Be safe when performing this project.

SAFETY IS MOST IMPORTANT.  IF YOU DO IT WRONG THEN YOU CAN BE ELECTROCUTED.  THE HIGH VOLTAGE AND POWER COMBINATION CAN BE LETHAL.  FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW. DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING SAFETY.

The high voltage laser power supply settings can greatly affect the lifetime of the CO2 glass laser tube.  A setting above 30 mA will, in almost all cases, greatly diminish the operational life (changing an expected life of several years to months).  Even though the laser tubes are ranked in months, such as the 60 watt tubes, I have had customers use them for years before they finally loose power.

More recently, the higher power CO2 glass laser tubes, above 80 watts, and certainly 100, 130, 150, and 180 watts have been more inclined to have shortened lives because the power supply is improperly set.  

Whatever your reason for checking the power supply current, the steps are provided to demonstrate a safe manner to take a reading then take action to remedy.

1. Power off laser machine
2. Wait ten minutes. this is the time for the power supply to drain power from its electrical capacitors. 
3. Setup as shown in photos below.  You will need to purchase and use two sets of wires.  We recommend a black wire with aligator clips on each end and a red wire with aligator clips on each end.  These wires should be available at radio shack.

  A. See the power supply wire connection.  Do not touch the red wire.  It has extremely high voltage that is lethal.

  B.  See the thin wire.  It is colored blue, or black, or green as shown.

C. See the meter below as an example meter.  Some meters are slightly different, so adjust instructions as needed.  Set meter to read current at mA.  Set meter to read DC current.  Insert red cable of meter into meter connection for current (labeled mA, or micro A, or A).

Check and confirm all connections and review these instructions.  After you confirm that all connections have been completed properly, then power on the laser machine. 

Using the touchpad, select Menu and set the laser power to 5% and the time to 3000 ms.  Power on the the laser from the touchpad and read the meter after the number settles.  To confirm that you have no problems, there will be no sparks or electrical arcing.  If sparks or electrical arcing then stop all work, power off the machine.

If the meter provides a reading and no sparks or arcing, then proceed by setting the laser power to 100%.

The current measurement at maximum output power should be 28 mA for a long life setting for a standard Chinese CO2 glass laser tube.  If the value is higher (such as more than 30 mA) then the internal gases will be consumed much more quickly during operation and the glass laser tube will need to be replaced more often.