Chinese Engraver Help 40w

[Ryan Barila]

Another post about chinese laser engraver..... Issues I have device will randomly say disconnected on the computer using CorelLaser.... This is the results I am getting design attached aswell as png. Any ideas why? I was in a dispute with the seller and they would only issue a $200 refund and told me if i try to send it back to china they will deny the import. Aliexpresswould not go in my favor, they kept extending the dispute. Machine arrived with several broken parts (table lift, hinge, belts etc.) All replaced. This has been very frustrating.

When I am engraving this design it is on bamboo the design shifted all over the bottom letter D and the martini glass. The original design is shown as a png. I create the design in Adobe Illustrator then exported as .ai version 9. Import to CorelDraw/CorelLaser.... I rotated the design not sure if this is the issue or AI format? The manufacture told me to do dxf but the design alters. What format do you use? What do you think the issue is? Laser Power: 20% Speed: 250mm/s Resolution 1000 This was suppose to be a last minute christmas gift

[Bill George]

Well since the machine you imported from China was damaged I would say starting looking for more broken parts and loose connections. I doubt if Corel Draw Laser has any connection to Corel the USA company, I could be wrong.

[Bert Kemp]

Sure looks like a mechanical issue and not software. Possibly a loose belt that skipped a beat or 2. I would start checking belts, motors stuff like that

[Jerome Stanek]

When you say the design changes what does it look like. I think it may be your file is corrupt or there are wrong poly lines in it.

[Kev Williams]

Check for nodes, which may not be visible but still may be there, outside the machine's margins.
I had this happen with my Triumph, when I ran a power grid test-- check the numbers that are out-of-whack that I've drawn arrows to where they're supposed to be...
Since it was a power test, one row at a time was engraved, with each number a different color to be engraved individually at a different speed. I was also checking different
focus distances, which is what the numbers themselves represent... Anyway, at random points the machine shifted engraving coordinates.

I found the reason to be single nodes that were on the screen, but to the left of the plate layout. The nodes were also sent to the PHCad Chinese engraving program...
These nodes can't be seen unless you specifically look for them, in Corel they will only show up in point-edit mode. In PHCad, they were visible, but due to the display
limitations of the program you could barely see them. As the machine rastered and the Y axis moved downward, when one of those points fell into the same Y coordinate
as what was actually engraving, the machine made a few horrible noises, then continued engraving, but in the wrong place. It was always the "1.32" rows,
and as you can see, each next number to the right moved AGAIN after engraving the previous number, moving every time the computer found the false node. I assume
the computer "saw" the node, and the head tried to go there briefly, until the controller figured out it couldn't go past "0". I also assume this is a computer bug
that's never been addressed, since the controller should ignore commands to move the head to a bad coordinate before it actually does...!

Anyway, check it out-- If you find no false points, next step is to make sure the layout size in the computer program matches the actual table size of your laser...
if not, it's possible your graphic falls outside the margins. A quick test, just move the engraving to a different place on the table and see if the skipping still happens...



http://www.engraver1.com/erase2/grid2.jpg

[Keith Sherwin]

Ryan, Can you try running at 200 mm/s or less. I too was the sad purchaser of a Chinese laser but I had asked for several items including a RECI 80 Watt tube - never got it. That is a story that is still ongoing and not for discussion here.

One major problem I had was the machine would not do "consistent" rapids greater than 200 - well sometimes it would do 300 but not consistent. From your photo, it looks like your unit has skipped steps especially if you were engraving from the top of the R down. Hope you never purchased from Alan. If you set your speed to 300 mm/s or 400 mm/s does it sit there and sing or move a bit & then sing? That would be missing steps in a bad way. In my case it was a very weak #42 stepper motor being run at 0.32 amps! Not enough power to pull the gantry. Hope you get it sorted out. I think I have my situation sorted out.

[Clark Pace]

So I used to havea 40watt ebay laser. I enjoyed it, but at least on mine I could only engrave smaller images as the unit very little memory, and if my files went over that memory limit it would do kind of what you are showing. It would also act crazy and slam the x-carriage. Now mine was a parallel unit, and ran on newly draw. I don't know if the USB machines have the same problem. I had to limit my files to 15k. Very small. I had to do larger images in segments.

[Keith Winter]

You're getting some really great advice from these guys who have posted. Try their suggestions one at a time. Thing new owners always try to do is to do everything at once when trying to fix something. You'll have to systematically through each part of the machine and the suggestions to narrow down the issue. See if the seller will send you a manual (if they have one) or Google all the components you see in the machine that's how I've figured out most things on my Chinese laser. Also check out cnc forum. More users with these eBay machines on there. I read it a lot too. Seems like every week someone is having one problem or another with their 40w lasers, likely someone has experienced a very similar problem. Might be able to learn something searching here and there both. Best of luck to you, sounds like a terrible deal.