is a RDC6432G homeable?

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Dexter Oddwick
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2021
Location: colorado
Country: usa
Nickname: oddwick
Laser Machine Make or Type: scratch built
Laser Power: 40
Laser Bed Size: 18x22
Home Position: TL
Control Software: RDWORKS
RDWorks Version: 8.01.48
Ruida Controller: Other
Windows Version: 10

I have been if the process of rebuilding my laser and have switched control from LinuxCNC to a RDC6432G, but the transition has been far from smooth.

From what i understand, as soon as you power on the machine, it should seek home. this controller doesnt and nothing i do seems to change that. i have prowled over forums and google for the last two weeks trying everything including two factory resets. i have tried every combination of every setting there is, but to no avail.

here is the rundown of what i have and what is going on --
  1. when the machine is powered on, it briefly displays "resetting system" for about half a sec or so and then that is it. x y and u all show 10000 for position. machine jogs in all three axes with no problem
  2. when i do a axis reset, it goes through a homing sequence just fine, and then x y read 0 and u(z) reads 10000, but as soon as it is powered off, then see point 1
  3. when i home using lightburn or rdworks, it totally ignores the homing switches and crashes into hard limits
  4. in the diagnostics pane, all switches register as they should, (NO lever switches) off when open and on when triggered
  5. if i have it set to use a limit switch and home switch, when jogging all is normal, but when switch is triggered only one direction can be jogged (found this out hard way coming from cnc world where most limit switches are NC)
so far it seems that nothing i do can alter these and if i cant get the machine to home, i am just sitting on an expensive and time consuming paperweight. this might seem like a stupid question, but i have to double check, when you do a factory reset it only resets the vender settings, not the actual firmware right? you never know. im pretty sure not because it is still branded with cloudray after the reset. are there other settings that you cant access through rdworks that get changed during a reset and if so, how do you access them? or does anybody have a different firmware for a 6432g that they can share? i guess at some point ruida stopped publishing firmware updates on their website as far as i can tell..

anyway, thanks for reading this and i hope somebody has some input that will help me!
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Pete Cyr
Posts: 1964
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016
Location: Suffolk Virginia
Country: United States
Laser Machine Make or Type: Boss 1630
Laser Power: 100w
Laser Bed Size: 16"x30"
Home Position: TR
Control Software: RDWORKS
RDWorks Version: v8.01.18
Ruida Controller: RDC6442
Windows Version: Win 10
Accessories: roller rotary attachment

Sorry Dexter - I dont have an answer for you - there are some others here that have the experience and knowledge to answer your question. I am sure they will chime in as the review your coquestions.
Location - VA
Equipment - Boss Laser 1630
Power - 100W
Laser Bed Size - 16" x 30"
Home Position - TR
Full RDWorks Version - v8.01.18
First name - Pete
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Dave Vigness
Posts: 526
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019
Location: Kansas City - Rural
Country: USA
Nickname: Dave
Laser Machine Make or Type: Chine Red and Black
Laser Power: EF RF2 80W
Laser Bed Size: 20 x 26
Home Position: TR
Control Software: RDWORKS
RDWorks Version: 8.01.54
Ruida Controller: RDC6445
Windows Version: 7
Accessories: Power Switch for air assist / exhaust blower, Ma meter with switch for external digital, dual digital temp gauge, LED lights under gantry and and and.

Pics and a list here. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

What kind of home switches do you have? Electronic or mechanical? Have you went into the diagnostic page on the controller to see if they are activating?
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Dexter Oddwick
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2021
Location: colorado
Country: usa
Nickname: oddwick
Laser Machine Make or Type: scratch built
Laser Power: 40
Laser Bed Size: 18x22
Home Position: TL
Control Software: RDWORKS
RDWorks Version: 8.01.48
Ruida Controller: Other
Windows Version: 10

the switches are NO lever switches and mechanically everything is sound and works perfect. on the diagnostics page, the switches work exactly as they should and when i reset the axes, everything is fine, so it is not a physical issue. this is entirely a firmware/vendor settings issue.

as i said earlier, it will not home on startup, all three axes show a location of 10000, and when i try to home from the computer, the controller completely ignores the switch signals and crashes both x and y into the hard limits. ive been working at this for over two weeks now and i am no closer to finding a solution than when i started...
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Gene Uselman
Posts: 2180
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016
Location: Suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
Country: USA
Nickname: Gene
Laser Machine Make or Type: QC
Laser Power: 130W
Laser Bed Size: 900x1300
Home Position: TR
Control Software: LIGHTBURN
RDWorks Version: RDw .19 & Lightburn
LightBurn Version: Latest
Ruida Controller: RDC6442
Windows Version: Win 10 Pro
Accessories: I have a combining lenses, pin tables [homebuilt], honeycomb tables , wireless remote, Modifed Ultimate Air Assist, home built non-powered rotary device, PrusaMK4 and Mini Prusa printers.

The axis will always show 10,000 until they reset at home. I am sure you are aware of the settings in the Vendor files that control the homing behavior and the way the limit switches are set up for the many different machine setups and the way the machine will react. One thing you might try is to compare your Vendor file with one that works [does not have to be the same model of Ruida as far as I have been able to tell] with Notepad ++ [install the [free] comparison gadget. It will show you where your file differs from an other file.
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Dexter Oddwick
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2021
Location: colorado
Country: usa
Nickname: oddwick
Laser Machine Make or Type: scratch built
Laser Power: 40
Laser Bed Size: 18x22
Home Position: TL
Control Software: RDWORKS
RDWorks Version: 8.01.48
Ruida Controller: Other
Windows Version: 10

thanks for the reply!

ok so couple of questions.

would the vendor settings cause the controller to not home on startup? because as far as i can tell, this should be the default behavior of the controller -- power on and it seeks home. mine does not do that, nor has it ever.

and where would i get a copy of a working vendor setting file? like a dumba** i did not back up the original settings because it was a fresh build and did not believe that any of the settings were relevant to my machine. but for what its worth, even when i first ran it before i reset it, it still did not home on startup...
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Gene Uselman
Posts: 2180
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016
Location: Suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
Country: USA
Nickname: Gene
Laser Machine Make or Type: QC
Laser Power: 130W
Laser Bed Size: 900x1300
Home Position: TR
Control Software: LIGHTBURN
RDWorks Version: RDw .19 & Lightburn
LightBurn Version: Latest
Ruida Controller: RDC6442
Windows Version: Win 10 Pro
Accessories: I have a combining lenses, pin tables [homebuilt], honeycomb tables , wireless remote, Modifed Ultimate Air Assist, home built non-powered rotary device, PrusaMK4 and Mini Prusa printers.

Yes- vendor settings will do that [or cause it to not home]. Your 6432G appears to be a new version of the control pad and a similar control module to our more common 6442 and 6445 modules so I am [quite] sure the Vendor files are the same and we have a subforum with many different machines- [may be called rescue files]. Pick one that has a similar size bed and the same homing position that your limit switches determine. There are details in the FAQ files as to how to Read and Write the files to the controller. Gene
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Please consider making a donation to maintain the RDWORKSLAB Forum.


The days that I keep my gratitude higher than
my expectations, Well, I have really good days.
Ray Wylie Hubbard- unfortunately deceased
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Dexter Oddwick
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2021
Location: colorado
Country: usa
Nickname: oddwick
Laser Machine Make or Type: scratch built
Laser Power: 40
Laser Bed Size: 18x22
Home Position: TL
Control Software: RDWORKS
RDWorks Version: 8.01.48
Ruida Controller: Other
Windows Version: 10

ok so to confirm your suspicions, yes both the 6442 and 6445 configs are compatible with a 6432.

but (and this is a big one), it changed nothing. well except what youd expect with direction and speed etc. i just used them as is so as to not introduce any variables into my problem.

but i am also operating under the assumption that when powered on, the machine should automatically seek home positions, correct? i also assume this of my controller because it has home switch inputs. or am i off base?
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User avatar
Gene Uselman
Posts: 2180
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016
Location: Suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
Country: USA
Nickname: Gene
Laser Machine Make or Type: QC
Laser Power: 130W
Laser Bed Size: 900x1300
Home Position: TR
Control Software: LIGHTBURN
RDWorks Version: RDw .19 & Lightburn
LightBurn Version: Latest
Ruida Controller: RDC6442
Windows Version: Win 10 Pro
Accessories: I have a combining lenses, pin tables [homebuilt], honeycomb tables , wireless remote, Modifed Ultimate Air Assist, home built non-powered rotary device, PrusaMK4 and Mini Prusa printers.

This pict is from Lightburn but if using RDworks- use code rd8888 to get into Vendor settings- under the X & Y axis they will have settings similar to these which control the homing behavior- the polarity may not work as you think- just make a change and write to the controller and try to see if it has made a difference. Each machine is different and wired differently- you are trying things till you get a BINGO

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Homing.jpg
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If the Help and advice you received here was of VALUE...
Please consider making a donation to maintain the RDWORKSLAB Forum.


The days that I keep my gratitude higher than
my expectations, Well, I have really good days.
Ray Wylie Hubbard- unfortunately deceased
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Dexter Oddwick
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2021
Location: colorado
Country: usa
Nickname: oddwick
Laser Machine Make or Type: scratch built
Laser Power: 40
Laser Bed Size: 18x22
Home Position: TL
Control Software: RDWORKS
RDWorks Version: 8.01.48
Ruida Controller: Other
Windows Version: 10

yes, ive done that, with all variations of enable homing and limit trigger (both on, both off, one on/one off etc) all to no avail. it just will not home either from software or on start up. its like the controller just ignores those settings...
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