AWC708C Lite DSP Controller Installation and Impressions

[Robert Cowan]

Hey everyone. I took the plunge a few weeks back and installed an AWC708C Lite controller (also sold as the X7 DSP from light object) in my 60W laser cutter. I made a video detailing the process. Overall, I'm extremely happy with it, and if I had seen a similar video, I would have bought one immediately. There are a couple minor quirks, but overall it's a really nice upgrade from just about any controller I've seen (including an Epilog Helix I used to use). I have only used it a little bit (it's only been about a week since the conversion), but everything works as expected. I'll eventually make an update video once I've lived with it for a bit longer. Let me know if you have any questions.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvBYrvtsU5Y&t=76s

[Bill George]

Well I did not take the time to watch All 22 minutes, but basically you took a cheap Chinese laser and updated to a non dongle DSP controller. I have always purchased from the LightObject people who are really good at support.

[Gary Hair]

Well I did not take the time to watch All 22 minutes, but basically you took a cheap Chinese laser and updated to a non dongle DSP controller. I have always purchased from the LightObject people who are really good at support.

That pretty much sums it up...

[Matt McCoy]

Great video Robert. That's going to be very helpful to people.

[Robert Cowan]

Well I did not take the time to watch All 22 minutes, but basically you took a cheap Chinese laser and updated to a non dongle DSP controller. I have always purchased from the LightObject people who are really good at support.

Yep, that's what I did. I saw very few people that actually documented any of the process. I've ordered from Lightobject a couple of times and was disappointed in the quality of their products on both occasions. Service was decent though.

[Robert Cowan]

Great video Robert. That's going to be very helpful to people.

That's what I hope. There are certainly people out there that might be intimidated with the electronics, so I tried to show what's involved in swapping the controllers. For some it might seem basic and intuitive, but for others, it could be useful information.

[Dave Sheldrake]

that's a good video Rob, you would be surprised by how many times a week I get asked about swapping out controller cards...I'll just send them a link to your video in future :)

[Scott Marquez]

Thanks for posting this, you make it look pretty simple.
My only concern is where you mounted the controller, is it inside the smoke box? If so you might consider mounting it outboard of your laser cabinet.
Scott

[Bill George]

The problem with making it look simple as we already get those guys on here now with the inevitable eBay purchase, can't make it work, can't contact the seller and so on They do not have any mechanical skills, do not own a meter and if they did would not know how to operate it or interpret what they are seeing. So now they will attempt to change out the controller, cross some wires and let the smoke out.

[Robert Cowan]

that's a good video Rob, you would be surprised by how many times a week I get asked about swapping out controller cards...I'll just send them a link to your video in future :)

Thanks! If it helps out one person, it was worth doing.


Thanks for posting this, you make it look pretty simple.
My only concern is where you mounted the controller, is it inside the smoke box? If so you might consider mounting it outboard of your laser cabinet.
Scott

I thought about this for awhile. It's not ideal, but there just wasn't enough room in the back. It is far off to the side and as long as the exhaust fan is going, it should be fine. It generates not heat and doesn't need ventilation. If there were fans on it, there's no way I would have put it there.


The problem with making it look simple as we already get those guys on here now with the inevitable eBay purchase, can't make it work, can't contact the seller and so on They do not have any mechanical skills, do not own a meter and if they did would not know how to operate it or interpret what they are seeing. So now they will attempt to change out the controller, cross some wires and let the smoke out.

It's better than the alternative; not giving people the necessary tools an information to pursue a hobby or skill. Everyone has to start somewhere.

[Bill George]

Robert welcome to Forum and I hope you stick around long enough to help people with this modification and the answers they are going to need.
As a long time controls person, the bottom of the laser cutting area is the worst place for any type of electronic control system. Not only do you have the smoke but the dirt and debris from cutting and engraving.

[Robert Cowan]

Robert welcome to Forum and I hope you stick around long enough to help people with this modification and the answers they are going to need.
As a long time controls person, the bottom of the laser cutting area is the worst place for any type of electronic control system. Not only do you have the smoke but the dirt and debris from cutting and engraving.

Bill, I've been doing instructional videos for a very long time. This YouTube channel is relatively new, but I have 200+ videos under another channel. I freely answer questions and help people with their projects, and have for quite some time. Don't worry, I won't make you answer anyone's questions or provide them with insight or help on their projects.

Regarding the location of the electronics, I would agree with you if there were any real points of ingress, but there are not. I would agree that it's not ideal, but I don't foresee any issues with it. If it becomes a problem, I can relocate it. This machine really doesn't have a lot of room unfortunately.

[Bill George]

If you have room I would make up a thin acrylic or other shield to help keep the fumes and dust off the circuit boards. You can look at your honeycomb for an example to see what happens. So the K40 owners can ditch the controller and software and use this AWC708C unit to make a usable machine, so there is hope. Thanks for posting the details.

[Robert Cowan]

If you have room I would make up a thin acrylic or other shield to help keep the fumes and dust off the circuit boards. You can look at your honeycomb for an example to see what happens. So the K40 owners can ditch the controller and software and use this AWC708C unit to make a usable machine, so there is hope. Thanks for posting the details.

I was thinking about doing something just like this if it becomes an issue. The Z axis bed is solid and has the honeycomb on top of that. Smoke, fumes, and cutoffs only fall through the honeycomb to the bottom of this platform, so the underneath side of the machine is actually pretty clean and free of debris. But if it becomes a problem, it should be easy enough to isolate it with a barrier.

[Bill George]

Sometime in the future when things slow down a bit I am going to look into putting a DSP controller on my blue light diode laser engraver project. It works now, but the Arduino controller and stepper motor controller leaves a lot to be desired. The steppers are standard stepper motors, the laser controller is 0-5 vdc so in theory slap some standard stepper drives on, add the DSP controller for it all including the 0-5 vdc out to the diode control. Something to think about.