46
Trouble Shooting / Re: Low power when jogging still burns
« on: September 04, 2020, 05:50:13 PM »
Everything looks ok to me. When the controller is reset on does the laser come on for about 0.5 seconds? Is the laser on when idle?
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
47
Trouble Shooting / Re: Low power when jogging still burns
« on: September 04, 2020, 12:10:09 PM »
I suspect if you disconnect the S wire the input will float high and the laser will turn ON. It needs a pull-down to default to OFF.
Please post your GRBL parameters.
Please post your GRBL parameters.
48
General Discussion / Re: Rebuilt my Laser
« on: August 31, 2020, 12:17:10 PM »
Rotating the motors by hand turns them into generators. With fast motions you could damage the driver. Try removing the stepper motor driver boards.
49
General Discussion / Re: Lens Test
« on: August 25, 2020, 04:27:06 PM »
I think it is better for a very limited Z distance. Either side of ideal it gets worse. I have all 3 and still prefer the 3 element lens for general work. The G2 works great on slate. The G8 didn't live up to its claims.
50
Engraving / Re: Curious about acrylic engraving
« on: August 25, 2020, 11:28:52 AM »
How do you remove the unetched material?
51
General Discussion / Re: Lens Test
« on: August 21, 2020, 09:35:53 PM »
The laser beam at best is cone shaped. The closer the diode is to the work the greater the angle. On both sides of the ideal focal point the beam widens. G2 were designed for efficiency. From what I've read the 3 element lens is about 70% efficient while the G2 is about 90%. This make the G2 good for material such as slate and poor for cutting 3mm wood. You might want to look into a G8 lens.
52
General Discussion / Re: New Member CNCDean
« on: August 21, 2020, 09:42:15 AM »
There was a long discussion about this topic a couple of years ago. I think Steve Nottingham posted a spring loaded solution.
The carriage should glide easily. There are a few different styles of wheels with different profiles and hardness. Appears that not all vendors apply due diligence in engineering the assembly.
I tried eccentric nuts with little success. Eventually settled on a dual rail system with the laser positioned between. Traded reduced etching area for stability.
The carriage should glide easily. There are a few different styles of wheels with different profiles and hardness. Appears that not all vendors apply due diligence in engineering the assembly.
I tried eccentric nuts with little success. Eventually settled on a dual rail system with the laser positioned between. Traded reduced etching area for stability.
53
Trouble Shooting / Re: Engraving problem only when just on one axis
« on: August 20, 2020, 12:31:11 PM »
I would start with some known simple test patterns, square, circle, etc.
54
Trouble Shooting / Re: Engraving problem only when just on one axis
« on: August 19, 2020, 01:30:55 PM »
Is the problem single pixel width lines perpendicular to the motion of travel?
55
Benbox / Re: Just a burn line and no shape or text
« on: August 15, 2020, 06:54:04 AM »
The firmware is generic Arduino. The only problem that I have encountered is the bootloader. The the size of the application plus bootloader must be less than 32K. I don't recall the exact sizes but the newer current firmware (version 1.1) can exceed the free space available with the older bootloaders. The newer bootloader is significantly smaller.
Rewriting the bootloader can be a pain. Requires another piece of hardware. Some of the cheaper Nano "clones" still come with the old while "genuine" have the new.
You can tell the difference by connecting to the device with the Arduino IDE.
There are multiple methods for updating the firmware. T2 from Zax has an advantage in that he supplies the whole package. Firmware plus burn procedure.
Do you have any local hobby clubs such as Makerspace, Mens Shed, or Robotics?
Rewriting the bootloader can be a pain. Requires another piece of hardware. Some of the cheaper Nano "clones" still come with the old while "genuine" have the new.
You can tell the difference by connecting to the device with the Arduino IDE.
There are multiple methods for updating the firmware. T2 from Zax has an advantage in that he supplies the whole package. Firmware plus burn procedure.
Do you have any local hobby clubs such as Makerspace, Mens Shed, or Robotics?
56
General Discussion / Re: New here
« on: August 14, 2020, 11:01:56 PM »
Your controller appears to have an Arduino Nano CPU board. Just get another inexpensive Nano to play firmware upgrades with. It also has A4988 stepper motor drivers. Again inexpensive and readily available.
57
General Discussion / Re: New here
« on: August 14, 2020, 05:02:25 PM »
The laser coming on strong is a common complaint. The reason is that the CPU pins float HIGH during reset. HIGH is laser on. Once the firmware starts it will set the pin as an output and drive it low (OFF). Can be fixed by soldering a 3K ohm pull-down resistor ($0.05US) between the laser PWM signal and GND.
Please post some details of your machine.
Please post some details of your machine.
58
Benbox / Re: Just a burn line and no shape or text
« on: August 14, 2020, 04:55:32 PM »
I started with lasers about 4 years ago. No prior experience but the benbox software/firmware lasted less than 20 minutes. I am Linux based and can attest that there is nothing magical with laser engravers. From reputation (and 4 years listening to Zax) T2 is a solid, well supported laser etching application. If you decide to stay with benbox, log the hours spent trying to do anything outside their demos and if your time is worth less than $0.25US per hour you might be satisfied.
You didn't post any info on your particular machine but if it includes a plugin Arduino Nano CPU board you can purchase a replacement Nano and load the new firmware. Then you would have both. While your at it you might want to get some stepper motor drivers. They seem to quickly die with new users.
You didn't post any info on your particular machine but if it includes a plugin Arduino Nano CPU board you can purchase a replacement Nano and load the new firmware. Then you would have both. While your at it you might want to get some stepper motor drivers. They seem to quickly die with new users.
59
General Discussion / Re: Odd Homing Behavior
« on: August 13, 2020, 06:18:49 AM »
Just looked up what error code 8 means.
"Grbl '$' command cannot be used unless Grbl is IDLE. Ensures smooth operation during a job."
Looks like I need to wait for motion to complete before issuing the $h.
"Grbl '$' command cannot be used unless Grbl is IDLE. Ensures smooth operation during a job."
Looks like I need to wait for motion to complete before issuing the $h.
60
General Discussion / Re: Odd Homing Behavior
« on: August 13, 2020, 06:13:28 AM »
I got cranky decades ago. The laser head can be well away from the switches (100 mm) and the motion is not towards the switches. Actual error message:
Error : <-4>error:8
The initial motion serge is probably my host code. I move the head 5 mm in both X & Y when doing a homing operation. Can remove and retest.
This is the gcode:
G91
G00 X 5 Y 5
G90
$h
G92 X 0 Y 0 Z 0
Error : <-4>error:8
The initial motion serge is probably my host code. I move the head 5 mm in both X & Y when doing a homing operation. Can remove and retest.
This is the gcode:
G91
G00 X 5 Y 5
G90
$h
G92 X 0 Y 0 Z 0