New
Front view of red 3000W water cooled laser cleaner

Laser Cleaners

3000W Laser Cleaner

$19,990.00 Ex. GST
Front view of white 300W laser cleaner

Laser Cleaners

Laser Cleaner Portable 300W

Original price was: $19,900.00.Current price is: $17,800.00. Ex. GST
Front view of white 500W laser cleaner, air cooled

Laser Cleaners

Laser Cleaner 500W Portable

Original price was: $37,500.00.Current price is: $28,800.00. Ex. GST
Lightwelder15 is truly portable

Laser Welders

Lightwelder15 Portable Laser

Original price was: $18,800.00.Current price is: $13,990.00. Ex. GST
Continuous wave laser cleaning head with red and black cabinet behind

Laser Cleaners

Laser cleaner option

Original price was: $680.00.Current price is: $1.00. Ex. GST

How does laser cleaning work?

Laser cleaners work by heating the surface layer.  In the case of pulsed laser cleaners the heating is followed by cooling, and pulsing at a rapid rate causes thermal stress which cracks and flakes the coating off.  In contrast, continuous wave (CW) lasers super heat the surface layer, basically burning the rust or paint off.  Our CW lasers can also be pulsed up to 10 kHZ or so in PWM (pulse width modulation) mode.  This pulsing is a rough approximation to, but not as good as, a dedicated high frequency pulsed laser such as our 300W and 500W MOPA lasers,which pulse at up to 4 MHz.

Side view of red 3kW or 3000W continuous wave laser cleaner
G5-3000WC 3kW pulsed laser cleaner
500W MOPA pulsed laser cleaner front iso view
500W pulsed laser cleaner

What are the types of laser cleaners

There are two main types of laser cleaners: Continuous Wave laser cleaners and Pulsed laser cleaners. Continuous Wave has the lowest cost and most power. Pulsed laser cleaners have least power and most finesse, but are most expensive, on a dollars per Watt basis.

Pulsed laser vs continuous wave cleaning

Pulsed laser uses pulses of laser energy to clean. These pulses have high energy but overall the power is less, typical a few hundred Watts. Think of it like a flock of woodpeckers! Pulsed is generally best for paint or sensitive surfaces. Continuous wave is the big gun in laser cleaning, and uses continuous raw power to quickly burn the contaminants off. However the high amount of heat can partially melt the surface if overdone. On thin panels this much heat can cause shrinkage distortion in the steel.

Continuous wave vs pulsed laser
Continuous wave vs pulsed laser
Heavy rust removal thick steel
Heavy rust removal thick steel

WHAT CAN A LASER CLEANER BE USED FOR?

Laser cleaners are perfect for cleaning metals, as the contaminants burn off without damaging the metal substrate. They can also be used on most types of stone. In general, pulsed lasers cause minimal damage to the substrate. Continuous wave lasers are more powerful but more damaging to the base material being cleaned. Laser cleaners remove rust, paint, oil and oxides from all metallicl and some non metallic surfaces. Carbon black absorbs fibre laser energy strongly, allowing quick cleaning of black ash, carbon deposits and oil stains. Lasers are commonly used to clean tyre moulds of rubber build up, as tyre rubber contains high amounts of carbon black.

How much does a laser cleaner cost?

Pulsed lasers are the best at protecting the base material, but also the most expensive, costing around $19,900 upwards depending on power level.  However prices have falled considerably since 2022, so we now sell a 300W pulsed MOPA for less than we used to sell 100W pulsed laser cleaners for.  The most expensive mainstream model we sell is our 500W pulsed laser cleaner at $37,000.
Constant Wave (CW) lasers are cheapest and most powerful, starting at $12,900 for our new air cooled Lightwelder model with 2000W, up to $19,900 for our 3000W water cooled model.

KRD laser cleaning specialised head
KRD laser cleaning specialised head
cw rust cleaner comparison 1500 2000 3000W
cw rust cleaner comparison 1500 2000 3000W

 

Rust removal with a laser cleaner

Laser cleaned cast iron fretwork with original paint on the right
Paint removed quickly with 3kw laser cleaner

 

Paint removal with laser cleaner

How fast is a laser cleaner?

Thin contaminants can be removed quite quickly, but the thick layers take much longer. For thin layers a 1500W CW laser can clean up to 20 square metres per hour. Pulsed lasers around 200W are about half the speed (depending) but are gentle to the substrate being cleaned.

Laser Cleaner Safety

Same as for laser welding, eye protection for the laser cleaner user and anyone in the area is critical (see our page on laser safety).  While laser welders produce welding fumes like TIG or MIG, requiring some level of lung protection, laser cleaners put all their energy into burning materials. As such, they require high levels of protection from fumes and the chemicals generated during cleaning.