Big chinese laser ID and power question

[Chris Corwin]

Hi,

I just picked up a donated 100w Chinese laser and need some help identifying and locating some stuff. One thing that would help us is identifying who built the machine. It was rebranded by TUrnkey Lasers. They are no longer in business so any type of support from them is out of the question.

We know the laser has a 100w tube that runs on 220v there are 4 outlets in the back that are labeled 220. It also came with a box that has 4 more outlets the same shape and a 120v cord and plug on the other side. My question is, do we have to plug all the 220 v plugs into each other or can we use just 1? i have a 220v outlet in the shop,can I skip the whir box altogether and just plug it into the 220 v wall outlet?

[Chris Corwin]

Forum runner is acting up and won't let me post more than one picture before it freezes.

[Chris Corwin]

Right side

[Chris Corwin]

On the truck.

[Chris Corwin]

Cover open

[Dave Sheldrake]

It's an HX 1290 Made by Jinan King Rabbit

Ignore the block on the back, just use mains supply, the block on the back is very often not grounded to the mains, great machines and bomb proof, they will also take any commercially available single body tube with extensions fitted.

cheers

Dave

[Chris Corwin]

Thanks for the quick is!

If that's the output on the back, then where is the input for the 220v?

It stinks I don't have the laser in front of me. I'll look at it closer when I get back on Tuesday.

[Dave Sheldrake]

It may be a 220 version Chris, on one of mine (the same machine but from HPC over here) the input is just routed to the 220 output block.

[Ray Scott]

Thanks for the quick is!

If that's the output on the back, then where is the input for the 220v?

It stinks I don't have the laser in front of me. I'll look at it closer when I get back on Tuesday.


The laser machine is actually from Jinan King Rabbit factory. It is a HX1290. The laser is a Reci W2.. 80 watts. Turnkeylaser scammed the factory, investor, customers, and the web developer.

You should be able to get parts from nearly any laser company... boss laser, checkmate, Full Spectrum, or Rabbit Laser USA.

...
yes.. It is 220VAC. You can plug all the accessories into the back of the laser. If you believe there is some problem with the outlet plugs, then you should plug the accessories into the wall.

[Dave Sheldrake]

You should be able to get parts from nearly any laser company... or Rabbit Laser USA.



Ray cannot advertise however I would seriously recommend Rabbit Laser USA for all the spares, I've bought from Ray on more than one occasion and had nothing but excellent service even though he is 5,000 miles away (I don't work for or have any association with Ray other than as a customer)

cheers

dave

[Chris Corwin]

Thanks for all the replies. Just to clarify, in order to fire up the laser tube power supply, I should make a male to male 220v cable and plug it into the 220v outlet strip on the back of the laser.

For a tax deduction donation letter, how much should I say this laser is worth in US dollars?

[Michael Davis4]

Hello Chris, No do not make a Male too Male plug and put it into the power block on the back of the machine. Thats unless you really don't want the machine anymore. The power block is for power out only. Open up the cabinet on the machine and locate the main power supply. There should be power in marked. Thats where you make the main power in connection to you wall or building power. Also as Dave said be very careful using the power blocks in the back of the machine because they may not be properly grounded to the machine and to the power supply. Look for a separate ground lug on the machine. Thats where you need to attach a separate ground wire and run it to ground, i.e. to earth outside. At least 3 feet of ground rod into the ground. The only other advice I could give you is if you really are not sure call a certified electrician. 220v is nothing to play with. Alot of the Chinese machines are not properly grounded even though they have certification paperwork stating they are.

[Chris Corwin]

I have picture of the back of the machine. There is no place to plug a 220v plug in except at the 4 outlets. It does have a regular 120v line and I have powered up the DSP, motors and air assist.

This laser did come with a large heavy white box with a 120v plug and 4 identical outlets like the 220v ones shown above.

I will have access to the machine on Tuesday and can track down more info. It's just bothering me that there is no straight forward answers.

I've dealt with weird stuff like this before when I built other lasers using Chinese parts and I'm sure there will be other surprises to come.

[Chris Corwin]

Where can I get the driver laserworks v6?

[Dave Sheldrake]

edit: sounds like it's a 120volt machine then, the choccy blocks on the back are useless in most cases and increase the load on the main machines electrics...I never use mine on the HX lasers and just run accessories from the mains.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Laserworks is used on Ruida controllers? did turkey lasers use that on theirs? the machine as standard is designed to use LaserCut 5.3

[Chris Corwin]

I'm not sure what controller it has. Can you tell fom these pictures?

[Dave Sheldrake]

In theory it could be either but the PAD 03/04/05 is Leetro normally so I would guess it's likely to be lasercut. When the machine powers up, read the screen and it will tell me what it's using from the boot message :) only other way is to open the side and have a look at the actual card (right hand side, second door down)

cheers

Dave

[Chris Corwin]

I know it's a leetro, I looked at the Dsp board quickly before I had to go. I just didn't know what software it would need. Does it need a dongle to work? If it does, where and how much?

Maybe it would be better to switch to an awc608 like I did on a previous retrofit.

[Chris Corwin]

I found this information on Facebook but it doesn't always match what I've seen on the machine.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Not an easy swap out if you switch controllers sadly Chris, It's strange as that control usually uses LaserCut but Turkey Lasers may have made some changes to the Ruida card. Ruida is normally used by Shenhui with Leetros (step servo co) going into the other big names.

The boot message will tell for sure, it will give the firmware version and from that I'll be able to give a definitive answer. On an HX it *should* be lasercut (and yes you need a dongle) but I'd hate to state that as fact until I'm certain.

[Chris Corwin]

I was just thinking about the power issue when I remember that the plug where I put the 120v supply could also be used for 220v I bet there is an auto switching power supply for the controller and a non switching one for the laser tube. That must be why it came with an inverter box. On Tuesday I'll look and see if I'm right.

I I just got used to plugging in 120v lines into those power connectors. It never dawned on me, untill now, that they are also rated for 220v. If I'm right, and I think I am, I can skip the inverter and go straight to the 220v outlet in the wall!

As for converting to a AWC-608, nothing can be more difficult than the retrofit I did a couple of years ago. I took out a LTT ILS-III controller and kept all the motor drives and power supplys. Nothing was labeled, the optical switches had to be inverted and the laser had to be retrofitted. The leetro's wires are all labeled nice and it already has the mechanical parts for a glass tube. That to me is an easy retrofit!

Dave, thanks for all your help so far, you have cleared some things up for me and raised other pertinent questions!

Thank You!

[Peter Odell]

I think Turnkey is still in business I have 2 of their machines and he is there when I need him

[Dave Sheldrake]

No worries Chris, the HX1290 is indeed a workhorse, mines been abused, kicked, left out in the rain for 7 weeks and all manner of other horrors :)

[Chris Corwin]

We'll see how long it lasts with middleschool kids!;)

[Chris Corwin]

I have some more info on the controller. Here is a picture of the startup screen. I think I need to use laser cut, but I'm not sure. After looking at the DSP board, I think I will switch it out for a 608 or 708 controller.

I was also able to plug it into a 220v outlet. Everything ran just fine with the controllers and motors.

If I have time tomorrow, I'll see if I can connect the chiller to the laser and make some cuts.

I also think I found the reason why the company donated the laser in the first place. I tried to run the laser from the 220v inverter. Nothing happened. I took the cover off and found one the hot lead was burned out where the transformer connects. Fortunately, we don't need to use the inverter.

[Dave Sheldrake]

It's lasercut Chris but that's an older version of the firmware. The latest is 4.1.3 I believe, that also means it's running a Leetro 6515 card so you may need to use an earlier version of Lasercut for that firmware (5.1 possibly)

The software requires a dongle to run though, they tend to run $150 - $200 a time :(

[Bill George]

He can get the complete setup.... good software, controller and LCD from LightObject dot com for $500 or so. No Dongle required.

[Jerome Stanek]

Is there a chance of getting the dongle from the original owners

[Chris Corwin]

I think I will get a LO controller. This time I'll go for the 708 instead of the 608. I can't realistically deal with a single in school for various reasons with the kids and I am already familiar with the whole LaserCAD program.

I ran into a wiring issue. I cannot turn the machine on or off using the switch in the front. Also the estop doesn't work as well. I think I tracked it down to the motor switch module. I think this has been tampered with. Is the cjx2-1210 supposed to click on and off when the keyed switch is turned?

Can someone please take a picture of their wired module and underside of the switch panel?

Thanks for all the help so far!

[Chris Corwin]

Here is the underside of the switch panel. I had to replace the keyed switch because it was completely broken.

[Bill George]

My guess there was a lot of tampering going on when that transformer burnt out. Trying to get things to work, I'd look for jumpers or bypasses to remove. I wonder if Ray Scott has a wiring diagram of a Rabbit machine that might be the same?

[Chris Corwin]

I checked for jumpers or blatant wiring changes. I had to Rewire the on off switch because it was originally broken and bypassed. I can see no non factory jumpers.

[Chris Corwin]

Ray to the rescue!!! Thank You for all the schematics. I should have this laser up and running in no time!!

Lets hope the power supply and tube are good.....

[Chris Corwin]

And it's good! The laser fires! The machine moves! Ladies and gentlemen, we have success! I have to replace the remote start module that I took a picture of. The coil on the inside was burned out and wouldn't pull close the contacts. $25 shipped from Amazon. I hot-wired it in the meantime.

I still have to get the machine to accept new jobs. If anybody has an old lasercut dongle let me know... Yeah right!

I will be replacing the DSP with a lightobject 708.

[John Noell]

Ray to the rescue!!! It is really great to have someone like Ray on this forum. Too rare to find someone both really knowledgeable and truly helpful.

[Ray Scott]

THIS IS A 220 VAC LASER MACHINE.

The IEC connector needs to be wired to a 220VAC, single-phase plug.

[Chris Corwin]

THIS IS A 220 VAC LASER MACHINE. The IEC connector needs to be wired to a 220VAC, single-phase plug.

You are correct! I have wired up a 220v plug and connected it to a 220v outlet. This was probably one of the original problems that the previous owner did not address correctly.

Thanks to your help this laser is 100% functioning(when the new part comes in).

[Ray Scott]

I am pretty sure you have a 6515 controller with 4.1.3.0 firmware. Your system just needs a USB dongle... White with blue stripe.

I have played with software a bit.. I still prefer the LaserCut. And the Leetro controller.

[Chris Corwin]

I talked with the person who works at the company that donated the machine. He said he still has the dongle and would mail it to me.

The guys at the highschool are running a couple of machines that run Lasercut. I had a chance to play around with it. To be honest, it seamed like an old outdated version of LaserCAD. I'm sure I'm biased, because I have used LaserCAD for two years.

The two seem to be based on the same software with some layout differences and features based on the controllers. The biggest (and possibly the most important) difference is the lack of the whole dongle mechanism with LaserCAD. Oh yah, PPI is nice too.

[pete hagan]

Chris, I hope you know that before you run the laser for more than a second or two that you have water running through the tube, that is if it is a water cooled tube.

[Chris Corwin]

Thanks for the heads up, but this isn't my first rodeo. I rebuilt a laser and fit in a AWC-608 and a reci 80w tube with chiller. I have also used a glass tube in the epilog legend in my sig.

[Ray Scott]

Chris, I hope you know that before you run the laser for more than a second or two that you have water running through the tube, that is if it is a water cooled tube.

Hello....

The laser machine should have a chiller interlock. The interlock assigns that the chiller must be in a safe mode of operation before it allows the laser to fire. This means that water is flowing, the temperature is above XX degrees, and the temperature is below ZZ degrees.

The laser machine should also have an internal flow sensor. The internal flow sensor should be red plastic cap with a brass body. This sensor is typically located on the left side of the machine... in the middle door. Because of the chiller interlock, some laser systems did not include the internal water flow sensor.

As for water protection devices... I have seen some laser systems with water pressure sensors. This is a bad idea. It doesn't really prove that a cooling system is working.

I have seen some flow sensors that use a spring loaded flow resistance "thing" with a magnet inside. A magnetic reed sensor is mounted outside the plastic housing ... While the spring tries to keep the magnet upstream, the reed switch is activated by the magnet moving downstream. This style is very prone to getting jammed in the activated-downstream position.

The red-plastic and brass body is the style that I have seen the most. This style uses a spring loaded flap to resist the water flow. Once the flow is strong enough, the flap is pushed out of the water path. A magnet is mounted to the back of the flap.... and is pushed toward the reed switch. This style has its own faults. If the plastic is cracked, the reed switch can fail. After many years of usage, the spring can rust. One major benefit.... This sensor is easy to take apart and clean.

There is also another style of flow sensor. I have only seen it on one laser machine... I can only speculate how it works. Water turns the little impeller with minimal flow resistance. A magnet is mounted on one of the impeller blades. A Hall effect sensor detects the magnet passing... And the Hall effect sensor flashes on and off. There are two great advantages here. 1) There is very little resistance to the flow rate or water pressure. 2) detecting actual flow means that the sensor must keep flashing. The disadvantage is that the motion controller logic must be expecting a flashing signal.... Or the signal must drive an off-delay relay. I really like this flow sensor style, but I would expect it to be significantly higher cost.


In any rate... Use a water flow sensor to protect your laser cooling system.

Ray Scott