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David Sabot
11-05-2006, 12:29 AM
I have a mercury 25 watt laser engraver and recently I have started to have a problem with a faint ghost image of my artwork appearing on my substrate. I never noticed the problem before I replaced my X Axis motor but now, no matter what I engrave I can see this ghost image. This is what I have done so far:

Cleaned all mirrors, lenses, rails & Bearings.
Converted all artwork to different formats (tiff,bmp,jpg,etc)
Ensured I have the latest drivers and software versions.
Rotated templates 90 degrees
Turned air assist on & off
Engraved at different speeds, power levels
Changed substrates.

No matter what I try I still see these images. I am attaching two pictures for reference. It is hard to see, but just above the logo in these examples you can see the ghost image, I highlited in yellow.

http://www.cheaphumidors.com/ghost.jpg
http://www.cheaphumidors.com/ghost2.jpg
http://www.cheaphumidors.com/ghost2.jpg

Rodne Gold
11-05-2006, 1:44 AM
This is most likely a trickle voltage problem , the tube is actually firing before it fires for real and now its become overactive in this dept to put it simply. There are jumpers on the main board you can change for this , I don't have the specifics of where they are right now and what to change to , but any GCC dealer can help you with this 2 minute fix.
Normally manifests itself quite badly on materials like Rowmark fleixibrass etc.
It could of course be something else like incorrect tenson on the X axis belt or a bad connection or the flat ribbon cable starting to give in. If the trickle voltage setting doesnt work , then check those areas out.

David Sabot
11-05-2006, 8:39 AM
I will try to adjust the tension on the X axis motor. Any idea who might have the jumper settings on a Sunday?

Rodne Gold
11-05-2006, 11:49 AM
I have searched my maintenance manual to no avail , as far as I remember there is a row of 4/5 jumpers in the middle of the board , the defualt setting might be the middle one , shift to the left to decrease the tickle voltage and to the right to increase. You need to decrease. I did this to mine around 4-5 yrs ago , so my memory is hazy. If you post a pic of the M/Board , I might be able to pick em out for you.

David Sabot
11-05-2006, 11:54 AM
Thanks again for your help. You lead me in the right direction. I did some searching and found an old post here about the exact location of the dip switch. I moved the jumper over to the left, and ran a sample and the problem seems to have been fixed. I am just starting up the job now which should be done inabout 10 minutes and I will see if all is solved. I believe I am out of the water now. Thanks so much, I love this board and the wonderful people like yourself!

Dave