How does it compare with the aquarium pump?

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

It works WAY better, i think that my pump i used before made nothing at all compared to this pile of virbrating metal!

@1-Nice-Guy 2 жыл бұрын

That was a lot of burn marks, it also looks like you cut it on top of another piece of wood instead of directly on your honeycomb table? Are you sure you had the air on?

@machoneboard 3 жыл бұрын

I bought one on the strength of this video. How is yours holding up and how is the model coming along?

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

It is still working fine, i just finished a cutting job that took about 3 hours and it still runs👀

@quentidoudou6544 3 жыл бұрын

Hey I have a question for you : do you think that the model that you choosed was powerfull enough ? You choosed the 25W, but there is also some versions with 35 or 45W. Have I to bought this version or it could be even better with a 45W for instance (or is it just overkill ahah) ? (I'm french, and I'm quite impressed by the quality of your videos, nice work !)

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

I must say that i am surprisenly satisfied with this little air pump. It seems to provide enough airflow for what i use it for. I would say that there is always space for fine tuning as with everything but for me this device works for every material i had used for now.

@quentidoudou6544 3 жыл бұрын

@@MancaveEffects Thank you for your answer, I'm going to buy the same model as you ! Keep going 😊

@magor85 2 жыл бұрын

Thx for the Video, I struggle with finding and buy a compressor, any advise regards what I need to search exactly?

@MancaveEffects 2 жыл бұрын

Its changing all the time but here is a link, wen you scroll down you will find comparable offers: bit.ly/3FioxYR

@magor85 2 жыл бұрын

thx, for others here the name of my order: Hailea ACO SERIE High-frequency air compressor

@MilanKarakas 3 жыл бұрын

At 12:12, I can see that this compressor does NOT give 45 liters of air per minute. More like 4.5 LPM or so. When I am cutting, 12 - 16 LPM is sufficient. Clean cut, only start of the cut is with some tar, but that is all.

@jannis77 3 жыл бұрын

It is not a rodent repelent powder, it is talc powder that helps with dividing the individual cable cores and also works as a lubricant.

@kevinkaiser1443 3 жыл бұрын

You’re right it’s talc powder. My school teacher told us about the rat poison... I never really believed him, just by the fact that it would harm every one working with. But I‘m really impressed that Mr Mancave still knows some of the things I told him more than 10years ago, specially because there was a lot of beer involved at that time😂

@oleglego3655 3 жыл бұрын

I tired hooking up same (or similar) pump to my k40. Vibrations ruin my rubber stamp engravings. For wood is somewhat ok, although not ideal. For cutting is awesome, almost 2x strong cuts. I've put the pump OUTSIDE the machine, on a separate table. Now I want to try and find something that has constant stream of air, to eliminate nozzle vibrations, but not so powerful and expensive as air compressor. Any ideas?

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

Well you will need some sort of air tank to get an air buffer. There are airbrush compressors out there with a reservoir, but they need to run quite often as the tank is very small. I would get me a compressor with a big air tank like 25L, but of course they cost some money specially because you need to get a decent one. The cheap ones from Home Depot are noisy and will spill oil everywhere after a while... Tried to run the air assist off a co2 tank, that works pretty well but is quite costly over time also. So no straight ideas that are cheap for now sorry.

@oleglego3655 3 жыл бұрын

@@MancaveEffects Thank you. Looking into oilless 25-40l compresssors now. For now I have used longer hose and punctured some holes in it to relieve air pressure. I get much less vibration on my engravings, but its still unacceptable for rubber stamps. Had better rubber engravings done when I had my old style of laser head, without any air assist. But swapping it in and out every time someone needs a stamp is impossible. CO2 tank would be awesome (in theory) for making cleaner cuts for some more premium orders, or for stuff where you cant reach with sandpaper. My brother handpaints fishing lures and is interested buying compressor too. Maybe we'll pool in.

@jopl2558 3 жыл бұрын

@@oleglego3655 Quite a late response, but have you tried to make the table the laser is on heavier? It should help to dampen the vibrations.

@JordyValentine 2 жыл бұрын

@@oleglego3655 if you get better results engraving rubber with out it, just don't run it for those jobs, save it for cutting etc

@milankarakastutorials900 3 жыл бұрын

How much liters per minute of air?

@33uses 2 жыл бұрын

When I added a 50L air assist to my k40 laser It turns on and off by itself, what is the SOLUTION please 🥺

@trustgaming_shorts 3 жыл бұрын

Nice video, where to buy the transparent tube from? 😀cheers 🍻

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

Got this from a home improvment store. They can often be found in the aquaristic section (aquarium supplies)

@Bobster986 3 жыл бұрын

Isn’t the pump going to vibrate the machine, moving the cutting material while the laser is working?

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

It actually runy pretty smooth. The rubber feet seem to absorb the vibrations. However the outlet at the laser head is quite noisy.

@Bobster986 3 жыл бұрын

@@MancaveEffects regardless of the rubber feet, I would not suggest leaving a running air pump inside while operation the laser. Not only will the vibrations degrade the engraving results, I’m sure it’s very bad for the tube, especially where you seem to store it closely to the back of the machine where the tube resides.

@TrueBlueAustralian Жыл бұрын

Got the same pump but people telling me not to put inside as the vibration from the motor could vibrate the laser?

@MancaveEffects Жыл бұрын

I made the experience that when i mounted it to the bottom of the chassis that it indeed transfers vibrations. Mounted on the side however for me it works ;)

@TrueBlueAustralian Жыл бұрын

@@MancaveEffects So the inside of the power supply? On the left or right? Di dyou pump have semi rubber feet like mine?

@studiosolomon Жыл бұрын

Whats the capacity lit/min ???

@rockman49er 3 жыл бұрын

Will it work on a regular 110 household outlets

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

You can choose the voltage on the ebay page

@rockman49er 3 жыл бұрын

@@MancaveEffects ok thanks for helping me have a great day

@fxFRA27 3 жыл бұрын

Why the hell do you put that cup of tea inside the laser cutter !!?? I was just afraid of the moment it would fall inside...

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

The k40 besides its qualities of cutting stuff also offers some nice storage space for mugs and plates. It is also perfect to keep warm pizza 👀

@lezbriddon 3 жыл бұрын

powder in cable is simply chalk dust. you can google why

@Roycronos 2 жыл бұрын

Hello! is enough to use 50 L/min ¿?

@MancaveEffects 2 жыл бұрын

Should be more than enough.

@sdfgsdfg3789 3 жыл бұрын

I too watch AvE :D

@Graeme758 5 ай бұрын

Less than 2 psi, better than nothing but a proper compressor with a tank is much better. Save your £30 and put it towards an airbrush/nail compressor which will give you 30 psi. Cost about £60-£100.

@joetkeshub 3 жыл бұрын

check your broken links!

@sunriseshell Жыл бұрын

I feel like I've stumbled into a parellel universe where AVE is a European instead of a Canuck.

@MancaveEffects Жыл бұрын

Definately got some inspiration from that side 😂

@AndrewAHayes 3 жыл бұрын

A good negative ioniser in the room will stop you smelling the burnt wood!

@MancaveEffects 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a great idea! Thanks

@oleglego3655 3 жыл бұрын

@@MancaveEffects My 2 cents on the ioniser - I use cheapo ozone generator enclosed in a sealed box. I put my engravings in, and run it for some time. It really works! But the ozone will corode a lot of different plastics and rubbers (and your lungs, and your pet lungs, and some plants) so room aplication is not the best idea. Ionisers also produce ozone, but in much smaller quantities. I tried enclosing ioniser I borrowed and it had less effect than an ozone generator.

@FakirCB 3 жыл бұрын

It's not a good idea to cut wires right above the fan grill of a 15 kV power supply. If some strands happen to fall into the PSU, it can make for an interesting experience. :-)