Laser repair

[San DiegoEdSapp]

Does anyone know of a repairman in Southern California. I am in San Diego. I am not getting any power for my servo's and know nothing about this machine. It has never been run. HELP - please. :confused:

Ed Sapp

[AL Ursich]

You will get a bunch of answers soon.... We need to know what make and model you have.

EDIT: "Never been run..." That changes a bunch....

Can you get any help from where you bought it? Is is new or used? Used how old?

Could be a Driver issue.... Raster / Vector Setting.... Homing Switch, Encoder Strip, and on and on...

Might be as simple as shutting everything down and booting back up after checking that the Communication Cable is still plugged in.

Good Luck,

AL:D

[San DiegoEdSapp]

It is 2 years old but has never been run. It has been sitting in storage in Palm Springs. The software is blown - the manufacturer is IEHK out of Hong Kong and the model is an IE900, 24 X 36, 60W glass tube laser. www.iehk.net (http://www.iehk.net)

They have no repair services here, which sucks because they advertise that they do, so I am on my own except for parts. If I am willing to wire them money, along with my children, grand children and the family dog, I can get parts...

I am fairly sure that the power supply is gone but dont want to purchase a new one without someone who can walk and chew gum verifying that for me. Any suggestions or information would be really helpful? By the way I see that some people show the machinery they have, but I can,t figure out how to do that?

Thanks.

[AL Ursich]

In my opinion this will not be turning out well.... Research before the purchase would have helped in this case.

You might be better off cutting your loss now rather than sink deeper into the whole.

There a a few Glass Tube Laser Operators here. From what I have been reading they are very resourceful in fixing all the problem with parts support.

Hopefully since you posted the model number a user will chime in.

It is so much easier to call Epilog or Universal for Tech Assist.

Good Luck. Sorry I could not be more help.

The Laser Tube will go bad just sitting 2 years.

I learned my lesson 6 years ago buying a broken laser thinking I could fix it... The Laser Tube was blown and it is still sitting in my storage box...

I moved on.

AL

[San DiegoEdSapp]

Here is the story. 5 years ago my son was murdered. They found his body in a tool box in the bed of a pickup truck that had been burned. The fire was started in the tool box and it took 3 weeks to get dental records. 6 months ago my grandson died from a drug overdose. My wife and I belong to a group that supports people who have lost love ones from a violent crime or accidents. We feel they are being taken advantage of by Funeral Homes ($595 for a photo urn) so, while we can't do everything, we decided if we could find a laser at a reasonable price we could provide urns, photo plates, headstones, etc. I can make an Urn for about the cost of two cups of Starbucks coffee. I look at an epilog and loved it but the $14,000 was out of reach. I check the web site for the used one I purchased and it look good - large company with expensive machinery. When I saw the machine in Palm Springs it still in the original packing. This is now turning into a real heartache.

[Dan Hintz]

What do you mean by "the software is blown"? If you're talking about the hardware dongle, and it is truly bad, you're going to have a difficult time getting another one, particularly one that matches up with your motherboard's revision # (very important, they don't mix).

[San DiegoEdSapp]

The driver for the software dog will not install. XP says it is corrupted and the USB Dog is not visible when inserted in the USB port. I suspect sitting the desert for two tears destroyed the software. What I am not sure of is weather replacing the control board and PCI card is going to be compatible? I am trying to find someone to trace the electrical to find out why I have no power to 6 servo motors. I suspect the power supply. I know I have 220V running to the board for the laser and the controls but there is a ribbon wire that I have not figured out yet. I don't know how many variations of power supplies there are and that may be a very big problem. The problem could also be that the control panel is not getting power and with not being able to trace this thing out I am stuck. Do you know if it is possible to install new control panel and software on something like this???

Thanks,

Ed

[Dan Hintz]

If you can't get the software running, all else is irrelevant. Consider this a lesson learned, sell the machine to an enthusiast for spare parts, and look for a supported machine.

[San DiegoEdSapp]

Dumping the machine is not an option. There is a solution out there but untill I know what the problems are I can't trust the solutions. What we are doing here is to important to give up and being retired I can't justify starting over. Can't afford to. When I finally find a way to trace the problems out I can solve the problems one at a time.

[James Jaragosky]

Dumping the machine is not an option. There is a solution out there but untill I know what the problems are I can't trust the solutions. What we are doing here is to important to give up and being retired I can't justify starting over. Can't afford to. When I finally find a way to trace the problems out I can solve the problems one at a time.
Try to install the software in a different operating system. My software would not load in my newer machines even though the manufacture stated it would.
The machine is probably fine.
Most of the active members here do not have a fondness for foreign made machines. Their answer for most problems is sell and buy American.
Many that answer this way have never owned or operated a foreign made machine.
On this forum, I see many more people asking for help on their local made equipment than people asking about their foreign made equipment. Not that foreign made equipment is better or more dependable. It is just not the junk that many here purport it to be.
Owning a foreign made product takes a more resourceful type of commitment. The heat is not likely to be the cause of the software issue. Try a older machine to run the software on.
Please post your results so we can give you more constructive consul than buy American.

[San DiegoEdSapp]

Thanks for the reply and suggestions. I am using an older XP computer and the software for the laser appears to have loaded OK, the problem is the Dog is not working and without that the software won't start. I cannot see the dog in any of my USB connections and the driver for it will not load. The manufacture has no tech's available in the States at all. They have the Dog available (they want an arm and leg) and I will get that but the other problem is no power to the servo's or the control buttons. When I push the "Test Laser" button, the laser fires but I cannot get any of the controls to move the servos at all. I have traced as much of the electrical as I can but finding someone to test the rest is turning into a real challenge. It amazes me that there is no one in Southern California who works on Lasers. What do people do when they have a problem? In San Diego county alone we have more people that 32 states do. I would think some enterprising soul would see a need there-anyway. So-if I can't get a laser repairmen, who do you think would have the experience to trace this kind of problem?

[James Jaragosky]

[QUOTE=San DiegoEdSapp;1405057]Thanks for the reply and suggestions. I am using an older XP computer and the software for the laser appears to have loaded OK, the problem is the Dog is not working and without that the software won't start. I cannot see the dog in any of my USB connections and the driver for it will not load. The manufacture has no tech's available in the States at all. They have the Dog available (they want an arm and leg) and I will get that but the other problem is no power to the servo's or the control buttons. When I push the "Test Laser" button, the laser fires but I cannot get any of the controls to move the servos at all. I have traced as much of the electrical as I can but finding someone to test the rest is turning into a real challenge. It amazes me that there is no one in Southern California who works on Lasers. What do people do when they have a problem? In San Diego county alone we have more people that 32 states do. I would think some enterprising soul would see a need there-anyway. So-if I can't get a laser repairmen, who do you think would have the experience to trace this kind of problem?[/QUOTE

Try posting on the cnczone forum as well as here, they have hundreds of the build it yourself types. And I mis-spoke when I stated that the software would not load; what I should have said, is that my machine would not recognize the dongle.
I purchased a old dell P4 off E - bay(cost $84 shipped) and the dongle was recognized and the software loaded without a problem. The os was xp.
Best of luck
Jim J.

[Dan Hintz]

I'll say one more time... before you go spending a lot of money bringing in people and equipment to track down electrical problems, make sure you get the software issue worked out. Without that, you're going to go down a more expensive path of replacing the motherboard with one that matches the revision of a newly purchased dongle. You may very well find out the power supply is shot or the servos need replacing, but it's irrelevant if you can't talk to the machine (not to mention you'll probably have an easier time debugging the system if you can talk to it).

[Chuck Stone]

I am trying to find someone to trace the electrical to find out why I have no power to 6 servo motors. I suspect the power supply. I know I have 220V running to the board for the laser and the controls but there is a ribbon wire that I have not figured out yet. I don't know how many variations of power supplies there are and that may be a very big problem.

This might sound silly, but have you checked that the power supply is
set up for 240 volts and not 110? It looks like this machine can be wired
either way, but it has to be set up before applying power to the supply.
Usually there is a terminal strip near the power supply on machines like
this, and you connect power to the appropriate taps depending on your
local voltage.
If the power supply was set up for 110 and you applied 240, you may
need a new power supply before you get started.

[Mike Mackenzie]

Ed,

My guess is that the dongle is an older type of USB and would not be recognized in the USB 2.0 ports. Basically the usb ports on most computers will read at that speed but older ports read at slower speeds and did not work with the faster speeds.

I have an old 64mb usb drive that will not work on any usb 2.0 port. This could be why it is not getting recognized.

[Tyler Phong]

you could try Cutting Edge Systems. they are in costa mesa. we use them at work. you can call them and they can try to trouble shoot you over the phone before they come down. don't know if they charge you for trouble shoot over the phone. we don't get charged but then again we bought the machine from them.

[Dan Hintz]

Mike,

Newer ports always read older devices... USB is backwards compatible and will default to the highest common denominator.

[San DiegoEdSapp]

That is a good point about the USB age. It is a 2.0 - I have a tech coming that is an expert on servo's and was lucky to have him within 5 miles. I jnow we can do a workaround to see if the servo's are functioning. I have located a new PCI board, software, motherboard and documentation. we will be tracing the system out to fund out if we need them and looking at compatibility. 40 years ago I was a millright and still have a vague memory. Thanks for all the input. I am still puzzeled by one wire coming off of the CO2 tube-there is a red and black wire. The red has an unmistakable connection but I am not sure where the black connects. This is a water cooled tube. Any input. I guess I made a mistake of starting a new thread with the question RE: the wire and should have asked it here. I havent been in a forem like this for 15 years an it appears I have forgotten a few things.

[John McClanahan]

If the dongle is the security key, you may be missing a driver that lets the computer see the key. The driver may have a separate installer. Check your installation CD. It may be referred to as a Hasp or Eve.

John

[San DiegoEdSapp]

I will check that - I do have a driver (msc30.exe) that will not load. XP keeps rejecting it, and I jave tried running it in both 98 and ME mode with the same results. It would not suprise me if the software was runined from sitting the summer heat in Palm Springs for 2 years. I think the driver that is being rejected is for the PIC board so I will check for the driver. I know that there are emulators but in the long run that is a poor fix. Thanks for the input.

[Larry Bratton]

And..if you have the dongle..and are just missing the drivers, the factory should not have a problem with sending it to you. Where problems arise is when the actual dongle is lost. Does the dongle have a number or other kind of identification number on it?

[San DiegoEdSapp]

Someone here sent the factory the thread I started here. They had a choice of how to handle an unhappy customer - 1-try to help, 2- ignore and 3- get mad. They sent me an email advising me to disconnect my ground wire from my CO2 tube and connect it to a hot wire!!! I have no faith in their advise now at all. Besides they have all but ignored all of my requests for assistance except to give me (what I consider to be) outrageous prices for parts and shipping. I have a feeling I am going to be better off replacing the OS from an OEM that will offer assistance.

[Dan Hintz]

I have a feeling I am going to be better off replacing the OS from an OEM that will offer assistance.
There is no OS, only firmware that is tied to that specific class of machines. You can't look at these machines as a PC running a little bit of software on top of a standard OS. I highly doubt you will find a single manufacturer willing to reprogram the board even if they used that exact motherboard. At best, they'll offer to sell you every piece at replacement cost... at worst, they'll ignore you.

[San DiegoEdSapp]

Or they will try to get you to mis-wire the machine... They offered me the software for $450 plus $400 shipping. I have an OEM with all new boards and software for $420. They sent me the schematic's and software docs. I am waiting for my tech to review them to be sure I did'nt miss something, but right now they appear to be straightforward. We should be able to power up the servo's to verify that they are working and then I can start on the software. I really miss the days when I had 5 mechanical and electrical engineers and 10 architects working for me. It made problem solving much easier when I could say "just fix it".

Ed

[James Stokes]

If it is the power supply, I can give you the name of a company in Dallas That repairs them. They charge about $1 per volt. I have used them and was quite happy with them.

[Larry Bratton]

$400.00 Shipping! What are they doing, sending someone with it to install it???

[Scott Shepherd]

What servo's are you talking about? Not much chance that machine is using servos. Steppers, more than likely.

[Dan Hintz]

If it is the power supply, I can give you the name of a company in Dallas That repairs them. They charge about $1 per volt.
What a novel way to charge for repair work... I like it. Simple.

[James Stokes]

Oops made a mistake my 48 volt power supply was $480, 10 dollars per volt.

[Michael Arruda]

Ed,

Why could you not adapt a pen plotter driver, or even a g-code driver? I've seen the conversions done online. Servos or steppers, they're all controlled with electricity. Control the electricity and you have a functioning machine. I'm in the high desert- if you were closer, it'd be a fun project to help out with.

-Michael

[Dan Hintz]

Servos or steppers, they're all controlled with electricity. Control the electricity and you have a functioning machine.
That's a bit simplified, don't you think? It's like saying a car and a 737 are both controlled by throttles, so you're good to go.

While servos may accept a simple on/off signal for one coil, steppers requires synchronization of multiple coils... you can either do it manually with a microprocessor or use a specialized driver chip, but it requires a bit more than just applying power.

[Michael Arruda]

It is simplified, but it really is that easy- all you need is the proper controller. Steppers are the easiest (in my opinion)- I have a Gecko 540 running my 2x3' CNC. Very easy to wire and inexpensive too. Remember, I said you had to control the electricity- not just put it to a motor.

There's really nothing in any of these systems that we use- raster or vector based, that is very difficult to work with. All you need is a little knowledge and a creative spirit. :)

-Michael

[San DiegoEdSapp]

The key word that I am lacking is "Knowledge". I hope the CNC tech coming in the next few days will be able to take care of this. :rolleyes:

Ed