The laser didn’t quite work out

THE LASER DIDN’T QUITE WORK OUT

At ELETOR, we are constantly looking for and testing solutions to improve our production. Outsourcing some production stages, together with growing demand for our devices, is forcing us to bring certain product-processing operations directly into our factory. Long lead times for having enclosures milled by our suppliers, as well as the labour-intensive process of milling holes for screen printing, led us to look for other options. We decided to try laser processing. Yesterday, 31 January 2018, we tested processing the enclosures we use with a CO2 laser. Unfortunately, as it turned out, every attempt to burn a round hole ended in failure. The materials from which the enclosures used to manufacture our devices are moulded proved exceptionally resistant to heat. The enclosure materials — ABS, polycarbonate or self-extinguishing technopolymer — successfully resisted the laser beam, even at a power of 60W. We consider yesterday’s laser test only a partial failure. It did turn out that we would not be able to use the laser to process our enclosures. On the other hand, we found that our devices have very sturdy enclosures, which protect not only against moisture and dust but, as it turned out, also against thermal overload.