New Laser Acquisition and Question

[Brian Leavitt]

Hey all,
My new laser arrived this morning. I haven't had time to do anything with it, other than put it where it's going to stay and change the menu language. For such a cheapie, I've been surprised by a few things so far. It was packaged quite well with plenty of padding and no part of the machine was in contact with the crate. Well, the wheels were, but they were not supporting the weight of the machine. The build quality and wiring job are better than I expected. All the wiring I've seen so far is neatly loomed and well protected. The listing stated that it would come with AutoLaser, but it looks like it actually came with RDCAM. I don't know what the difference is, but RDCAM seems to be a much more common program. I've not had a chance to install anything because I had to get to work. Here's a few photos, if anyone is interested.

This is right after it arrived when I was halfway through un-crating.
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The worst part was getting it into its new home. The ECU for the car in the garage is out getting repaired and I didn't have enough room to get the laser past it. I had to move the car over 6 inches so I ended up pushing it back and forth several times to accomplish this task. It should have been easier, but it's been parked for nearly a year while I did some upgrading of the engine management. I know my garage is a terrible mess. This photo is after spending the entire weekend cleaning it up! Still lots of cleaning to do...
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Finally got it where it needed to go. Like I stated previously - I've only had time to give it a quick looking over, turn it on, and change the language. I need to get a cover for it so I don't get glass bead in there when I'm cleaning car parts.
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So I have one question so far. There is a ground connection on the back of the machine. Where the heck is it supposed to connect to? It's a 120v machine and it utilizes the ground in the regular plug so I don't understand why the ground connection on the back is there.

OK I lied... I have two questions. I forgot what you all use instead of antifreeze in these things. I'm going to need something in there to prevent the water from freezing. I know there have been discussions on this not too long ago, but my search abilities and not very good on this forum.

[Keith Winter]

Photo of this grounding connection on the back of the machine you referred to?

[Brian Leavitt]

I'll take one when I get home. I forgot to get a photo of it this morning.

[Rich Harman]

So I have one question so far. There is a ground connection on the back of the machine. Where the heck is it supposed to connect to? It's a 120v machine and it utilizes the ground in the regular plug so I don't understand why the ground connection on the back is there.

Are you sure the ground in the regular plug is electrically connected to the machine? You could use an ohmmeter to test between the plug and the ground connection on the machine. If there is continuity there then I think you would be okay ignoring that ground connection.

[Brian Leavitt]

I didn't test the ground connection, but I could see the back side of the receptacle and there's a wire on the ground side. I'll double check when I get home.

[Jerome Stanek]

I use RV antifreeze in mine

[David Somers]

Brian.

I ran into this with my chinese machine too. The issue is that they often do not have grounded circuits and so they provide a ground for the machine. My machine is 220. But my company said it was the same for them. If you want to ground it that way as well as with the plug run a wire to a long hunk of rebar driven into the ground.

When they realized i had done all my 220 with grounds and had the unit on a voltage regulator they said the earth ground would serve little to no purpose.

Remember that for Chinese power their default electric at the wall is 220 not 110. And they often have no ground. That may help you figure out their approach to wiring.

[Rich Harman]

Also make sure your power supplies have the switches set to 110V.

[Brian Leavitt]

Thanks, guys - I'll check in tonight after I get a chance to get a more thorough look at the thing.

[Glen Monaghan]

I had a piece of Chinese electronics with a 3 prong plug that I discovered didn't actually have a conductor in the cord for the ground pin. The cord appeared to be pretty heavy duty based on its thickness but actually had just two strands of what appeared to be wimpy 20 ga wire inside. Even if your cord has the ground conductor and it's connected to the ground pin, also verify that the other end of the ground wire is well-bonded to the chassis (for example, with a well-crimped connector that is bolted onto bare metal rather than a painted surface) and that all metal parts of the chassis are electrically connected.

[Brian Leavitt]

OK so I checked it over last night and the ground lug on the back of the machine is connected to the ground on the receptacle, which is also connected to the chassis and also directly to the power supplies and main board, so I don't think I need to worry about connecting to the ground lug on the back of the machine. The power supplies are set to 120v. I did have to remove the chassis ground and grind off the powder coat so that it would make a good ground.

Jerome - this RV antifreeze... I have seen it mentioned on here before. Is that the pink stuff used for winterizing?

The laser came with a piece of acrylic tied to the lid opening handle. From my internet searches, I found that this is probably the focusing tool. Can anyone confirm this?

The only problems I've found with this machine so far were the incomplete chassis ground and the table is out of level. I have fixed the ground and I'll tackle the table level tonight. I did a couple test runs using RDCAM and everything seems to be working fine so far. Only software problem I'm having so far is CorelLaser keeps saying the laser is disconnected. The machine ID field is blank and I'm thinking something needs to go in there, but I don't know where to find this information.

The most shocking thing I have encountered so far was that the beam is already aligned with no adjustment needed! I pulsed it in all four corners and the dots lay right on top of each other, plus they're centered in the opening. :eek:

[David Somers]

Good morning Brian!

Measure your piece of acrylic. It should have a dimension that is close to the focal length of the lens minus the distance from the lens to the bottom of the tube. My guess is it is a rectangle? The measurement you probably want is the width as opposed to the thickness of the acrylic or the length.

In terms of the machine not being seen by RDcam as being on. Is there by any chance more than one USB port on the laser? If so, try the other port, and reboot your computer. See if it is visible then. It is likely they have a port for a thumbdrive (which may or may not be active) plus a port to go direct to the PC. That is the one you need.

If that is all set, then try your RDcam installation while the laser is plugged into the computer AND the laser is turned on. I had problems with the driver not installing correctly unless it was plugged in and turned on prior to the installation. On my RDCam I also have a button for installing the Driver that is separate from the button for installing the Corellaser plugin.

See if that helps!

Dave

[Brian Leavitt]

Sorry, David - I probably wasn't clear in my description. RDCAM actually works perfectly fine. I have set up and run a few test jobs with it. No problems there. It's only CorelLaser which has a problem finding the machine.

You are correct about the acrylic piece - it is rectangular. I have no idea what the focal length of the lens is, to be honest. This is my first Chinese machine so it's like I'm starting all over again!

[David Somers]

Brian,

Glad RDCam is actually OK.

Take a look at the description I did for you earlier of installing the Corel plug in. That may help with the corel laser issue.

My guess is your lens is a 2 inch or 50mm lens, unless you asked for some other focal length.
If they are using the typical lens tube and lens mount then that piece of acrylic probably has a width of about 18mm? And just FYI. That means your actual lens is mounted roughly 32mm up inside the tube. 32mm from the lens to the bottom of the tube, + 18mm = the focal length of 50mm/2 inch. When you have time, do a focus test to be sure that is actually the best point of focus and if needed, cut a new piece of acrylic for a more exact guage. There are a ton of posts here on how to test for the best focal point if you decide to do that.

Is that the only lens you got with the system?

One other note that you havent asked yet. Since this is your first Chinese laser.
With no manual you may get the idea that the only way you have to focus is by raising or lowering the table. The motors for these things are not very finely controlled so if you try to focus like this it will be frustrating.

Instead, use the table to get reasonably close to the right focal length. Then look on your lens tube and you should see a knurled ring or a knurled screw that can be loosened easily and allows you to raise and lower the lens tube inside its receiving tube. Loosen that and lower or raise the tube to the exact focal length using that acrylic guage. Then tighten it to lightly hand tight. No need to really reef on it.

There might be a couple of things on the tube that can be loosened. If you look at them a moment you will see that one probably holds the red laser. A second will hold the air assist tube. And then there will be the ring or set screw that locks down the lens tube itself.

You might check your red dot alignment as well. Get the laser focused on something like a sheet of paper and then do a quick pulse to create a burned dot on the paper. The align your red dot. Oddly enough, I prefer to have my red dot just below where the laser beam will hit when focused. I tried doing it with the dot on the point of the laser beam, but I found the bright red LED light made it hard for me to see what I was trying to line up on. That may just be my vision. Point is....try one method and see if you like it, and if not, try another alignment that works better for you.

Hope you are having fun with this!!! Sounds like it is coming together bit by bit!!

Dave

[Mark Taylor2]

Brian,

On the CorelLaser issue, did you enter the MAC address of the control board into the settings of the software? Also, there's a keyfob that needs to be plugged into a USB port of the computer although I think some versions of CorelLaser don't have the keyfob.

[Brian Leavitt]

Brian,
Take a look at the description I did for you earlier of installing the Corel plug in. That may help with the corel laser issue.

Dang! I forgot the CorelLaser was part of the installation program. I saw it when I installed RDcam, but didn't install it at that time. I forgot about it and ended up downloading it from somewhere. I'll uninstall it and try installing it from the disc.



Is that the only lens you got with the system?

Yes, I only got one lens.



One other note that you havent asked yet. Since this is your first Chinese laser.
With no manual you may get the idea that the only way you have to focus is by raising or lowering the table. The motors for these things are not very finely controlled so if you try to focus like this it will be frustrating.

Instead, use the table to get reasonably close to the right focal length. Then look on your lens tube and you should see a knurled ring or a knurled screw that can be loosened easily and allows you to raise and lower the lens tube inside its receiving tube. Loosen that and lower or raise the tube to the exact focal length using that acrylic guage. Then tighten it to lightly hand tight. No need to really reef on it.
Good to know, thanks. The table motor on this is so dang slow, I could probably use it by itself to focus, but if it's easy to adjust the lens tube I'll have to give it a whirl.



You might check your red dot alignment as well. Get the laser focused on something like a sheet of paper and then do a quick pulse to create a burned dot on the paper. The align your red dot. Oddly enough, I prefer to have my red dot just below where the laser beam will hit when focused. I tried doing it with the dot on the point of the laser beam, but I found the bright red LED light made it hard for me to see what I was trying to line up on. That may just be my vision. Point is....try one method and see if you like it, and if not, try another alignment that works better for you.

Hope you are having fun with this!!! Sounds like it is coming together bit by bit!!

Dave
Yeah the red dot is totally wack - way off.

[Brian Leavitt]

Brian,

On the CorelLaser issue, did you enter the MAC address of the control board into the settings of the software? Also, there's a keyfob that needs to be plugged into a USB port of the computer although I think some versions of CorelLaser don't have the keyfob.
I don't know about the MAC address. I'm not sure if that applies when it's connected via USB, but I'm no computer super guru either. There's the machine ID box that's blank. That one seems like I need to input something myself, but I don't know where to get the information. I'm going to try installing CorelLaser from the disc I have and see if that changes anything. Mine didn't have a dongle with it.

Thanks, guys, for the info!

[David Somers]

Brian and Mark,

Mine doesnt require a dongle or MAC address. But when I do install, if I am not plugged into the USB port of the laser AND have the laser turned on the installation finishes but it never acknowledges laser. And I have to be sure I am using the USB port designated for the PC, not the one that is labeled for use by a thumbdrive. That is an inactive port and the laser company confirmed that for me. That is something specific to the the folks who did my laser however and may not apply to yours.

[Mark Taylor2]

That's interesting, David. Maybe it's a difference in verson level. Mine is 2013.02.08.00289.

Here's a screen capture of the Properties window.... The Machine ID is the MAC address of the control card and it should be on the control card.


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[Brian Leavitt]

That's interesting, David. Maybe it's a difference in verson level. Mine is 2013.02.08.00289.

Here's a screen capture of the Properties window.... The Machine ID is the MAC address of the control card and it should be on the control card.


322924
That's the same thing I see. The Machine ID is what I've been after, but I can't find one anywhere. This is what I'm looking at:
http://i.imgur.com/LKgwmFil.jpg

Should it be on the Main Board (white box) in this photo?

[Brian Leavitt]

I tried re-installing CorelLaser with the machine plugged in and turned on, but it didn't change anything.

[Kev Williams]

Dave hit on the 'find the machine' issue earlier, when he said 'try another USB port'- have you tried that?

Your machine is considered by your computer to be a "USB serial port" device. When you install these Chinese programs, it picks an available COM port# to use. All of your USB ports have a COM port number assigned to them. You just need to find the right USB port number that matches what your machine picked out!

In my case, it picked COM3, and it's one of the USB ports on the back of my win7 computer. If I plug the machine into any other USB port, the machine won't connect...

I'm curious if the computer that's running the new machine has LPT or serial (COM) ports?

With your laser turned off, go into your device manager, and see if you have a "Ports-COM & LPT" listing. If you have LPT or COM ports, you will. If not, you probably won't...

Now turn the laser on. If it's actually connected to the computer, you SHOULD have a "Ports" listing pop up (if you didn't before), and clicking on the listing, it SHOULD say something like "USB serial port COM#", the "#" will be the number assigned to the port you're plugged into. If YES to the listing additions, then your computer IS connected to the machine. If the machine says the computer isn't found, then you need to try another port!

OR- just avoid all the above and just try other ports! :)

[Jeff Body]

That's the same thing I see. The Machine ID is what I've been after, but I can't find one anywhere. This is what I'm looking at:
http://i.imgur.com/LKgwmFil.jpg

Should it be on the Main Board (white box) in this photo?

That looks alot like my controller from Ruida. RDC6442G
I use RDworks to run it. Are you sure you're using the right software? I'd try just loading RDworks and the driver?

You can download the software at Thunder laser's website. In that software package will be a driver install also.

This is just a suggestion.
Here's what my controller looks like.
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[Brian Leavitt]

Dave hit on the 'find the machine' issue earlier, when he said 'try another USB port'- have you tried that?

Your machine is considered by your computer to be a "USB serial port" device. When you install these Chinese programs, it picks an available COM port# to use. All of your USB ports have a COM port number assigned to them. You just need to find the right USB port number that matches what your machine picked out!

In my case, it picked COM3, and it's one of the USB ports on the back of my win7 computer. If I plug the machine into any other USB port, the machine won't connect...

I'm curious if the computer that's running the new machine has LPT or serial (COM) ports?

With your laser turned off, go into your device manager, and see if you have a "Ports-COM & LPT" listing. If you have LPT or COM ports, you will. If not, you probably won't...

Now turn the laser on. If it's actually connected to the computer, you SHOULD have a "Ports" listing pop up (if you didn't before), and clicking on the listing, it SHOULD say something like "USB serial port COM#", the "#" will be the number assigned to the port you're plugged into. If YES to the listing additions, then your computer IS connected to the machine. If the machine says the computer isn't found, then you need to try another port!

OR- just avoid all the above and just try other ports! :)

There is no connection problem. I actually did check the device manager when I first installed RDCAM and the driver because it didn't seem like the driver actually installed. It did and it comes up as COM5. I bought a new laptop specifically for this laser and it's running Windows 10 so no serial ports. So far I have had no issues with Corel X7, RDCAM, or the Macros that RDCAM installed in Corel. The only issue I have at all is the CorelLaser "add-on" for CorelDraw, and that seems like it's only because I need to input the Device ID of the controller. If I can't get CorelLaser to work, it's really not that big a deal as I can use Corel and RDCAM to run the machine.

[Brian Leavitt]

That looks alot like my controller from Ruida. RDC6442G
I use RDworks to run it. Are you sure you're using the right software? I'd try just loading RDworks and the driver?

You can download the software at Thunder laser's website. In that software package will be a driver install also.

This is just a suggestion.
Here's what my controller looks like.
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Jeff, is there a Device ID or MAC address labeled somewhere on your controller? I'm wondering if I'm looking in the wrong place. :confused:

[Matthew Grant]

I needed to fill in the device ID as well. Mine was on a sticker on the mainboard where USB connected.

[Jeff Body]

I'm so confused. You're saying RDworks works on your laser as well as the Macro plugin?
Is this another program you're using? What is CorelLaser?

Isn't Corellaser just a plugin or Macro for corel? You design all your work in corel and than hit the button in the toolbar and it automaticly imports your design into RDworks and from there you can send the job to the laser? At least that's what mine does.
It's just a bridge from corel into RDworks.

[David Somers]

Hey Jeff,

That is correct, at least for me. I can work in just RDworks (I have V8) by itself directly if I want. I prefer to use Corel X7 however and then hit the icon in the toolbar to transfer the file over to RDWorks which will then pass the file on to the laser with whatever cutting/engraving parameters I have provided. The same installation process permits me to install the driver, and the plug in.

I have the installation file if any of you want me to email it to you. It is about 7.5 mb and is in a RAR file so you would need an unpacker program that handles RAR. There are lots of free ones you can download.

If you want that you can PM me your email. Or email me directly at d underscore somers at hotmail dot com.

[Mark Taylor2]

Brian,
It may not be a "sticker" as such. Look where the cable from the PC plugs in. It might also be "etched" into the circuit board in that it will either be copper or solder traces. The white cover might have to come off to see it. Mine is etched into the circuit board right next the connector. A different model I have, but in digitalland, the ID should be on the equipment.

[Brian Leavitt]

I'm so confused. You're saying RDworks works on your laser as well as the Macro plugin?
Is this another program you're using? What is CorelLaser?

Isn't Corellaser just a plugin or Macro for corel? You design all your work in corel and than hit the button in the toolbar and it automaticly imports your design into RDworks and from there you can send the job to the laser? At least that's what mine does.
It's just a bridge from corel into RDworks.

CorelLaser is separate from RDworks. The installation file for RDworks had options to install RDcam, as well as the Macros for Corel which would import the design file from Corel to RDcam. These macros have nothing to do with CorelLaser. It is a totally separate installation. CorelLaser is a plugin for Corel which, as far as I know, will send the engraving file directly to the laser. You can change the speed and power settings from within the CorelLaser popup window in CorelDraw.

[Brian Leavitt]

Brian,
It may not be a "sticker" as such. Look where the cable from the PC plugs in. It might also be "etched" into the circuit board in that it will either be copper or solder traces. The white cover might have to come off to see it. Mine is etched into the circuit board right next the connector. A different model I have, but in digitalland, the ID should be on the equipment.
Thanks, Mark - I'll look where the UBS cable plugs in, tonight. If I don't find anything I'll crack it open.

[Jeff Body]

CorelLaser is separate from RDworks. The installation file for RDworks had options to install RDcam, as well as the Macros for Corel which would import the design file from Corel to RDcam. These macros have nothing to do with CorelLaser. It is a totally separate installation. CorelLaser is a plugin for Corel which, as far as I know, will send the engraving file directly to the laser. You can change the speed and power settings from within the CorelLaser popup window in CorelDraw.

OK got it......
Are you sure Corellaser will work with your controller because this is the first time I've heard that another program would work with a Ruida controller?

[Brian Leavitt]

Are you sure Corellaser will work with your controller because this is the first time I've heard that another program would work with a Ruida controller?
No I'm not sure, but if I can find the Device ID I'm looking for I'll find out. If it just won't work, no skin off my back - I'll just import to RDworks and print from there.

[Kees Soeters]

If you know the IP-adress of the controler (as set in the menu) AND your computer is in the same range (for example 192.168.10.5 for the controller and 192.168.10.1 for the computer) you can use the command arp -a (in the command prompt) You will get a list of all the IP's in the network and their associated Physical MAC adresses

Kees