Vector lines not meeting up correctly

[matt heinzel]

We are running a 50watt PLS 360. A new problem has come up where the vector lines don't line up after cutting. I know that it is hard to not have that little dot where the laser turns on, but this is more severe. I contacted ULS about this, but they didn't really offer much help. Any ideas?

[Scott Shepherd]

Very simple- belts, pulleys, and bearings. I've been through it twice now and I'm having it right now. New belts, bearings, and pulleys are on the way. Hopefully they will be here today.

It does fix it. Takes about 1 hour to put all the new stuff on. It's considered part of the normal maintenance. When I called to order them, my rep even said "Are you getting a mismatch between the start and end points" and I said "Yes", and he said "Then we're all set".

Very common. I write the date on my belts when I change them and it's been exactly 2 years.

[Kees Soeters]

If this is only while cutting, it looks like your material is deforming. When this is a kind of Acrylic and it's placed a distance above the bed, you see some thin parts melt and so displace the object.
If engraving a few thin vertical lines works fine it's probably no backlash-issue.


Kees

[matt heinzel]

Scott, do you think we should replace everything or is one part the most obvious to replace it with. We have a belt on hand, but would need to order the rest.

[Scott Shepherd]

Scott, do you think we should replace everything or is one part the most obvious to replace it with. We have a belt on hand, but would need to order the rest.

You can skip the carriage bearings that go on back of the lens holder assembly. The ones that use the wavy washer. You can skip those, I think. When I was ordering them, he specifically said "Make sure you replace the Y-Axis bearings with that problem".

I assume he was talking about the bearings at the top of the y-axis rails, the one's that put tension on the belt, but I don't know. I ordered them all, except for the ones I mentioned above, so I'm not exactly sure which one he was talking about, but I'll know when they get here :)

I personally think it's a combination of the worn belt (ours is cracking), worn pulleys, and worn bearings. I'm not sure replacing one without the others is going to resolve it, but that's my unprofessional opinion.

[Scott Shepherd]

Replaced belts and bearings today. Problem gone.

[Mark Sipes]

Did you see the obvious signs of wear? You said the belt was cracked but the bearings. Loose, sloppy, balls dropping out of race......?

[Scott Shepherd]

Did you see the obvious signs of wear? You said the belt was cracked but the bearings. Loose, sloppy, balls dropping out of race......?

Not really. Under a loupe, you can see some wear in the pulleys that drive the belts. I didn't replace them. I called them off when I ordered the stuff, but apparently they didn't write them down, so I put the same drive pulleys back on. The bearings are all sealed, so there's nothing to fall out. It's been 2 years almost to the day since I replaced all that stuff, so it was time.