Air Assist connection

[Tech_Marco]

Yes, I bought two samples and I lost the invoice. That's why I haven't posted it yet. I'll try to find it and take some pictures.
I can get 2X, 2.5X and 3X. Plus, I can get the 'window' mirror for the red dot laser. But that lens/mirror not cheap though.

Marco

[bluewave65]

Plus, when the laser head is heading home, there is about 5~10 second traveling time and the air still blowing. So, there is no need to manuniplate this timer again.


?????

My head is not moving to home after job .............
This is not true.
Output is turned off immediately after job !

[Tech_Marco]

You can set it 'home' after job. When it' home, the pump will stop itself

Marco

[Tech_Marco]

Update: Picture for the 2x...8X beam expander

[baccus61]

I ended up getting a couple of glass lenses that are made for the more powerful hand held lasers and need to be made from glass or they will melt.
I have only used it twice but I have used it at 3/4 power and no problems whereas the old acrylic lenses would only last a few minutes at 1/2 power.

It is a much better improvement over the old ones.
There must be a lot of reflection through the combiner lens.

I have read that there is enough reflection from a ZnSe window for it to be used as a combiner lens and it hasn't got too much reflection.

Australia won't let anything over 1mW in power through customs if it is hand held. You can get around this by telling them it is for Laboratory
use and can't be carried around and is not battery powered. There have been some idiots in Aus pointing lasers at planes and the pilots are getting a bit sick of it so the Gov legislated on banning all imports of hand held lasers over 1mW in power.

So far so good with mine. The lens is a 3 piece set up and is quite clear and the focus is very good. I like it!
Rich.

[bluewave65]

i`m blind - where ???
There is a origin checkbox only , but it doesn`t help
It`s only made laser start at origin position and after job is airassist turned off immediately.

[Tech_Marco]

Hello bluewave65

If you're keep using this kind altitude, sorry I'm going to answer any of your question. You sounds very rude and demanding. Your works are lack of respecting and very insulting from here and from the buildlog.net

Anyway, you didn't check "Return home after work", that's why the laser head not moving home .
Correction: The pump stop after all jobs completed regardless the location of the laser head.

By the way, the controller isn't a 'lego'. They (manufacturer) can't customize whatever you want it to be.


Marco

[baccus61]

Hello bluewave65,

If you look at the check box just above the "READ" button at the bottom of the screen you will see it marked "Return origin after work"
As Marco said, this should get you up and running.

The DSP is not finalized yet and is a work in progress so you will have a few teething troubles until the tech guys get it all sorted out which could be when ever. Sorry to tell you this.
You can always buy another controller from someone else BUT you won't get even half the add-ons that Marco has been able to get incorporated into this great little board.
I have used 3 different types of controller now and this board is definitely THE best out there for the money even with is list of problems people have with it.

With other boards you can either cut or engrave, not both at the same time, and you need to reset the program to do it. With the 608 board you can do both in the one file.
Other software/hardware will set you back thousands of dollars without the flexibility this board has and you are welcome to buy them. Support on this forum is MUCH better than the support I have received from the "other" guys. Sometimes you just have to wait for someone to get on here and answer your questions. Nearly all of us here don't log onto this forum every hour so you also need to be just a little bit patient. I try to help people as much as I can but my time is so limited now due to work commitments.

I understand your frustration in getting things up and running and I still get frustrated myself nearly every time I use my laser. Something always goes wrong when you're in a hurry.
There is a lot of info in this forum and some of it is buried in a lot of threads so the only way you can find them is to do a search or just go browsing and have a good read. It all comes together in the end.

One thing about the DSP is that there are controls all over the place so it's just a matter of getting familiar with what everything does. When the new manual is finally released it will shed a lot more light on the subject. We are all waiting for that.
I have never written a manual but I would assume it would take ages to write then proof read it to get all the info right. It would be a mammoth task to do one properly. I just hope they find someone who speaks very good English to translate it.

Feel free to ask a question and maybe I will be able to answer it and maybe not. I'm not a guru on these things but I have had a laser for 5 years and know just a little bit about how they work. I'm also not an electronics whiz, I'm just a humble fitter and machinist that hasn't worked as a machinist for over 30 years. I work on loaders and trucks over 40 Tonnes in size (and don't like it much but the money is good) Now I'm rambling...... sorry.

Rich.

[baccus61]

Do you have limits on your machine?
The machine needs to do a reset and home to the limits to know where the laser head is in relation to the table.
You do a Reset (it does this on start up) and then it travels to the last point where you pressed the "Origin" key.

You can elect to control the board from the software interface OR the LCD control panel (Human Machine Interface) or HMI. I use the software method as I find it more useful but I use the Origin button on the HMI every time I start a new job.

You also need to get all you limits working the right way and this is probably the hardest thing to set up with the DSP because there are so many different ways to do it.
They will act differently if you set the laser control to "High" or "low" etc. You must follow the manual to the letter or better still read Tim Wehr's instructions on setting up a laser. It is well written by an English speaking person.

Rich.

[bluewave65]

2 marco :

sorry for that, but at this time there no solution of that problem as i sad before ....
I will add some external controlled fan


2 baccus :

Soft limits are working fine for me.
Main problem is that there is no time after job even i check "return to origin after" ...... dust stay in laserbox after job .......

[baccus61]

I think I get what you mean.
You use a fan to suck the smoke out of the cabinet and you have connected it up to the Air Assist switch on the DSP. Is this correct?

If this is what you have done then it's not how the DSP was programmed. The air assist is for an air shield at the front of the lens so you can blow away the soot and smoke from the lens assembly so the lens doesn't become cloudy reducing the effectiveness of it.
If you have a look at some lasers you will see a small tube at the bottom of the lens. This is for the air assist and it blows in front of the lens.
If you want the fan to suck away the smoke from your jobs then you should just hook it up to a switch so it is on all the time until you turn it off and exhaust the smoke out of the room to the outside somewhere.

Rich.

[Tech_Marco]

2 marco :

sorry for that, but at this time there no solution of that problem as i sad before ....
I will add some external controlled fan

I know the card isn't perfect but you got to be patience. Plus, I AM NOT the programmer and I'm NOT involved to ANY desgin or programming towward to the production of the DSP card. My position here is a 'mediator' and you shouldn't show your angry to me. To be honest, I can simply provide the email address of the programmer and selling the card without support. Then you guy deal direct to the company who manufacturer the card and I can just sell the card. But I see the probelm as there is langurage barrier between you and them (programmer, hardware engineer, sales..). I'm sevring as a missing 'puzzle to bridge the network. Any bugs found or any feature want to add just asked. However, it's not as simple what I mentioned before, a 'lego'! Everything take times to make or to correct it. The DSP card is not a toy but it is a commerical product currently support many manufactuers in China. What they(engineers) need is time to make change. It can't be 1hr job or 1 day job. For something you think is simple but it can take weeks to fix or to add. Just like the relocation of the PPI from System level to layer level. It involved hardware controlling other than software alone. It took him more than a week to finish the job. We're not talking about software alone but it involved both software and hardware. I challeng you to ask Mach3 to add a new feature on their sotware. I challege you to ask any DSP seller or manufacturer (like Retina) for the same matter see if they will do ANY thing per your request. Example, Leetro MC6515, the old DSP that missing so many features compare to AWC-608. Ask them see if the will add one of the new feature the AWC608 to their card. I gurantee that you will get "0" response!

So, be patience and be polite. In fact, you can yell at the programmer or the hardware guy, I don't care as they desire it for not making 100% trouble-free controller card. But I don't take any blame. I'm offering more than I should.


Marco

[bluewave65]

I get it ......
I`m not angry, you just misunderstanding me
I and think everyone here will apprise that time after job.
Maybe in some future upgrades ? Just an idea .....

[baccus61]

I think you've done a great job bringing this controller as far as you have, and being the go between for the programmer and the user has made sure that you can accomplish everything that people want and more. I just say bravo to you. I appreciate everything you have done so far as I have used the older controllers and another different one and none of them compare to this.

I think that the biggest problem you have faced is that the manual was too far behind the programmers which has caused a lot of confusion for folk just getting started in laser cutting. When that is finally released I think it will release you from a lot of questions by a lot of people, then you can get back to running the rest of your business.
I try to take up the slack as much as I can but I don't know everything. You have been very good to me in the past so I try to give back as much as I can but like you I only have limited time. Most of my posts are after midnight when I can get some "me" time. Plus I really enjoy it.

Soon you can rest my friend.......soon.

rich.

[Tech_Marco]

Hey Marco.. I noticed you said you had 2x beam expanders. How much are you selling those for??

Thanks..

2X $125
3x $145
4x $195

There is a high end one with variable expander indx from 2x to 8x but it's pricy. It's running about $600!

Marco