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Thread: TL-403 Controller U Axis Reversal Remedy?

  1. #1
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    Santa Cruz, CA
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    TL-403 Controller U Axis Reversal Remedy?

    Hi! I run a makerspace / fab lab in Santa Cruz, CA where we have a Redsail CM1290 100W Chinese Laser, TL-403 Controller.

    We love the thing but the most nagging issue we have encountered is this:

    When the machine starts, it seems to set the bed height (U Axis) to 0. What happens is you can then only move the bed in one direction, either up or down depending on what the direction is set to. We discovered, deep in the settings (Menu --> Integrate --> Axis Set --> U Axis) there is a way to switch the direction so you can then switch the direction and properly focus. Thankfully we have this trick or we would only be able to go one way ever...

    Are we missing something here? Does anyone have this same machine and have the same problem? It's totally lame to have to teach new users this 15 step ritual to adjust the focus... It would be really great to disable this zeroing that occurs...

    I have spent a good time with the TL-403 Controller manual but no solution has appeared... Here is a link in case anyone wants to torture themselves with it.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U...ew?usp=sharing

    Very grateful for any assistance here.

    PS this community has been the best resource for us here. You guys are awesome and I'm stoked to have joined.

  2. #2
    Bed height should be the Z axis. From what I understand, the U axis is for CNC boring.

  3. #3
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    Thanks Matt! Here is what the manual says:

    Support 5 axises motion control(X Y Z U V, XY is for laser cutting control, Z is
    feeding axis, U is lift axis, V is for the second laser cutting head).

    I am fairly certain we have it wired up correctly...

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Jordan Layman View Post
    Thanks Matt! Here is what the manual says:

    Support 5 axises motion control(X Y Z U V, XY is for laser cutting control, Z is
    feeding axis, U is lift axis, V is for the second laser cutting head).

    I am fairly certain we have it wired up correctly...
    That's interesting. I've only run across it in CNC spindle applications, but was curious how it applied to lasers. The info I kept coming across was that the U axis is a feed or rotational axis. Hope you post back, if you find out more info.

    I did see this:

    "Maybe I can hook up the Z axis of the laser to the U axis of the controller and get it to work that way."


    http://diylaser.blogspot.com/2011/10...t-i-say-u.html
    Last edited by Matt McCoy; 08-28-2017 at 4:17 PM.

  5. #5
    Make sure the table is clear, especially under the cone. Press the decimal point key on the keypad. It will ask you to confirm (I forget what it says exactly and I'm not at home right now). When you press enter to confirm, it will raise the table to the home position, then lower it by the amount in the Focal Point seeing. You are now free to move the table up and down from there.

    This is based on my experience with my Redsail X700. I hand cranked the table up a few times before I figured this out. There is a multi-step way to do this through the menu also, but the decimal point key makes it nice and easy.

  6. #6
    Be sure you left your U Direction setting in the correct position. If the table starts going down when you try this turn off the power and fix the setting then try again. There is no limit switch at the bottom so it will not stop and you won't like the sound it makes when it bottoms out.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steven Yates View Post
    Make sure the table is clear, especially under the cone. Press the decimal point key on the keypad. It will ask you to confirm (I forget what it says exactly and I'm not at home right now). When you press enter to confirm, it will raise the table to the home position, then lower it by the amount in the Focal Point seeing. You are now free to move the table up and down from there.

    This is based on my experience with my Redsail X700. I hand cranked the table up a few times before I figured this out. There is a multi-step way to do this through the menu also, but the decimal point key makes it nice and easy.
    Steven, I was never notified of this comment! It's a huge step forward, however the behavior you expressed is not quite what we are experiencing.

    What happens for us when we push the decimal is that it moves the bed a specific amount of steps (we can change the value in settings, it's "Focal Height"). It can only be 1-65mm and it goes in the direction that U-Axis -> Axis Dir is set to. We do not experience it "raising the table to the home position" it merely goes the specified millimeter distance and then stops.

    So far I am unable to come up with a sequence of steps that really allows this to be helpful but I did discover that adjusting that "Focal Height" parameter allows for the bed to be adjusted by that amount upon starting the machine. So the problem is less obvious. Users have a lee-way of 65mm to go up and down when the machine starts.

    Definitely appreciate this improvement a lot. Very grateful.

  8. #8
    FWIW, Z axis on all my engraving machines refer to the tool head/spindle up-down movement. Seems that with lasers, Z refers to table up-down, and U refers to the tool/laser head movement. None of the typical lasers this group deals with- that I'm aware of- have any sort of computer controlled laser head vertical movement. I'm sure larger spendier lasers do, but any reference to U-axis movement is moot on 'our' machines...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  9. #9
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    Kev, I realize I neglected to make a response to Matt's reply above Steven's. We did switch the motor control to Z and while it also made horrible noises and lots of jitter, the overall functionality was exactly the same; It would zero itself out on start up and not travel in one direction. Considering the "Focus Height" parameter is not associated with any axis and causes the U axis to move, I think it's wired how they expected us to have it.

    I still would love to be able to "Home" the U axis like Steven said but for now this will totally alleviate the challenge. Sawmillcreek 4 Life!

  10. #10
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    Trying to follow so your object to set focus distances automatically? Or just Zero out the table (Z)?
    Last edited by Bill George; 01-10-2018 at 5:43 PM.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  11. #11
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    Bill,

    We are trying to have the bed simply be able to go up or down (U-axis in our case). Currently it can go down as far as you want, and up 65mm. If you restart the controller, you can go up again 65mm but that's stupid.

  12. #12
    "Horrible noises" will happen if one of the stepper wires or connections is compromised-
    been thru this with 2 of my machines, My Chinese Triumph-
    brokenwire.jpg

    and my western (French, actually )Gravograph LS900...
    9wire2.jpg
    in each case these wires broke within the drag chain...Pretty sure both are ground wires too..

    I've also had the Z-steppers on 2 of my NH3400's go crazy because of a loose wire in a connector.

    As for the bed only going up 65mm... interesting-- my LS900 has a plunger type autofocus (which I rarely use), and in 'normal' state my table will move either way to the limits. I have the plunger extension removed, but even so, the main threaded rod hangs about 1/2" below the bottom of the lens, and every so often I'll push the rod up. When I do this, the microswitch is 'on'-- and when I move the table with the switch 'on' it will only move about 2", then stops. It's a failsafe limit set by the controller because it's expecting the switch to go into the 'off' position sooner or later.

    That all said, does or did your machine ever have an auto-focus? If so, could be the same thing is happening...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  13. #13
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    This sounds like a very important clue, Kev. Where is the microswitch setting located?

  14. #14
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    Before making changes is this a brand new machine and its never worked right? Or has it been fine up until this point? Kev had issues with wiring only after the machine(s) had been running for years. Limit switches do wear out or get moved out of adjustment.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  15. #15
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    Bill, The machine has been in use for 2.5 years. This has always been the behavior of the machine. We are a makerspace so new people are always being trained. The goal is to make the machine as easy to understand as possible.

    It does look like it had a plunger focus tool at one point but I don't think it was ever used. Perhaps that connection is perpetually open, causing the behavior to constant...

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