Cheap Chinese Laser - Revision history

Ubuntourist: Added a bit o' bold

2019-10-08T00:24:57Z

Added a bit o' bold

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:24, 8 October 2019
Line 151:		Line 151:
	! Color / Purpose		! Color / Purpose
	\|-		\|-
	\| Left		! Left
	\| 1		\| 1
	\| ground - purple - left side of Laser Current meter		\| ground - purple - left side of Laser Current meter
Line 167:		Line 167:
	\| red - left center connection of main power switch; red - other AC connection (1) of middle power supply		\| red - left center connection of main power switch; red - other AC connection (1) of middle power supply
	\|-		\|-
	\| Center		! Center
	\| 1		\| 1
	\| ground - black - to shunt diode & safety switches		\| ground - black - to shunt diode & safety switches
Line 191:		Line 191:
	\| +5V - blue - current limiting resistor connected to other end of Laser Current knob variable resistor (terminal block 21)		\| +5V - blue - current limiting resistor connected to other end of Laser Current knob variable resistor (terminal block 21)
	\|-		\|-
	\| Right		! Right
	\| 1		\| 1
	\| 24V - no connection		\| 24V - no connection

Ubuntourist: Formatted connectors as a table

2019-10-08T00:23:23Z

Formatted connectors as a table

@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
 #Auto power control voltage divided between +V and GND - connects to auto-hand control panel switch and to PWM-DC converter circuit output
 #Laser power supply power level control potentiometer +V
-Connectors at front of bottom power supply (4, 6, & 4 connections):
+{| class="wikitable" border="1"
-Left 1 - ground - purple - left side of Laser Current meter
+|-
-- external ground - yellow - center connection of power plug in back; green/yellow - ground connection (3) of middle power supply
+!colspan="3" | Connectors at front of bottom power supply (4, 6, & 4 connections)
-- red - right center connection of main power switch; red - AC connection (2) of middle power supply
+|-
-- red - left center connection of main power switch; red - other AC connection (1) of middle power supply
+! Position
-Center 1 - ground -  black - to shunt diode & safety switches
+! Pin
-- laser enable (when grounded) - black - to safety switches & override
+! Color / Purpose
-- laser test - red - no longer used
+|-
-- ground - red - FIRE switch (terminal block 19); yellow - one end of Laser Current knob variable resistor
+| Left
-- laser tube current control - green - center (common) left position of AUTO/MAN switch
+| 1
-- +5V - blue - current limiting resistor connected to other end of Laser Current knob variable resistor (terminal block 21)
+| ground - purple - left side of Laser Current meter
-Right 1 - 24V - no connection
+|-
-- ground - green - to controller board
-- 5V - no connection
+| 2
-- white - to center (common) right position of AUTO/MAN switch
+| external ground - yellow - center connection of power plug in back; green/yellow - ground connection (3) of middle power supply
-Connectors at front of middle power supply are labeled:
+|-
-- AC - red - to bottom left 4
-- AC - red - to bottom left 3
+| 3
-- ground - green/yellow - to bottom left 2
+| red - right center connection of main power switch; red - AC connection (2) of middle power supply
-- common - no connection
+|-
-- common - black - to controller
-- +V - red - to controller
+| 4
-- +V - no connection
+| red - left center connection of main power switch; red - other AC connection (1) of middle power supply
-</nowiki>
+|-
 ==Custom Parts==

96.88.198.77: update

2018-09-04T04:02:22Z

update

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:02, 4 September 2018
Line 339:		Line 339:
	Some of the wiring is rather sloppy and should probably be redone once all the bugs are out of it. A loose wire to the power socket & the exhaust duct (may have just come loose) were also reconnected. The laser cutter should now be ready for testing by an expert.		Some of the wiring is rather sloppy and should probably be redone once all the bugs are out of it. A loose wire to the power socket & the exhaust duct (may have just come loose) were also reconnected. The laser cutter should now be ready for testing by an expert.
	Oops, left out 6. No manual control for laser position - unresolved		Oops, left out 6. No manual control for laser position - unresolved

			Sept. 3
			Tom showed up to test the laser cutter. It fired under manual control but the safeties did not stop it from firing. Tried other firing pin (C3) - same result. Completely disconnected wire to enable pin (C2) & then also tried disconnecting the diode I added - laser still fired, suggesting faulty power supply. Laser did not move in y direction when commanded by computer but moved in both x & y when commanded to move in x direction. Tom moved a connector on the ACR board - problem solved. Mirrors now move correctly under computer control but computer could not fire laser. Left with enable disconnected. Time to examine power supply schematic.
	</nowiki>		</nowiki>
	==Additional Reading==		==Additional Reading==

Ubuntourist: More formatting

2018-09-04T00:27:47Z

More formatting

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:27, 4 September 2018
Line 120:		Line 120:
	The safety interlocks are basically a whole bunch of microswitches in series so if any one of them gets tripped the left two pins of the power supply 6 pin connector won't be shorted together and the laser won't fire. There's also a plan to have lights illuminate to show which safeties are operating properly or tripped. Plus indicator lights are cool. And for the remaining manual firing switches we plan on getting those flip-up red covers like in those military movies where they're firing nuclear missiles and stuff like that. These would aid in troubleshooting, and look really cool, even if they are kinda spendy. Man, this is really turning into a wall of text. Someone should do something about this sometime. Anyway, schematic drawings would go here, or links to them would go here.		The safety interlocks are basically a whole bunch of microswitches in series so if any one of them gets tripped the left two pins of the power supply 6 pin connector won't be shorted together and the laser won't fire. There's also a plan to have lights illuminate to show which safeties are operating properly or tripped. Plus indicator lights are cool. And for the remaining manual firing switches we plan on getting those flip-up red covers like in those military movies where they're firing nuclear missiles and stuff like that. These would aid in troubleshooting, and look really cool, even if they are kinda spendy. Man, this is really turning into a wall of text. Someone should do something about this sometime. Anyway, schematic drawings would go here, or links to them would go here.

	Terminal Block Connections		'''Terminal Block Connections'''
	#Cutting chamber door safety switch - common		#Cutting chamber door safety switch - common
	#Cutting chamber door safety switch - n.o.		#Cutting chamber door safety switch - n.o.

Ubuntourist: Paragraphs, people!

2018-09-04T00:26:51Z

Paragraphs, people!

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:26, 4 September 2018
Line 115:		Line 115:

	Sully really likes relays and discrete, analogue circuits, so he jimmied up a bunch of stuff to make it less likely for you to poke your eye out or burn out the laser.		Sully really likes relays and discrete, analogue circuits, so he jimmied up a bunch of stuff to make it less likely for you to poke your eye out or burn out the laser.

	The laser power supply from the factory takes input from 3 front panel controls: off-on laser switch, momentary-on laser switch, power control potentiometer knob. The off-on switch was a cheap latching push button which was connected to the leftmost two terminals of the 6 terminal plug with black wires. It was replaced with an off-on, metal, toggle switch on 3-23-17. The middle two terminals of the block connect to the momentary on push button switch on the front panel which causes the laser to fire (when the left two terminals are shorted together by the toggle switch). The right 3 terminals (which overlap with the right center terminal going to the push button switch) connect to the front panel potentiometer which controls the laser current. Do not turn the knob to full clockwise, because increasing the laser firing current past a certain point doesn't provide any benefit and just reduces the tube lifespan. The plan is to parallelize the push button firing switch with a solid-state relay controlled directly by the Smoothie board and bypassing the K40 ACR board (which was supposed to make the Smoothie board plug-and-play, but as mentioned earlier did a halfassed job). The potentiometer will be connected to a 3PDT switch for computerized or manual power level control. A PWM to DC circuit will do the automatic control and the original pot will remain for the manual control.		The laser power supply from the factory takes input from 3 front panel controls: off-on laser switch, momentary-on laser switch, power control potentiometer knob. The off-on switch was a cheap latching push button which was connected to the leftmost two terminals of the 6 terminal plug with black wires. It was replaced with an off-on, metal, toggle switch on 3-23-17. The middle two terminals of the block connect to the momentary on push button switch on the front panel which causes the laser to fire (when the left two terminals are shorted together by the toggle switch). The right 3 terminals (which overlap with the right center terminal going to the push button switch) connect to the front panel potentiometer which controls the laser current. Do not turn the knob to full clockwise, because increasing the laser firing current past a certain point doesn't provide any benefit and just reduces the tube lifespan. The plan is to parallelize the push button firing switch with a solid-state relay controlled directly by the Smoothie board and bypassing the K40 ACR board (which was supposed to make the Smoothie board plug-and-play, but as mentioned earlier did a halfassed job). The potentiometer will be connected to a 3PDT switch for computerized or manual power level control. A PWM to DC circuit will do the automatic control and the original pot will remain for the manual control.

	The safety interlocks are basically a whole bunch of microswitches in series so if any one of them gets tripped the left two pins of the power supply 6 pin connector won't be shorted together and the laser won't fire. There's also a plan to have lights illuminate to show which safeties are operating properly or tripped. Plus indicator lights are cool. And for the remaining manual firing switches we plan on getting those flip-up red covers like in those military movies where they're firing nuclear missiles and stuff like that. These would aid in troubleshooting, and look really cool, even if they are kinda spendy. Man, this is really turning into a wall of text. Someone should do something about this sometime. Anyway, schematic drawings would go here, or links to them would go here.		The safety interlocks are basically a whole bunch of microswitches in series so if any one of them gets tripped the left two pins of the power supply 6 pin connector won't be shorted together and the laser won't fire. There's also a plan to have lights illuminate to show which safeties are operating properly or tripped. Plus indicator lights are cool. And for the remaining manual firing switches we plan on getting those flip-up red covers like in those military movies where they're firing nuclear missiles and stuff like that. These would aid in troubleshooting, and look really cool, even if they are kinda spendy. Man, this is really turning into a wall of text. Someone should do something about this sometime. Anyway, schematic drawings would go here, or links to them would go here.

Line 166:		Line 168:
	7 - +V - no connection		7 - +V - no connection
	</nowiki>		</nowiki>

	==Custom Parts==		==Custom Parts==
	Images of custom parts like the exhaust nozzles and eventually a new control panel and source files for 3d printed or laser cut parts can go here.		Images of custom parts like the exhaust nozzles and eventually a new control panel and source files for 3d printed or laser cut parts can go here.

Ubuntourist: Added LaserWeb AppImage

2018-09-04T00:24:11Z

Added LaserWeb AppImage

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:24, 4 September 2018
Line 29:		Line 29:

	===Software===		===Software===
	Hey, kids! [[user:Ubuntourist\|Ubuntourist]] here. In the software department, we ~~have~~:		Hey, kids! [[user:Ubuntourist\|Ubuntourist]] here. In the software department, we are using a [https://github.com/LaserWeb/LaserWeb4/wiki LaserWeb] AppImage (currently version 4.0 as of 2018.09). However, additional tools include:
	*[http://visicut.org/ VisiCut] - a user-friendy, platform-independent tool for preparing, saving and sending jobs to Lasercutters		*[http://visicut.org/ VisiCut] - a user-friendy, platform-independent tool for preparing, saving and sending jobs to Lasercutters
	*[http://www.cnc-club.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35 GCodeTools] - Inkscape plugin / extension		*[http://www.cnc-club.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35 GCodeTools] - Inkscape plugin / extension

Ubuntourist: Moved Software to a more logical place

2018-09-04T00:08:03Z

Moved Software to a more logical place

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ===Computer===
 This is CNC equipment.  The first C is for Computer.  (No, not for cookie, but we often have cookies anyway.)  You need a computer with a USB port.  You need computer software.  I hope we can have a computer dedicated to the laser, but let's be real, that's not likely to happen.  I hope Tom will fill out this section.
 ===Cabinet===
 The cabinet is what the chassis sits on.  The cabinet has wheels.  It's made of particle board and painted white.  The left door has upper and lower latches inside which hold it shut, so don't yank on it.  The cabinet houses the cooling system, the 12V accessory power supply, the power strip which all the line voltage equipment plugs into: exhaust fan, cooling pump, laser chassis, 12V power supply (marginal one installed currently to power the cutting chamber accessory lights).
@@ Line 44: / Line 53: @@
 #Laser Chamber - Probably not going to install this switch because the door is in back and control panel space is at a premium
 #Cabinet - Probably not going to install this switch because there's not much harm in the cabinet and control panel space is at a premium
 ==Workflow==

Ubuntourist: Don't use "here"

2018-09-03T23:56:49Z

Don't use "here"

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:56, 3 September 2018
Line 20:		Line 20:

	===Exhaust===		===Exhaust===
	The exhaust system sucks smoke from the laser chassis cutting chamber and sends it outside through a window. It was cobbled together using a fan and housing salvaged from a prior laser cutter and is mostly held together with zipties and metal duct tape. Seriously. I'm not kidding. Actual zipties and duct tape. (I'd like to give a shout-out to Home Depot for selling me the roll of metal tape for only one cent.) If any part of the whole laser system is going to crap out, this would be a good part to bet on. It also uses 4" diameter (that's 105mm for those of you on the metric system) flexible metal clothes dryer exhaust duct to carry the exhaust gasses. There are custom-made, 3d-printed transiton pieces at the back of the laser chassis which replace the original feeble exhaust system. Read about them [[K40_Exhaust_Assembly\|~~here~~]]		The exhaust system sucks smoke from the laser chassis cutting chamber and sends it outside through a window. It was cobbled together using a fan and housing salvaged from a prior laser cutter and is mostly held together with zipties and metal duct tape. Seriously. I'm not kidding. Actual zipties and duct tape. (I'd like to give a shout-out to Home Depot for selling me the roll of metal tape for only one cent.) If any part of the whole laser system is going to crap out, this would be a good part to bet on. It also uses 4" diameter (that's 105mm for those of you on the metric system) flexible metal clothes dryer exhaust duct to carry the exhaust gasses. There are custom-made, 3d-printed transiton pieces at the back of the laser chassis which replace the original feeble exhaust system. Read about them on the [[K40_Exhaust_Assembly\|K40 Exhaust Assembly]] page.

	===Cooling===		===Cooling===

Ubuntourist: Breaking up info into bite-sized bits

2018-09-03T23:55:04Z

Breaking up info into bite-sized bits

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:55, 3 September 2018
Line 14:		Line 14:
	==Components==		==Components==
	===Chassis===		===Chassis===
	The chassis is the laser itself, the blue metal box with 3 flip up lids. The main lid users deal with is for the cutting chamber on the left front of the machine. It includes an orange plastic window. The cutting chamber contains the transverse and longitudinal axes, aka x and y. X goes left to right, and y goes back to front. The material to be cut goes in this chamber. The second flip up lid is for the controls and power supplies chamber. This lid contains the front panel controls and indicators. There are two control boards, the [http://smoothieware.org/smoothieboard-v1 Smoothie board] and the K40 ACR plug-and-play board which connects the Smoothie board to the machine hardware. There are two power supplies as well, the control power supply which is right below the control boards and the high-voltage (and I mean real high voltage, like around 15kV, not those ~~nambypamby~~ B.S. 120VAC "high voltage" warning labels) laser tube power supply which creates enough voltage to excite the electrons in the CO2 molecules to a higher energy level so they emit coherent light when they drop down to a lower energy level. For more about this exciting process, read a science book. The third lid covers the laser tube chamber at the back of the chassis. You don't really need to mess with these last two lids unless you are modifying the equipment or troubleshooting a failure. The first 2 lids have interlock switches so the laser will not fire if any one is open (unless you turn the SAFETIES switch off, in which case, it's your own darn fault for burning out your eye; as we say in Charlotte, "you did it to yourself") but the laser tube cover does not yet (it should; the high voltage is probably the most dangerous thing in the space).		The chassis is the laser itself, the blue metal box with 3 flip up lids.
			*The main lid users deal with is for the '''cutting chamber''' on the left front of the machine. It includes an orange plastic window. The cutting chamber contains the transverse and longitudinal axes, aka X and Y. X goes left to right, and Y goes back to front. The material to be cut goes in this chamber.
			*The second flip up lid is for the '''controls and power supplies chamber'''. This lid contains the front panel controls and indicators. There are two control boards, the [http://smoothieware.org/smoothieboard-v1 Smoothie board] and the K40 ACR plug-and-play board which connects the Smoothie board to the machine hardware. There are two power supplies as well, the control power supply which is right below the control boards and the high-voltage (and I mean real high voltage, like around 15kV, not those namby-pamby B.S. 120VAC "high voltage" warning labels) laser tube power supply which creates enough voltage to excite the electrons in the CO2 molecules to a higher energy level so they emit coherent light when they drop down to a lower energy level. For more about this exciting process, read a science book.
			*The third lid covers the '''laser tube chamber''' at the back of the chassis. You don't really need to mess with these last two lids unless you are modifying the equipment or troubleshooting a failure. The first 2 lids have interlock switches so the laser will not fire if any one is open (unless you turn the SAFETIES switch off, in which case, it's your own darn fault for burning out your eye; as we say in Charlotte, "you did it to yourself") but the laser tube cover does not yet (it should; the high voltage is probably the most dangerous thing in the space).

	===Exhaust===		===Exhaust===

Ubuntourist: Punctuation matters

2018-09-03T23:11:33Z

Punctuation matters

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:11, 3 September 2018
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==Introduction==		==Introduction==
	HacDC has a K40, 40W, CO2, water cooled, laser for CNC cutting of various materials, aka a cheap Chinese laser. It allegedly used to work just fine, but someone decided that wasn't good enough so she ordered and ~~halfass~~ installed some new parts that only ~~halfass~~ work. After our intrepid hero, [[user:James\|James]], ~~fullyassed~~ the installation of the new parts, the laser still only ~~halfass~~ worked. [[user:Tom\|Tom]] was railroaded into helping with the software, but even so the dynamic duo couldn't get the damn thing to work. Then one day at work, boredom struck in a meeting and James had the idea to create this wiki page to guide others through the confusion and misinformation that plagues most equipment at HacDC and often results in subpar operation. I beseech you, dear reader, to continue your edification on our topic at hand and become your own evil ~~archvillain~~ with laser powers. (Sharks sold separately.)		HacDC has a K40, 40W, CO2, water cooled, laser for CNC cutting of various materials, aka a cheap Chinese laser. It allegedly used to work just fine, but someone decided that wasn't good enough so she ordered and half-ass installed some new parts that only half-ass work. After our intrepid hero, [[user:James\|James]], fully-assed the installation of the new parts, the laser still only half-ass worked. [[user:Tom\|Tom]] was railroaded into helping with the software, but even so the dynamic duo couldn't get the damn thing to work. Then one day at work, boredom struck in a meeting and James had the idea to create this wiki page to guide others through the confusion and misinformation that plagues most equipment at HacDC and often results in subpar operation. I beseech you, dear reader, to continue your edification on our topic at hand and become your own evil arch-villain with laser powers. (Sharks sold separately.)

	==Components==		==Components==