Any ideas what is wrong?

[David Sabot]

This was engraved on a 2005 Mercury 25 watt machine. The machine has a new lens, was cleaned and all around works pretty well. I have engraved these nameplates probably 20,000 times with no problem. Then all of a sudden, the same file I always use, produced these ghost images, partially filled in results. http://www.cheaphumidors.com/nameplate-problem.jpg

I don't know if this could be the X motor, the trickle voltage, or the tube. Any ideas?

[Bruce Volden]

If I were to see this on one of my machines I'd start cleaning first! Belts (looking for debris), belt drive sprockets (deposits of belting), encoder strip if you have servo's, contrast reader that reads the encoder strip. Also check for missing "peaks / valleys" on your belt. Something like this is USUALLY a mechanical problem that requires perseverance in tracking down and is usually something simple.....I hope:confused:

Bruce

[Ed Maloney]

I agree. I had a similar problem and I cleaned the encoder strip and the problem went away. Actually I just cleaned it!

[David Sabot]

Do you know where the encoder strip is on a Mercury machine?

[Richard Rumancik]

The Mercury does not use an encoder strip.

Did you check that all the lenses and mirrors are tight?

[Bruce Volden]

Someone correct me if I'm in error but, if you don't have an encoder strip more than likely your machine is utilizing stepper motors. The same principle would apply to checking for belt debris----somewhere??!! It's gotta be something right "under our nose". :eek:

Bruce

[Richard Rumancik]

The Mercury has servos but it uses an encoder wheel attached to the shaft of the motor. They are not meant to be user servicable but it is possible to open them up. Howver it can be a tricky operation. I would only attempt it if I ruled out everything else.

[David Sabot]

Yep, everything is very tight. I opened the X motor housing assembly, as sometimes I know dirt can get in there on the metal disc. It was clean, but I noticed that the disc wasnt truly straight, it had a slight wobble to it.

[Richard Rumancik]

I'd almost think that the ghosting is caused by some kind of hysteresis effect - in that the one image may be created by left-to-right motion and the other image created by right-to-left motion. If you have magnification you might be able to tell if the images are "interlaced". If so, then perhaps something mechanical is not tight. If you know how to get to the encoder, ensure it is tight to the shaft. (I can't remember if there is a setscrew). Ensure that the sprocket on the x-motor is tight so it is not "winding up" each time there is direction reversal. (If it comes loose then there could be a few degrees of play, giving two offset images.) All I can think of at the moment . . .

[AL Ursich]

Loose bearing screams at me.....:eek:

AL

[Zsolt Paul]

Do you have a cone shaped nozzle head where the laser exits just before reaching the material? If yes, then I would check that the beam is coming throught the hole exactly centered. If it istn', it may be clipping the side of the hole and cause clipping which I had seen cause these ghost images.

Of course I'd do a full alignment before adjusting the nozzle head.

[Jim Coffee]

Well, I am going to suggest something different. Turn the artwork over and re-engrave it. This sure looks to me like two images...one on top of the other.

[Rodne Gold]

Thats normally the signs of a failing/defective X motor on the mercurys. The shaft encoder is your first point of call , clean it and the reader (the wobble is not relevant) , check the ribbon cable from the main board to the flying head , this is prone to cracking and could cause this problem.
Check the flying head motion system and clean it VERY well. (the underside - rollers etc)
Check your belts to see if they not worn (take out the x motor and change the belt position)
Check all your mirrors to see that they tight.
Check alignment , the beam can be "splitting" somewhere.
The lens is prolly ok if its not scratched , broken or the coating is visibly flaking , it is normally a slight milky colour.
Tickle voltage problems are normally ghost images much lighter than the original on either side of the main image , and normally only exhibit themselves with material like rowmark flexibrass.
If your driver has the "tuning" function , use it. (its the function that lines up left and right firing)

It could of course also be the tube , but one wants to try everything else before going that route.
The step before tht is to swap out the X motor - they dont have indefinate lives and should be treated as a consumable.

[Dean Carpenter]

almost certainly it's mechanical caused by something coming lose and/or wearing beyond allowable tollerance

[Roy Brewer]

Then all of a sudden, the same file I always use, produced these ghost images, partially filled in results. David,

From my experience, Richard R's suggestion is the 1st step in troubleshooting. That is, with a magnifier, confirm that the left "mirror" is caused by the beam going in one direction and the other side is caused as the beam goes the other way. Even at the low res pic you sent, it appears that the one side is one raster lower than the other(?).

This eliminates clipping, bad file and a few other suggestions.

If yes, now what? Pulley? Possibly. Encoder? Possibly. But sad to say I'd guess the tube losing it's previous "rise & fall" capability.

The Epilog has a "Match" setting to adjust this. Does your GCC? Even if it does, the question is "why after 20K tags...?"

[Rodne Gold]

Roy , I think the GCC equivalent of "match" is "tuning" - it allows you to "match up" the engraving for left and right scans
Not sure however if his mercury has the function in the driver - explorers and spirits (later models) do.
As you say .. the real issue is why has this happened all of a sardine..

[Hilton Lister]

My Mercury has the tuning function in the latest driver. 25w same as Peters