Bodor BCL0605MU w/100w Reci- my solutions #1

[Pete Cyr]

Post by Gene Uselman » Sat Oct 15, 2016 2:20 pm

OK- this is my fix for the Bodor BCL0605MU with 100watt Reci tube I was experiencing the same random problems with the steppers when the laser fired I worked on it for a month on and off with no joy, unpacked another one which arrived shortly after the first to see if it had the same problems... and it did. After talking to Mike_C from the forum, I decided to strip out the high voltage wire to the tube cathode and first added another tube over the silicone (I think) tube that Bodor runs the wire in- that did not help. Next I routed the wire around the top of the door opening on that side, tucking it into the channel that forms the frame the door closes into.
That was better but not quite enough- then I fabricated acrylic tabs to tape (with VeryHighBond tape) onto the door frame so I could get the wire farther away from the wires to the machine readout panel. That was the solution to the problem. I have done this on both Bodors and they both work great.

Bodor%20wire%20routing%20-%20clips-10_15_16.jpg

Bodor%20tests%20-%20nozzle%20alignment-10_15_16.jpg

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Post by sebastien laforet » Mon Oct 17, 2016 3:29 am

that's a nice solution, and cheap and easy... too bad the bodor guys did not see fit to do this themselves! also, it seems that almost all bodor owners had those problems, so i don't understand how they missed this!

this is especially true since they added a guide for the plug beetween the PSU out wire (short red) and the long red wire, so the plug does not touch the frame!

last point : your sample are very nice. would you share the RLD file? i can do one myself but since you have already done the job...
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Post by Gene Uselman » Mon Oct 17, 2016 7:20 am

I will organize those files later today, Sebastien. I modified them to max out at 80%- max mA is reached at about 75%, is yours the same? I sent the first of the Bodors home yesterday... one more and I am a (relatively) free man again and can get back to having fun like old guys are supposed to. Gene

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hello,

yesterday, i finally tried to put the right cover on, again... just put the part that covers the tube (not the door), and, guess what, it immediately failed with the y motor frozen at first pulse.

removed cover, everything works fine.

i have made sure the wire in the cover does not touch the frame (taping the wire to the tube), but there is no way to put enough distance beetween the red wire and the metal frame.

in my machine, the red wire follows the bottom of the frame, there are plastic clips so the wire is not directly on the frame, but still very close.

actually, in my machine, the problem seems not to be the routing from the PSU along the door frame, but the proximity of the red wire to the cover frame that must induce current that is then propagated further.

i believe that i will just cut the right part with a metal saw, and add a cover made of plexiglas with enough clearance. before that, i'll try to add some custom made plastic clips, but i have not to much hope.

i was intending to add self-fuse tape on the anode wiring, but somehow i lost the tape, so did not try this. i still have the red silicon cap.
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Post by Gene Uselman » Wed Oct 26, 2016 7:54 am

I don't think that the high voltage going to the frame is the problem- rather it is affecting the low voltage control wiring. I just completed a total alignment with the mirrors and tube and I think things are working even better than before. This last weekend I was cutting .5 inch materials and realized that the cuts were too much out of square to do the parts I was cutting, so I did a radical realignment. i have a few pictures of how I did it and will write it up as soon as possible. The daughter of my long suffering fiance (20years) is in the hospital having the first grandchild and I have to travel to the next state to pick up her brother the next two days so it may well be the weekend before I can do it.

Did you run the HV wire along the top of the door frame? That I believe will cure your problem. I had to take the tube extension cover off again to align the tube and was very glad that I altered that cover to screw on from the outside as in the picture. Gene

DSC00477.JPG

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Post by sebastien laforet » Thu Oct 27, 2016 4:16 am

i'll try routing the red wire on the upper part of the frame.

if this works, i will definitely use the external screwing for the frame... trying to screw from the inside is incredibly tedious.

for the screwing, did you reuse the existing threading in the holes, or did you just plain drilled trough the body and use a bolt of bigger diameter and washers?
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Post by Gene Uselman » Thu Oct 27, 2016 1:37 pm

I posted in another Bodor post that if you smack the welded on standoffs they will break away from the cover leaving a nice round hole. I then put 'J'
nuts on the slots that you normally screw through into the threaded standoffs. J nuts are widely used in the automotive field and come in many varieties, see here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=j+nuts& ... nwj08KM%3A

[sebastien laforet]

just a follow-up to this old post.

definitely, the problem is with the metal frame cover on the tube.

my machine works without this frame with no problem. but this would not be a solution for an entreprise, because it violates security rules : the laser is not enclosed and you could touch the wiring! DO NOT DO THIS! (unless you are sure of who is near the laser and acts accordingly)

for me, this is a "hobby" machine, and none except me is around, so i consider this "sure enough", and i never get near the tube at any time. also the wiring is correctly protected by silicone tape + large silicone cap, so there is no metal visible. nevertheless, i'm not really sure how much distance an electrical arcing can go through air...

[Gene Uselman]

Just to clarify, I did not leave the tube extension off, I modified it internally for clearance for the tube and modified the mounting points so that it can be taken off from the outside, instead of the very tedious method that the factory used from the interior. That machine is working fine now. Gene