LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

I’m wondering why when I hit focus on my ruida controller it does it’s focus and sets machine 0, but then lowers the table all the way down (no limit switch at the bottom but Breath of travel set in controller so it won't crash) any ideas why it’s doing that. Additionally under user settings, it doesn’t matter how much I put under focusing, the table just goes all the way to the bottom.

Is it driving to the bottom or falling to the bottom under gravity (unwinding the lead screws)?

There is possibly a stepper driver wiring issue that once set or moved it depowers the motor. Did you wire the ENABLE terminal on your driver? Depending on how or if will determine if the motor remains powered up and acts as a brake when it arrives at the number of steps sent from the controller. This will be amplified if you used a course pitch on your Z which while giving faster travel will also give far less mechanical braking.

These two videos posted last week are worth a watch not so much for the Arduino part of it but for the wiring of generic Steppers and Drivers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe2MK9CvQM (from 8.20 in particular re the enable pin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtX0t7-m69M (mainly Arduino programming)

If not then someone else with a Ruida controller might know what is going on in software/settings.

it's driving it to the bottom like it focuses (hits the switch, lowers, goes back up, hits the switch again, then lowers all the way down). thats the current process. Both my machines are doing that, the other is a 1390 china machine with the same controller.

So if the 1390 has the same controller, does it have the same switch and home set up electrically?

As currently a non owner (until it arrives) of a 6445g. What happens if you reverse the direction of the stepper driver and tell the controller you have done it? So two negatives makes a positive type of thought by playing with the direction of travel in response to the focus rather than thinking it of a focus issue?

I disabled Autofocus in the 6445 Controller.
Now for me it works well.
Give it a try.
If I Hit now Focus it drives the bed up to the switch and then lowers a little bit and touches the switch again. And Set the Focus without driving All the way down. I think I have seen the same behavior in one of russ Videos about autofocus.

Dave Vigness wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 So if the 1390 has the same controller, does it have the same switch and home set up electrically?

It does.

Tim Mellor wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 As currently a non owner (until it arrives) of a 6445g. What happens if you reverse the direction of the stepper driver and tell the controller you have done it? So two negatives makes a positive type of thought by playing with the direction of travel in response to the focus rather than thinking it of a focus issue?

I could try that, but the focus does move in the correct direction and sets 0 correctly, its just what comes after. My steppers are setup so if i press down it goes down, and my values are already set to negative, negative, negative. I basically have the same settings as you showed here.

Aaron Fuerlinger wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 I disabled Autofocus in the 6445 Controller.
Now for me it works well.
Give it a try.
If I Hit now Focus it drives the bed up to the switch and then lowers a little bit and touches the switch again. And Set the Focus without driving All the way down. I think I have seen the same behavior in one of russ Videos about autofocus.

Dang, that was it! Disabled auto focus in focusing menu and now it behaves correctly, pretty counter intuitive lol Thanks again!

Good news- for our 6445 controller members- please update your profiles to indicate that you have this controller, I suspect we will see more issues that often pop up with new technology and it may help us help you. Gene