2006 Trotec Speedy 300 60W (Synrad) with Jobcontrol X - laser randomly not firing.

[Brock LaCroix Jones]

Hello,

I have heard there is a savvy group of Trotec users on this site. I have a 2006 Trotec Speedy 300 60W (Synrad) with Jobcontrol X. I bought it used within the last few months and have been learning to use it when I have time. It need a tune up when I got it and worked fine for a month or so of playing around here and there, then it began to randomly quit firing the laser. It will sometimes engrave for 5 to 10 minutes and then nothing, although it goes through all of the motions the laser does not fire. Some times it won't work upon startup but restarting the machine is acting as sort of a reset to get it working. Tech support at Trotec had me check the power supplies which seem to be working fine and play with the tickle power which did not help. They thought that maybe the issue was with the tube and not having any other good advice at the time I began to believe this may be the case. I have subsequently sent the tube off to PhotoVac and they recharged the tube and checked it along with the RF exciter and cable that are used with it. After getting the tube back and re-installing it my hopes of resolution for this problem were quickly shattered. I spent some time doing some mis-guided work adjusting power supplies and checking continuity on the serial cable so I have ruled those out for now. I am out of town for at least another week and then I can get back to the troubleshooting. I cannot get anything done with it the way it is and would really appreciate any suggestions or experiences that you are all willing to share.

[Scott Anders]

Switch off any features in your material database / advanced settings like IPC, Raster correction and High quality. Also which version of windows are you using and is it a serial cable or USB?

[Brock LaCroix Jones]

Hello Scott, thanks for the reply. I will give the suggestions you made about the material database settings a try when I get home. I have a USB between the Computer and the Laser. The serial cable that I had previously referred to checking the continuity of was the one between the RF exciter and the laser tube. My computer is running on Windows 7 Pro. I hope that I get some other great suggestions to try between now and when I return home after Christmas.

[Scott Anders]

Ok if it's usb I've got another suggestion, go into your power settings in Windows and switch off "usb hibernation " go into Device Manager, navigate down to Universal Serial Bus controllers. On each USB Root Hub item, right-click and choose Properties. Click on the Power Management tab and un-check the box for Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

Also just to clarify, I had an issue where the laser would skip cuts at times randomly and it turned out I had switched on ipc, switched it off and never had the problem again.

Hopefully one of these solutions works for you. I would also make sure your firmware is up to date

[Steve Morris]

Second the firmware update suggestion, it should be matched to your version of JCX as a rule or can cause some unusual behaviour by all accounts.
Best bet is to contact Trotec technical to find out what it should be.

[John Lifer]

Scott, thanks for this information, I've got to try this, but I'll bet that USB hibernation is what is causing me problems with an old laser paper printer! Can reset and make work when I unplug and replug into USB. Thanks!

[Brock LaCroix Jones]

Scott Anders, Thanks for the new suggestions. I will work through those when I get back along with re-checking my firmware as Scott Morris suggests. I have already been planning to re-flash my firmware but I have been attempting other solutions first. After I try everything hopeful that others suggest here I will mess with the firmware. I have wondered if this might have anything to do with the safety switches on the doors. I had heard once that sometimes the switches will allow the mechanics to work but not allow the laser to fire. If that is the case and a hall switch is registering intermittently the easiest way to find out would be to use a technicians bypass in order to rule that out without needlessly replacing them. I plan to look into getting my hands on one of those, if anyone knows how then please share.

[Mike Null]

Your machine, your decision but I would use Trotec tech support.

[Steve Morris]

yeah don't mess with the firmware coz if you brick it Trotec will want an arm & a leg for a new board.
The telephone support to walk you through this update usually great and they can even do it for you with remote access.

[Brock LaCroix Jones]

Yes, of course. They are very helpful and already helped me upgrade to JobControl X when I bought the machine. Flashing firmware is still a risk with or without their help and I don't want to brick my Trotec. I do work with Trotec support while I am with the machine but we have yet to come up with a definitive reason. I thought I might benefit from the collective knowledge and experience on the internet to come up with any new theories. I suppose it is the most I can do while I am away is to research, study and inquire about my issue until I am able to start trying out all of the possible solutions. Thank you for the advice, I agree about the firmware. I do not see any reason why I would be reluctant to use a safety bypass as opposed to the magnets that already bypass the hall sensors. If they are malfunctioning then a magnet may not have the same effect as an actual bypass device.

[Mike Null]

I would probably buy a new USB cable and switch usb ports. Many years back I had that issue with my Universal and the cable seemed to take care of it.

[Brock LaCroix Jones]

Mike, thank you, was your laser moving the optics around going back and forth pretending to engrave "going through the motions" and not firing the laser? It really surprises me that the USB cable fixed that. My machine is supposed to be able to do a test fire whether it is connected to the PC or not and even the test fire performed from the lasers keypad will randomly not work. I'm gonna be back home the beginning of next week. Any other ideas to try when I get there?

[Bill George]

Mike has had his laser equipment for years.... and long enough on here to post over 11,000 times. I think I would trust his advice.

[Mike Null]

Brock
My memory is a little vague but, in addition to corrupted files, as I recall I had laser power interruptions as you described. In any event, the first part is just to try a different port so there is no cost involved.

I'm sure cable technology has improved over the last decade plus so your cable may be just fine. BTW, my Trotec is the same age as yours. I also had my tube remanufactured by Photovac about 2 and a half years ago. Just popped it into place and its been engraving like new ever since.

[Brock LaCroix Jones]

Thanks Mike, It's nice of you to share a little more. I'm just hoping to get a little smarter before I get back home and start putting time and money into solving this. It is quite often embarrassing how simple solutions often turn out to be. I hope to get a longer list of the simple in-expensive things to try such as USB cable swapping and what not.

Hi Bill, thanks for looking, do you have any ideas about this?