Dirty lens could contribute up to 20% of laser power loss

It is common to clean just the one lens in the laserhead and the three mirrors in your Co2 laser machine and call it clean. This is a common and easy approach to make sure your machine all optics are properly inspected  and clean. But did you know that your machine could also be equipped with a beam combiner lens? And if your machine does have one, it also needs to be inspected  and cleaned. In the same way, there is a lens at the end of your laser tube that if not inspected  it could contribute  to a power loss. 

Remember, your alignment could be stellar, and your laser tube could still be working perfectly but if you still suffer of power loss it could be a dirty lens. Do a quick inspection next time of all optics contributing to the overall performance  of your machine and confirm that it is not a dirty lens.