Benbox Laser Machines/CO2 Lasers/3D Printers

Mine sits idle. Can't seem to find a use for it. Have friends with "real" CNC machines and it is easier to let them do all the work.

LOL! Now that is funny, I don't care who you are!

I ran a series of repeat tests with Bencutlaser. I tested with two different A5 sized machines. I would cut a shape then move the axis random distances. Then home and burn again. These were done at engraving power levels and slow speeds I saw excellent repeatability.

I never powered off the steppers or controller and then ran the test again. A dial indicator would be better than just a visual compare. I think that as you switch modes you might introduce "creep". If it stops between poles it will probably stay. If is at a peak between poles from micro-stepping I think it will have to fall forward or back. If it doesn't fall consistently it will creep. With a dial Indicator you will be able to see if it is staying in place or moving after power drops.

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When I installed homing switches I took some time picking the switches. I bought a bag of 20. I then tested each switch for its "feel", travel, overtravel and it's sound. Some had a real crisp click to them and the click sounded like a glass breaking. Some were just plain mushy and traveled a bit they broke over, their audible click was not crisp and clear, closer to a crunch.

All of the switches that did not feel clean had a lot of travel, traveled more than half way before they broke over. They also had a lot of over travel. The crisp switches all broke earlier and had little to no overtravel at all.

A couple times I continued these burns until the shape fell free from the board. I noticed no stepping in the cut edges. Of course that could have been the edges were burned away. But I should have seen a coning effect or something other than the straight up and down sides I saw.

So the quality of the switches has a lot to do with it and then you pick the best. Another help is slowing the "homing feed" to about 350. Homing seek was about 5000.

The batteries are easy to replace. Test the chargers. With that many you should be able to get at least half working. Then sell them. The 6's still have decent value. The 5's work decently too! Any you cannot get working part out or look for someone buying them for parts for repair!

If you are seeing that low it could be a lens problem. It could be that it is a 1.8W M140 instead of 2W. They show some of the tested outputs of 2W M140's using a G2 lens.
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/445-m140-didoes

same tests with 1.8 W M140's
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/445nm-h1650-diodes

Even with the heat conducting epoxy you need metal to metal contact to protect the diode. Metal to metal is always the best conductor! heat sink compounds and epoxy are good for filling in any gaps or attaching.

That adapter is a really small ring and counter sunk to accept the smaller diode. I could have made one, but for the price of the modules it's just not worth the time! For me I just had to remove the adapter to go to a bigger diode. Unfortunately I damaged the adapter getting it out.

Good luck!

Being that it is a STM32 controller you cannot use any of the grbl firmwares that are used on the Arduino controlled boards. I suspect that the grbl version is older than what is now available. It looks like possibly grbl 0.8. So that might be part of the continuous burn thing. Just not sure as I have not played with the STM32. You may be able to find a setting that cures that through your LCD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBtbAYmfEE
https://github.com/Meekdai/STM32-GRBL