Peck, your thoughts...

[Jim Watkins]

Peck,
Being that your a regular with us here, I have a question. As far as I know about the Mini 24 I have, the air assist only works during vector operations.

Is there a way for the air assist to work during raster operations? I have been doing rubber stamps lately and the flame up is too much during rastering.

Thanks for your thoughts...

[Dee Gallo]

Jim,

I'm no tech wiz, but I do have a mini with air assist. All I have to do is turn on the compressor and air assist is on, whether I'm vectoring or rastering.

Hope this helps, dee

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Jim
Mine is like Dee's
I have a switch which turns on the evac system and
also turns on the selinoid (sp) for the air assist
its all on at the same time
ken

[David Fairfield]

Mine is like Jim's. The compressor is on all the time, but the air only vents through the air assist nozzle when vectoring. No flow through while rastering. Never could figure out the point of that.

Dave

[Tim Bateson]

I don't believe the air assist will work in raster mode, only vectoring. On my mini it sounds like the air assist is being vented except during vecor cuts when it is redirected into the work area. Dee does the sound of your air assist change when rastering vs vectoring?
I think what Jim wants and I'd be very interested too is to find a jumper or other work around so the air assist can work while rastering.

[Bob Merhar]

Jim, I believe the technique to turn on your air assist feature during rastering can be found on the Epilog web site under Tech Support & Documentation- Technical Library- 12/7/07 Troubleshooting the Air Assit Feature (Troubleshooting Guide B 1a). http://www.epiloglaser.com/tl_troubl...air_assist.htm

"1 a. On the Mini and Helix engravers you can reach these settings by pressing the STOP and UP keys at the same time for turning Air Assist on or off for during raster mode. Press STOP and POINTER at the same time to change the setting for Air Assist during vector operation.
• To change the setting, use the up and down arrows and then press GO to save the setting."

Bob

[Frank Corker]

Mine is on a seperate switch. When you want it turn it on. When you don't don't. Is this when you are using the colour mapping or all the time? Either way, I think the manual power on is the best option, you can see if it needs it or not.

[Stephen Beckham]

On my mini and I'm sure others, if you go into Color Mapping and choose a red/blue (whatever color you want) - set the speed/power and leave the Air Assist Checked. Then go back to your drawing - change all your colors to red/blue (respectfully). When the color mapping kicks in, it will leave your air assist on while raster or vector depending on your settings in the color mapping settings.

Steve

[Peck Sidara]

Mr. Jim,

Thanks to Bob for posting " "1 a. On the Mini and Helix engravers you can reach these settings by pressing the STOP and UP keys at the same time for turning Air Assist on or off for during raster mode. Press STOP and POINTER at the same time to change the setting for Air Assist during vector operation.
• To change the setting, use the up and down arrows and then press GO to save the setting."

Stop + Pointer gets you "air-assist vector". You can set yes or no.

Additionally the hidden menu list can be found in the owners manual in section 11, engraving machine calibration/calibration.

A work-around isn't needed, you can have air-assist turned on/off for both raster or vector.

HTH,

[Brian Robison]

I believe the early Mini's had no solenoid to activate during vector cutting. I remember asking a tech about it many years ago and they said the new ones would have the solenoid to turn on the air for vector cutting. I just never use the combination mode.

[Peck Sidara]

The Mini 18 does not come equipped with the solenoid so air-assist for either raster or vector is controlled at the air-assist pump. Some customers use a simple remote switch available at hardware stores to control the pump via remote.

Early model Mini 24's did not come equipped w/ the solenoid and if you have an early model Mini 24, air-assist for raster or vector can be handled the same way as the Mini 18.

Either way, you're covered. If it's a Mini 18 or early model Mini 24, control the air-flow for raster or vector at the pump or via remote switch.

If it's a newer Mini 24, change the air-flow for raster or vector thru the display panel.

[Tim Bateson]

Thank you Bob & Peck, that hint will be real helpful. I'll give it a try tonight.

[Jim Watkins]

Bob and Peck,
Excellent job. Way to go in helping us out. I figured there was a way, but was too thick to figure it out by myself.

Great to have you guys around to help us.

Thats why I chose Epilog. Good support. All the way around.

I'll check it out tonight as well.