Trunk Fiber

[Patricio]

Hi Group,

My laser was fixed today.  It now has an upgraded power pack.  I am happy to report the rest of the machine was in great shape with the last service being in August of 2002.  No handpiece or trunk damage.  We were one of the first machines to have a new water system which keeps the water cleaner so the protons are provided in a more stable and non deminishing (power) environment.  Makes for good cutting.  

This is good news.  I may ask Mark to compete for the longest use without a blown trunk.  The last of the weak links it seems.   I am at 11 months and counting.

Pat

[2thlaser]

Good news Pat! We are over a year now without trunk fiber blowout! Since last Feb. So far so good. We will see I guess!
Mark

[Anonymous]

QUOTE

Quote: from Ron Schalter DDS on 1:37 pm on May 1, 2003

The  theory is that I got a batch of bad tips. Tech called to check on lot numbers – there have been some problems with tips. Evidently when I put the new tip in last Thursday I blew the fiber,tip and handpiece. When trying my backup handpiece with a new tip and the new fiber it all blew also. Biolase is sending me new tips and handpieces and they replaced the fiber.

I have conformation that the fiber blowout was the result of the tips I had just received. Evidently Biolase, in trying to keep up with demand, had been getting some tips from China as well as their usual source. The China tips have been found to run at 85% efficiency instead of 90%. Evidently the  85% tip causes heat to build up in the fiber and eventually blow.

Biolase, once more, has stepped in and is taking care of replacements for me.

[Patricio]

 I came into the office Friday morning and heard a loud beep.  I have heard it before with the first laser I received(this one is a replacement)  so I went to the laser and checked it.  It seemed OK but later we turned it on and it died.  It has been about two weeks since it was last out of service and repaired.  So we will miss another week of use by the time Kevin can get here to fix it.
Is anyone else having two many breakdowns?

Pat

[Glenn van As]

Geez Patricio that is disappointing. Some seem to have it here and others dont. I hope it gets resolved, it must be very very frustrating to have this happen.

Good luck and hopefully it is the last time for a while.

Glenn

[Anonymous]

Ron shared with me some of the happenings with trunk fibers and tips over the weekend so I took the time to read all these posts today.  I know how much I rely on my laser to do dentistry and I feel bad for you all.  Not only is it frustrating but also it is very costly to be down when you rely on the laser for production.  Hope you are able to get them repaired and working for you soon.

(Edited by Delwin at 12:41 pm on May 26, 2003)

[ASI]

Hi All,

It is pretty disruptive when the laser goes down. This is not just another piece of equipment in the office. For the laser, it is particularly difficult to manage without.

How does one deal with appointed patients who are coming because of the laser? Sorry, Mrs Smith, the laser is on the blitz again. Is it okay if I give you an injection and do it with the handpiece today?

A practice builder this is not.

Andrew

[Swpmn]

Pat:

Twice in the month of May? That ain’t good. I believe there is a serious problem that needs to be corrected.

Not only is it a bad practice builder and also embarrassing to have to reschedule patients, but to possibly then have to reschedule them a second time really stinks! Fortunately I have never had that happen.

Best of luck my friend, like an infamous President from Hope once said, “Ah feel yore pain”. The big difference is, when I say it, I really mean it!!!!

Al

[Patricio]

I am happy to report we are back in business.  I did have a couple of patients who were unhappy to have the conventional dental tratment when the laser was down.  This is the second unit with problems.  The company took back the first unit.  This surely is a piece of equipment we need to have working.  The big problem is the delay in getting the technician in here to fix the problem.   It seems to take most of a week.

Anyway we are doing fine now. Did a crown lengthening today with no L.A. cool. Going to get paid for it too. Feels so go when things are going right.

Pat    

[Glenn van As]

Congrats on getting up and running…….now knock on wood for no more hiccups……

Speaking of hiccups……my 3.5 year laser hiccupped today and may need to be repaired , its still working but I am getting an error message on it (error 24) which apparently is something that is going to get worse.

Hoya gonna look at it and I hope to swap it out when I am in Anaheim in 1.5 weeks.

Hope it will last til then

Cya

Glenn

[ASI]

Hi Glenn,

Please keep us updated on your Delight.

Andrew

[jetsfan]

19.5 months on my first fiber. I learned today that it is important to check the tips from the back. You should see a clear spot. If it has a mark in it the tip is bad.
Bad tip =blown fiber.
It would be nice if there was an inexpensive meter that would tell me if my tip was toast.
Also, the t-4 tips look very much like the g6 tip
Z3 and Z4 are almost impossible to distinguish, even with loupes. Something for them to work on in R&D.

[dkimmel]

I made it 7 months before blowing the trunk fiber. It is all about training. First the Handpieces went. They were replaced then the fiber blew. We were told by the serive rep to purge the unit of water every night. Then the trainer said it was not necessary and a waste of time. Big mistake listening to the trainer!!!
What I learned from the service rep:
1. Every night purge the water out of the trunk fiber.
2. Never start the laser on 5.5 watts. warm it up with a max of 3.5 watts.
3. Check the tips before use.
4. Check the HP mirrors daily.
5. Clean the HP mirrors monthly.

Of course if I had remembered reading this thread I would have purged the fiber every night.

I asked about purging the line between patients with air as someone suggested. He felt it was a was of time as water is still present and as soon as you turn the air off it will flow back into the HP.

David

[Swpmn]

Beats me. I have it from someone very high on the ladder that the only time you need to purge water from the Waterlase fiber is when you remove the handpiece. But like you say, Bryon told me to purge mine every evening – maybe he knows since he’s the one that fixes ’em.

You take take the handpiece off every day and look at the mirror?

Al

[dkimmel]

Al, I will now. It take a couple of seconds. If this will keep me from having down time , you bet. If the mirrors are dirty is appears easy to clean. I really think Biolase should even have mirrors for use to replace as the HP has replacement turbines.
David

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