I am a technician whose job it is to service and repair projection laser equipment. These laser projectors are manufactured primarily by two different European companies, for the present time we will call them company A and company K. The input programming to these lasers is done by computer software and transmitted via DMX.
I recently had a moving head laser (company A) come into the shop where the DMX input board was vaporized and the DMX to analog PCB controlling pan and tilt was also shot. I quickly found the root cause of the voltage surge where one of the terminals of the AC input fuse contacted the case.
In the process of repairing this unit, it occurred to me that the earth ground was tied in to the DC common bus. Be aware that this unit has 6 separate DC power supplies.
This seemed strange to me since in my experience we always kept the DC bus isolated from earth ground. Upon inquiry, I was told that all company A lasers are configured this way. Upon further investigation I was told that all company K lasers are configured with the DC common isolated from earth ground.
So I'm throwing this out for general discussion. What are the pros and cons of each configuration?
I recently had a moving head laser (company A) come into the shop where the DMX input board was vaporized and the DMX to analog PCB controlling pan and tilt was also shot. I quickly found the root cause of the voltage surge where one of the terminals of the AC input fuse contacted the case.
In the process of repairing this unit, it occurred to me that the earth ground was tied in to the DC common bus. Be aware that this unit has 6 separate DC power supplies.
This seemed strange to me since in my experience we always kept the DC bus isolated from earth ground. Upon inquiry, I was told that all company A lasers are configured this way. Upon further investigation I was told that all company K lasers are configured with the DC common isolated from earth ground.
So I'm throwing this out for general discussion. What are the pros and cons of each configuration?