Epilog Lasers And Y Encoder Strips

[Jerome Klutts]

Had an interesting experience with my laser last week. I have aa Epilog EX75 Watt Laser purchased in 2004.

It went crazy. the carriage would slam all the way to the front then to the back. With a lot of help from Epilog tech support we decided it was the Y encoder strip. They sent me a new one and charged me about $80 and now it works great.

Here is the interesting part. For the last couple of years when I start the laser it has been taking longer and longer to fire. I have been dreading replacing my laser tube since I was sure that was the problem. Replacing the Y encoder strip seems to have fixed the slow firing problem. We also cleaned the X encoder strip so that may have helped also.

Lesson learned. I will clean the encoder strips more often.

[Frank Corker]

It's not unusual for the lasers to sometimes take a while to warm up and you can sometimes speed it up by using the tickle feature (it's a read the manual issue). I'm suprised that the encoder strip made a difference though, although keeping it clean is a high priority for me also having experienced similar issues early on. Regular maintenance is so important.

[Jerome Klutts]

I don't understand what the Encoder strips have to do with the laser firing either. but since the new Y strip has been installed and the X strip cleaned the laser fires off almost instantly even when it hasn't been used for days.

Maybe Peck From Epilog can help with this mystry.

[Chris DeGerolamo]

I always manually fire the laser on our Epilog until I see that the tube has warmed up and is firing properly. Nothing like the first bit of a job not etching/cutting properly to screw up the whole thing.

I believe you can get to it under MAINT>ALIGN LASER>UP KEY TO FIRE

[Dan Hintz]

Me thinks this is a co-inky dink...

[Jeff Belany]

It's not unusual for the lasers to sometimes take a while to warm up and you can sometimes speed it up by using the tickle feature (it's a read the manual issue). .


Frank,

I've read about this 'tickle' setting a few times. You mention that it's a 'read the manual' issue. I may have missed it but it's not in the index. Is there a place to go to look for how to do this? It's not a big issue with me although my Helix does it now and again, escpecially when it's cold (and we're coming up on Winter) I asssume I can call Tech Support but I'd rather do it on my own.

Thanks,

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Martin Boekers]

I have 2 Epilog 75 lasers, the one that was purchased in 2005 does take awhile for the laser to fire (always did)

The newer (purchased 2007) one fires fine at start up.

It catches me sometimes first thing in the morning when I don't test fire
the laser on the older machine.:(

So far never had a problem with the Y encoder strips. Now I probably will:o

Marty

[greg lindsey]

My best guess would be that you nudged the white ribbon cable on the Y axis when you were cleaning the encoder strip. Lesson learned: do not forget to completly plug the ribbon cable in before firing the machine up:eek: I forgot and it slammed the carriage into the back so hard , I thought I had destroyed it, scarred the crap outta me. It just wasnt plugged in all the way. :o. If it slams again on you, unplug the cable and invert it, see if it does it again. if it dosent then you need to replace it, just replaced mine 13.00 from Epilog. I had an encoder strip that was missing the about 1/2" of the encoders and it would jump all over the place, but it did not slam home. I also found a "hidden" optic, one I didn't know about, it's behind the collomator (sp) it combines the red dot and the laser beam. The mirror finish was all wrinkled up and not allowing the full beam to get through, causing a seroius loss of power, maybe I'll post a new thread about this, with pics if i can get my camera to sync.:mad:

[Bruce Volden]

Let's not forget there is a contrast reader the strip sits into, this can also contain dust bunnies. DAMHIKT A little poof of air and all was right in my case.

Bruce

[Jerome Klutts]

I like Greg's idea about the white ribbon cable. I removed it and turned it around while we were trouble shooting the Y encoder problem. I ended up putting it back to original because it didn't seem to help. I have found that sometimes simply unplugging and plugging a cable can solve a problem.

Anyway the laser is firing better than it has in a long time and I want to thank everybody who responded.

Jerome