LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

here is my issue in multiple parts as i have copied and pasted from the lightburn forum


sorry for such a long post




I have the famous Ebay blue and grey 50w OMTech laser. I bought in 2020 and it has worked great. It has given me very little problems. But here recently it has developed a mind of its own. For whatever reason the X and Y axis have lost their way and are now showing,10,000 each on the controller screen and the laser head moves and crashes into the side of the machine. My first thought was limit switches. But mine do in fact light up, and on occasion while I’ve been messing with it do give an error on the controller screen and stop the gantry. I do have two brand new ones that I ordered but I have not put them on. Two weeks ago, when this started I figured that what it was, but I let it sit overnight and came back the next day and it just started working …I ran it for about 6 hrs. on several jobs and never had a hiccup. Today I came in to use it and we are back to the same issue again. I have tried to reset and turn off and on and all failed. I am beginning to wonder if my vendor file was somehow changed or became corrupt. I can send screen shots of the files if anyone has any insite and can help me with them.
I did sign up for the rd works forum and actually found a thread with the blue and grey laser but even after I have been approved and can log in to RD works it says I do not have permission to view that file…So I came here as well to ask yall…

I also emailed OMTech but i am sure it will be a few days before I hear from them.

and on a final note, maybe this is my controller failing. My laser is in a room that we do not keep cool when we are gone and here in west Texas it has been getting pretty hot during the day. I do cool the room substantially before I ever use it though.

Sorry for the drawn out post I am just hoping one of you guys can help me out

Clint



Well, I think I fixed it … I found a vendor file for the same machine here on rd works…and was able to download the file …but it’s an rd file…So I had to download rd works and pull the vendor file into that and the write it to the controller…then closed rd works and opened Lightburn and read the controller settings again and then saved them in Lightburn…turned off the machine and back on and it worked …I will save the files from Lightburn and create a backup and see how it goes…so far been running for 30 min on a cup I’m engraving …so cross your fingers I’ll keep everyone updated



well scratch that…worked for one cup…turned machine off and came back today to the same issue…and it does it with both lightburn and RD works …so maybe a controller going bad ???

There are several possibilities- does the machine turn on at all? IOW- the head moves but the tube does not fire? Troubleshooting is eliminating one part and moving to the next part, it can be a grind and we will try to help- give as complete a description of what does work and what does not. Gene

Yes sir it turns on fine and as soon as it does I have it set to home at the left rear...it travels to the left rear corner and that where it grinds.....like the limit switch didn't stop it......I got it to work the other night and I engraved a cup just fine all went well had no issues. I turned the machine off and came back the next morning to the same issue with it trying to home to the back left and it gets there and just grinds away until I het ESC on the control pad.

I have done a bit more trouble shooting and have come to think that maybe the limit switch is bad. If I move the gantry all the way towards the front of the machine the limit switch will light up and stop everything...now if I move the carriage back(towards the original homing area, about halfway down or say the middle of its travel. the limit switch stops lighting up. I am guessing it could be a break in the cable somewhere or is there a setting that limits where they will trigger and where they wont. I have 2 new switches that i had ordered just in case, since it first started this a month ago. When it did it then all I did was turn machine off and then back on and it worked. So I guess I can replace that switch and see what happens unless someone else has something for me to try before I do that


Thanks so much
Clint

I have been looking at the limit switch that is on the gantry that moves which is X if I'm correct ....when I open the diagnostic page on the controller, I can see that it gets triggered down by the front of the machine but when I move the gantry back to the back of the machine it loses the connection, or I guess is no longer triggered.(I am holding a small piece of metal on the limit switch as I have taken the screws out that hold it in place). I can tap on the cable chain? and as I move it the connection indicator is off and on like it has a broken wire in that section .....I guess I will now try to disassemble what can to get the cable out of the chain and replace it and see what happens

well after a frustrating night I think I got it fixed.... I replaced the one limit switch as it appeared to have one of the wires broken inside of the jacket. I had signal from the switch when the gantry moved to the front of the machine but as I moved it back, I lost signal from the one limit switch. I could tap on the plastic wire chain and the signal would come and go......So I took it apart and changed the one limit switch and then it worked...of course I took the time to do a complete re alignment of the mirrors and got everything back to as good as I can get it and it now works like it was supposed to. and I guess I had a bit of mirror alignment issues because it cuts so much better now...

thank you for all of your help I love places like this that are so willing to help another out

Clint