Epilog Mini 12x24 35 watt issues

[William Wilson]

Hello everyone,

Im new to the site, and im loving it. There are lots of useful threads with great info on laser engraving systems. So that would be the reason I am posting this now.

The past couple of weeks i have been having an issue with my 35 watt mini. Basically what happens is I send a job over to the machine (12x24 laserable aluminum) and start engraving. The machine starts off fine engraving my borders but when it gets to the text inside of the engraved border, sometimes it willl skip the engraved text entirely within the plate but on the same pass is still engraving the other plates on the same line. Here is a picture of the problem:
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb203/eibach_420/IMAG0058.jpg


Also recently we upgraded software to corel x5, and I have also contacted epilog about the issue and the rep informed of the color profile changes that i needed to do (adobe RGB) and I have still since then gotten the problem

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
William

[Mike Null]

William

welcome to SMC.

I can only guess but I think the source of your problem is in the file or in the communication from the pc to the laser. I would examine the file carefully, checking the properties of those plates in the drawing. I would also disconnect the cable from the laser to the pc and check it and reconnect it.

Again, I'm guessing. Other may have more options for you.

[William Wilson]

William

welcome to SMC.

I can only guess but I think the source of your problem is in the file or in the communication from the pc to the laser. I would examine the file carefully, checking the properties of those plates in the drawing. I would also disconnect the cable from the laser to the pc and check it and reconnect it.

Again, I'm guessing. Other may have more options for you.
Thanks for the response and the welcoming mike,
I'm gonna go ahead and try that now and see what I get, I switched the ethernet cable on my hub to a different port on it, just to see maybe there is an issue there.
Thanks again will post results.

William

[Dan Hintz]

Is the entire things being rastered (i.e., borders and text), or are the borders being vectored? If it's all rastered, the skipped text tells me it's a file problem, not a comm line issue, since the entire line of text is missed, not just single raster lines in the middle.

If you rerun the file, does it skip the same text every time? If so, that's an even stronger case for a screwed up file. Delete the failed text, and copy/paste some of the working text in its place. If that engraves correctly, edit the copied text (by hand) to what it should be, and run again. If it continues to show up, there's something wrong with the original text/font that was there.

[William Wilson]

Is the entire things being rastered (i.e., borders and text), or are the borders being vectored? If it's all rastered, the skipped text tells me it's a file problem, not a comm line issue, since the entire line of text is missed, not just single raster lines in the middle.

If you rerun the file, does it skip the same text every time? If so, that's an even stronger case for a screwed up file. Delete the failed text, and copy/paste some of the working text in its place. If that engraves correctly, edit the copied text (by hand) to what it should be, and run again. If it continues to show up, there's something wrong with the original text/font that was there.
The whole thing is being rastered, text and borders, and no when I rerun the original file on the laser it will skip it every time. Usually what I do is, go to my page on corel and manually select the missing text and have it run that only ( to avoid wasting material) and it will work fine. Now say it is a file problem what may the causes/fixes? is it a color palette issue? I highly doubt that last one just because i am not using color mapping, but just thought i would throw it in there.

[Dan Hintz]

I don't think it's a palette issue... those will usually present as solid fills being engraved as dithered patterns. You're getting nothing. To be sure, though, make sure your palette is RGB and the font fill color is set to true black (RGB: 0 0 0).

I keep coming back to the actual instance of the text being the problem... no idea what caused it, but replacing the "instance" would more than likely resolve. By "replace", I mean select and completely delete the text box associated with the failing lines, followed by a new text box with new text entered.

[William Wilson]

I don't think it's a palette issue... those will usually present as solid fills being engraved as dithered patterns. You're getting nothing. To be sure, though, make sure your palette is RGB and the font fill color is set to true black (RGB: 0 0 0).

I keep coming back to the actual instance of the text being the problem... no idea what caused it, but replacing the "instance" would more than likely resolve. By "replace", I mean select and completely delete the text box associated with the failing lines, followed by a new text box with new text entered.
I understand what you're saying but its a little redundant to delete the text and rewrite when i can just individually select it from the page and re-send it over. the problem has yet to occur today but i havent ran a full sheet either, another thing is that i also have two 50w legend 24s and a ULS X2-660 Superspeed, and they all have the problem. Actually I dont even use the ULS as often because it has its own set of problems which I will probabaly make a new thread about in the future.

[Dan Hintz]

another thing is that i also have two 50w legend 24s and a ULS X2-660 Superspeed, and they all have the problem.
Then it's a document problem.

If you want to keep sending over specific portions of a document, that's your choice... I'm offering ways to track down the actual problem so you can get rid of it once and for all.

[David Fairfield]

I agree with Dan. On the occasions when I have had similar file issues, the fix was generally something that as seemed nonsensical as the problem... like rotating the object 90 degrees, retyping text, or drawing a box around the object. :confused::) Also check to make sure your document dimensions match the print dimensions in the driver.

Dave

[Mike Null]

It is most certainly a file issue. Surely with that many machines you've encountered this before.

[John Noell]

It is most certainly a file issue. Surely with that many machines you've encountered this before.

Or to state what we all know, Corelli is buggy, esp. when it comes to text. I would retype the text that goes missing and save file with a new name. Usually works for me.

[Robert Walters]

In the same skipped box position, try TYPING in some simple text 'Hello World!' as example.
If that doesn't get skipped, I'd suspect that there is special or control characters in the original (presumed copy and pasted or imported text) that's throwing the driver off.

It could be Unicode text, accents, or control characters.
I've seen an accent character muck up a device because the driver/firmware was missing it in it's character table.

[Frank Corker]

Just for your information - there is a firmware update at - http://www.epiloglaser.com/downloads_minihelix.htm
This release fixes an obscure bug in Mini/Helix systems that could intermittently cause inconsistent engraving on graphics that are raster only images, but run in Combined mode, with Air Assist enabled at the machine.

[Dan Hintz]

This release fixes an obscure bug in Mini/Helix systems that could intermittently cause inconsistent engraving on graphics that are raster only images, but run in Combined mode, with Air Assist enabled at the machine.
Don't forget "...and if you're holding your tongue in your left cheek and the dog is currently howling at the moon."

[Tim Bateson]

Don't forget "...and if you're holding your tongue in your left cheek and the dog is currently howling at the moon."


...and this patch will fix all of that? Cool!

[Hilton Lister]

You could try converting the text to curves before running the file. Save before though.

[Mike Null]

Hilton

Without meaning to take this thread off course-we're glad to see you here. I hope all is well with you and your family after the disaster in your country.

[Uma Duffy]

Our two epilog lasers have lately been doing exactly the same thing...for a couple of weeks now, they've been skipping random lines of text. Today, I reinstalled the drivers on both and isolated the old drivers and firmware version in separate folders. Then I updated to the new firmware version that just came out (that Frank referred to). After that strenuous effort (not!) I went home. I hope all will be well after the machines have the rest of the weekend off. We'll see what happens Monday. It's been a frustrating couple of weeks and has required a lot of extra effort at proofing to be sure nothing slips by with missing text. Not to mention all the shenanigans to fill in the blanks by re-running the missing lines....if we're lucky enough to catch them before pulling the object from the laser and messing up the original alignment of said object.
Maybe this is exactly what that new firmware is supposed to correct? Hmmm

[Scott Woodson]

William,

I had the same problem when I upgraded to X5. I also changed the settings, but each time I open an old file I have to check to ensure the lines or fills are RGB vice CYMK and most of the time I have to manually convert the lines/fills RGB, it is terribly frustrating, but once I fix the file it prints OK. Hope this helps.

Scott