So after a couple of months of 3d printing, I finally got around to trying out the laser head, and didn’t realize until after calibration that I probably should have taken out the webcam that I’d put in there to monitor my prints remotely. It won’t detect over USB anymore, so the laser exposure must have toasted it. Not a big deal-I should have thought of that ahead of time, and it’s not that expensive to replace, but has anyone actually tried to rig up a camera with a laser-safe lens on it to monitor laser jobs? I was thinking of just moving the mount outside of the enclosure for laser/CNC work, but would be interested in what others have come up with.
What were you using the laser on?
Unless it took a direct hit from a reflection, and even then the focus point would be far enough off, I find that hard to believe.
I use an old iPhone for remote monitoring and it’s always on no matter what and been that way for 6 months with no problems.
-S
This was just doing the calibration on the plywood that came with the machine. I suppose it could have just been coincidence. My camera mount was pretty low, and pointed straight at the head:
Tried it in 3 different PCs since, and it won’t recognize as a USB device. Maybe phone camera electronics are better protected from this sort of thing?
If the laser burnt it up, it would still recognize it as a device but the camera would return black. The laser won’t fry your circuits, it would just damage the pixels (and I agree with sdj that even that seems unlikely). Sounds to me like it was just a coincidence, or maybe there was strain on the USB cable and it gave out, or it got too warm and was damaged by heat. Regardless I doubt the laser is what killed it.