Laser 101 · Repair
What does laser cutter repair cost?
Repair pricing is more predictable than most owners expect. Here are our rates, the repairs that come up most often, and how to keep the bill down.
Our repair rates
We charge for repair labor by the hour, and quote any parts separately at cost. There are no diagnostic gimmicks and no flat call-out padding.
Parts — CO₂ tubes, mirrors, lenses, power supplies, controllers — are quoted on top of labor at our cost. Most jobs are an hour or two of labor plus whatever part the machine actually needs, which is why a remote diagnosis first usually saves money.
Common repairs and what drives the cost
On a CO₂ laser, most repair bills come from one of these.
CO₂ tube replacement
The most common big-ticket repair. A worn tube cuts weakly or not at all. The tube itself is the main cost; the labor to swap it and re-align the beam is modest by comparison.
Mirrors & lens
Dirty or misaligned optics quietly rob cutting power. This is mostly labor — cleaning and re-aligning the beam path. Parts are cheap if a mirror or lens is actually pitted.
Power supply & controller
A failed laser power supply or controller board needs diagnosis time plus the replacement part. Wiring faults and a tired cooling system fall in here too.
Start with remote diagnostics
A surprising share of "my laser stopped cutting" problems are not broken parts at all — they are alignment, focus, settings, a dirty lens, or a cooling issue. Those can often be sorted out remotely, or walked through with you over video, for far less than an on-site visit. We start with remote diagnostics at $120/hour and only roll a truck if the machine genuinely needs hands on it. It is the honest way to do it and it keeps your bill down.
Repair or replace?
A good CO₂ machine is usually worth repairing. The frame, motion system, and bed last for years; it is the consumables — the tube above all — that wear out. If the structure is sound and you only need a tube, optics, or a power supply, repair is almost always cheaper than a new machine. Replacement starts to make sense when several systems are failing at once, the controller is obsolete, or parts are no longer available. If your machine is down and you have work waiting, our DIY laser rental can keep you moving in the meantime.
Tell us what your laser is doing.
Describe the symptom and we will tell you whether it is a remote fix or an on-site repair — and roughly what it will cost — before anything is scheduled.
Laser repair service