[apriorius]

I'll be receiving an 80W 6090 pretty soon, but found the tiny little 40W laser Dee on SMC was selling pretty much NIB for $750 and couldn't resist picking it up. I'll probably give it to my girlfriend once the big unit arrives.

Setup was fairly trouble free. I can engrave simple stuff OK, but when I try and run a larger file the strangest thing happens. Right in the middle of the file the head just shoots off in a straight line with the laser still on. Sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes sideways. Funny thing is it only does it if the laser is firing. If I leave the door open so the laser doesnt fire, the head still runs the job but without any problems.

Model is an Artsign JSM40 running Newly Draw software. Problem happens in both imported files and files generated in Newly Draw.

Any ideas??

[MacGyver]

I'm going to guess it's a comm issue... those systems are not shielded very well, and when you go shooting tens of kV around a small container, you're bound to get bit errors. Any on-board memory is also quite suspect as these guys use the cheapest possible (even factory rejects). I've also suggested in the past that the control programs have memory leaks, which could cause the creation of faulty vector files or faulty communications if memory is overwritten by other programs who play by the rules. Could be quite a few things, actually.

If you use the same file, does it happen in the same space every time? If not, it's not the file. Can you try a USB cable that converts to a parallel port at the end (can be had for <$10 online)?

[apriorius]

Thanks for the advice McGuyver. It happens at different points in the file. When I first plugged the unit in I was able to run a couple jobs fine before things went wonky.

I'll try the USB cable which means going to the Tiger direct store and braving the lines. I'm using an old HP Omnibook 6000 running XP pro. It's not a fresh OS install, but I did remove all the old programs including virus scanner since it's gonna be a dedicated machine with no internet.

I read somewhere else that parallal port output voltage can be low from laptops - do I need to run this off a desktop you think?

Also, when I grounded the machine I ran the wire to some overhead pipes. Realized this morning they are wire conduit, not plumbing, so they may not even be hooked up to much. I'll drill one of the steel I beams and run it there and see if it makes a difference.

[MacGyver]

If it's cable conduit, it must be grounded by code back to the box (though depending upon route, you could have enough resistance between the phases to cause noise issues). I would suggest against the steel I-beams as there's no guarantee they're grounded, and galvanic reactions (however remote the possibility) is a nasty little bugger on load-bearing items.

The laptop is a very real possibility (wish you had mentioned this earlier). If you have a scope, check the line voltage when nothing is transmitting... you should see highs around 12V if it's a proper driver. Some laptops cheap out and don't use a proper driver, but due to the logic levels of most CMOS chips in other equipment you connect to, it's often not a problem. If the laser's board is using TTL, you may need a level converter, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

[apriorius]

Well, fixed it. The little power meter on the front of the box was not working when I received the machine. I didn't really care because what am I gonna do, sit there watching it? As long as the laser fires I don't really need to know how many whatevers it's using.

Anyway, I was pokin around in the electronics bay and noticed the ground wire for the meter had shorted/burnt out and was dangling free. I soldered on a new attachment and screwed it back in. Also reseated anything that was reseatable and used a bristle brush on the back of the PCI driver board where the ribbon going to the stepper motors was soldered in...kinda messy. Finally, I deleted all the print drivers except the microsoft document one.

One of those things worked cause it's humming along like a champ now! Thanks for all the suggestions