PowerLossMonitor

The PowerLossMonitor is a system to measure the power dissipated within water-cooled beam guiding components.

  • Temperature sensors
  • A flow meter
  • The control unit with the electronics
  • Display and interface

Application

The PowerLossMonitor is a system to measure the power dissipated within water-cooled beam guiding components, for instance mirrors.

This is done by measuring the flow-rate of the coolant and the temperature rise between in- and output of the coolant.

Based on these parameters, the dissipated power can be calculated. These readings can be used to supervise the power loss in a beam-guiding system and to determine service intervals for mirrors and similar optical com-ponents.

If there is a sufficient thermal isolation of the mounting of the optics, the measured power directly corresponds to the power dissipation within the optical components.

In standard applications, it is difficult to come to a complete thermal insulation of the optics. Normally, there is always some heat flow between the mounting base and the optics.

This typically leads to a small shift of the zero-level of the measuring value. This zero-level should be subtracted in advance. The software allows for such a zero-level correction.

Technical description

  • LCD display
  • Analog out
  • An RS 485 serial interface to connect to a PC running the PRIMES PowerMonitor Software

A typical result of the PowerLossMonitor within a welding machine is shown below. It indicates the changes of the mirrors of the beam guiding system of the CO2 -laser maschine.

(Voss, Battermann: Qualitiy Assurance through laser beam diagnostics)

Technical data

  • Power supply: 24 Volt, +/-5%, 800 mA
  • Temperature measurement resolution: 0,001K
  • Power measurement resolution: 1 Watt

PRIMES Bus

  • The PRIMES-bus combines power supply and data communication.
  • A 9-pin D-sub plug is used for power supply.
  • In addition, the PRIMES-bus can be used with the RS485/RS232 converter box for serial data communication to a PC.

Control and presentation

The Control Unit is equipped with an LCD display and can be operated independent of a PC.
The display readings are shown for:

  • Input temperature
  • Temperature difference
  • Flow rate of the coolant
  • The recalculated power dissipation

These values can also be displayed on a PC via PRIMES-Bus and the PowerMonitor Software. This requires an RS485 to RS232 converter and the PRIMES PC-Software for the PowerMonitor.