LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

I'm an electrical engineer turned software engineer turned functional safety engineer in the automotive domain. I've been using 3d printers for 8 years and decided to try something new. I purchased a Chinese 50W blue and gray in November that is going to be used as a hobby machine. My 11 year old tells me I bought it as a midlife crisis .

The machine is currently down because I'm finishing up a few "improvements" like many others plus one or two I haven't seen:

• Added Ultimate air assist. However I added a switch that allows NOZZLE ONLY/AUTO/FULL ON instead of the shipped AUTO/FULL ON solution. Since I can do the lower pressure only I didn't install the supplied air valve near the nozzle.

• New? - Adding a pressure transducer with a 5volt voltage comparator+relay connected to Water Protect 2 that looks for >3 PSI of air just in case I forget to open the valve to my shop air (in-progress). Even though I have a solenoid that turns on the shop air I like to shut off the valve in the basement when the machine is idle.

• Adding a momentary switch to the far left side enclosure that is accessible when the lid is open. This will bypass the lid safety switch when pushed. This seems like a better approach than putting a piece of metal on the safety sensor. My theory is that while firing the laser with the lid open my left hand will be holding down the momentary switch and my right hand will be hitting the pulse button.

• Hooked to shop air and added a solenoid that turns on when the program starts. Need to add a drying system to my shop air vs the simple oil and water catcher.

• Added a time delay relay to the exhaust blower (modified bounce house fan) that runs for 45 seconds after the program ends

• Added a relay to turn on the water pump whenever the Laser Switch is turned on

• Swapped out the Chinese supplied outlets for the fan and water pump mods above with real grounded outlets. These don't go through the e-Stop in order to avoid the low amp rating of the switch.

• Added a USB hub inside the machine

• Need to mount my Lightburn camera

• Adding a z-axis stepper and auto-focus. The hard part has been finding/fabricating a suitable bracket for the motor. I bought an 18" Harbor Freight brake and a 16gauge piece of steel. Going to try and make a bracket myself. I've finally sourced the green connectors that go into the Ruida controller which was another hard to find part (ok, not hard to find but ordered from Newark for $6 plus $6 shipping).

I also need to add an air filtration system but haven't decided if I want to go with the DIY version using real BOFA filters or something else.

So thanks to all that have shared their knowledge and I hope I can do the same.

Chris

Welcome Chris- looks like you have most of the bases covered. I also have shop air and a solenoid to turn it on with the machine. I have always used a similar solenoid to the Ult Air solenoid but they are really not long duty cycle parts so I bought a ball valve which will not get hot, but... I find that I need to reverse the polarity on the valve motor and I have not had time to figure out how to do that, as the power to the relay which drives it loses power before it can cycle off. Always something?

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