Trotec speedy 300 laser pointer issue

Hi
I have a speedy 300 which I got in July and have been realy pleased with it' However a couple of days ago I noticed that when I lower the table the red dot starts to drift to the right by as much as 3 or 4 inches which I am sure it did not do before, Also the engraving quality on small text has gone down, I have spoken to the technical team at trotec and they say this is normal. I also have a cheaper chineese laser and when I lower the table on that the red dot stays put but just goes out of focus, so I would expect the trotec to do the same.
Has anyone got a Trotec laser if so does the red dot stay where it is when your table is lowered?
I would be grateful for your help.
Regards
Dave

Hi mate,
We have the speedy 500...
Yes the red dot does drift somewhat, as it doesn't originate from exactly the same spot as the the laser beam... 3-4 inches is a fair bit though, I would be expecting well under an inch.
It's unlikely it will affect the engraving, unless of course it's the result of a head crash and your head has been knocked out of alignment? If it's a fairly new machine ask them to fix it at the next service interval, it can be set almost perfect.


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Thanks,
I am not aware of any head crashes, but engraving quality has gone down only on the smallest text. Also I have noticed that the edges of cut pieces have slight slopes on them. so if I cut a small square say out of 3mm ply it will not stand on its edge as it slopes to one side, so I think there must be an alignment issue?

That sounds more like your height might not be set correctly... What length Lens are you using? 2.5, 3.75, clearance or not? Are you using the auto focus or setting it manually with the focusing tool? What nose cone are you using? If you upload a photo it may help to diagnose it more easily.
There's always a very slight slope but if it's sloped a huge amount then of course something is likely up.
They're really great machines in my experience and not much goes wrong, so it shouldn't be too difficult to diagnose...


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I'm using the 2.0 lens that came with the machine and the nose cone with the smallest hole. I use the manual focus tool as I find the auto focus sets to high above the material, quite a difference between the two. The slope isn't that bad but is noticable compared to parts we cut before this problem occurred. I have sent some photos to Trotecs's Technical team and they are going to send an engineer out on 6th December, so obviously they think something is wrong.
I agree that they are great machines. I bought from Trotec as I had so many issues with my chineese one and there is just no comparison. So hopefully all we be well again soon.
Thanks
Dave

Hi Dave,
That's great!
The 2.0 Lens has a really short focal distance so if the height isn't perfect it'll start sloping right away. The nose cone with the small hole also doesn't allow much room for misalignment and you could be cutting down or having interference with the laser beam if it's even slightly out of alignment. If you still have to cut between now and December, I'd try the nose cone with the largest hole. You can also check the inside of the nose cone that's on it and see if there's marks around the hole, where the beam has been hitting it. It's possible it's actually reflecting off the inside of the nose cone somewhat... Good thing Trotec is going to check it out, they'll sort it all out anyway.
Good luck!


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Thanks for the advise, I have never tried the other nose cone so I will give it a go and see if it makes a difference while I am waiting for the engineer.
Cheers
Dave