Upgrading a laser controller

[Jack Cope]

Hello,

We've decided to upgrade the laser controller on our laser from PowerCut, which has very little support or options, to a Ruida controller. Has anyone done this before and documented their progress? The machine we have is offered with an option of either so it seems to be a reasonably simple process but I'm finding there's a lack of material online about it.

[Bert McMahan]

I haven't done this personally, but if you're looking for an upgrade you might want to check out LightBurn. I don't know if it'll work with your laser as-is but it might be easier to use than a whole new controller. It's a new software you can use to control your laser and it seems neat from their YouTube videos. I haven't used it myself though.

[Jack Cope]

Its what I looked at first and one of the reasons for the upgrade is to be able to use Lightburn as PowerCut isn't supported by it sadly, the Ruida controllers seem to be just better too.

[Jack Cope]

I've spent a couple of hours studying the wiring and marking up both controllers. My only problem is trying to work out where the X, Y and Z axis wire up (marked with Os) as they're named differently on both controllers. If anyone has any ideas or comments go ahead
WhatsApp Image 2018-04-30 at 21.34.37.jpegWhatsApp Image 2018-04-30 at 21.34.37(1).jpg

If no one's ever documented this I will do so and share my progress.

[Matt McCoy]

It looks like you've marked the limit switches.

[Jack Cope]

I got a large pack of sharpies out and had a go at marking up the mainboard again, not helped by the fact that the names in Ruida's diagrams are different to what's printed on the board, hopefully this is purely cosmetic. There are two that I can't locate; TTL- (blue) and AOUT (orange). AOUT is AmpsOut as far as I am aware and TTL- is something to do with transistors, however I can't see where they'd go on the Ruida board. I'm going to have a poke around in the PSU to see if that has any answers.

WhatsApp Image 2018-05-01 at 13.33.57.jpgWhatsApp Image 2018-05-01 at 13.33.56.jpg

It looks like you've marked the limit switches.

I think I've got them down now, the names and the fact that the ground and 24v outputs are all over the place didn't help! I think they may be backwards though?

WhatsApp Image 2018-05-01 at 13.33.57(2).jpgWhatsApp Image 2018-05-01 at 13.33.57(1).jpg

[Jack Cope]

We had a pretty productive day getting the controller wired up, the only issue now is the XYZ limits. The limiters are proximity sensors so I was unsure how exactly to wire them. Here's the attempt based on a couple of wiring diagrams online.

WhatsApp Image 2018-05-01 at 18.30.53.jpeg

It seems the sensors work of a single ground which was confusing to work out, however as they are they don't work at all and the machine hits the ends of the rails.

Other than that the servos work so I'm marking this up as a win

[Bill George]

Are the proximity sensors 2 wire or 3 wire?

[Jack Cope]

Are the proximity sensors 2 wire or 3 wire?

Three wire, I'm guessing that makes them OK to run off a single circuit? The wiring diagrams I have found are not hugely clear.

[Bill George]

Three wire, I'm guessing that makes them OK to run off a single circuit? The wiring diagrams I have found are not hugely clear.

You need to look for a part number on those switches. Generally speaking there should be a Gnd or - wire, a plus + 5 vdc wire and the other wire is the signal. BUT without a PN and connection hook up on those switches its just a guess.

[Jack Cope]

You need to look for a part number on those switches. Generally speaking there should be a Gnd or - wire, a plus + 5 vdc wire and the other wire is the signal. BUT without a PN and connection hook up on those switches its just a guess.

They seem to be setup like that, where would the signal wire connect too?


WhatsApp Image 2018-05-02 at 14.52.12.jpeg

[Jack Cope]

Well this setup with the wiring seems to work; X and Y are both on the same circuit.
WhatsApp Image 2018-05-02 at 16.34.27.jpg

My last, hopefully, problem is to set the bed size on the machine which I'm having trouble finding information about.

[Bill George]

Well this setup with the wiring seems to work; X and Y are both on the same circuit.
WhatsApp Image 2018-05-02 at 16.34.27.jpg

My last, hopefully, problem is to set the bed size on the machine which I'm having trouble finding information about.

Well you see the diagram on the switch looks like Black is the Neg side of the load and Brown is +12 vdc and Blue is - 12 vdc. Each axis should have its own switch. I can not make out what your doing? Was there a diagram for the old controller?

[Jack Cope]

Well you see the diagram on the switch looks like Black is the Neg side of the load and Brown is +12 vdc and Blue is - 12 vdc. Each axis should have its own switch. I can not make out what your doing? Was there a diagram for the old controller?

That was my thought at first too and the old controller, for which there seems to be almost no documentation including no diagrams, had separate circuits for each switch. However the Ruida controller doesn't and when we tried to wire it on separate ones none of the sensors worked. Through a bit of trial and error and a couple of diagrams I found, it seems it wants them all on the same parallel circuit so I spliced the pos and ground wires together then put the neg into the respective inputs. I then set the parameters to negative and the sensors work! The trouble I have is the machine thinks the bed size is 200 x 250 and I can't seem to change it.

Most of this seems pretty easy to do, its just trying it and failing over and over due to a lack of documentation! I think I'll try to write up the process fully once I know it works in case anyone finds they want to do this themselves.

[Bill George]

Through a bit of trial and error and a couple of diagrams I found, it seems it wants them all on the same parallel circuit so I spliced the pos and ground wires together then put the neg into the respective inputs

Or you could have went and mounted actual mechanical switches but if you got it working that's fine. Because it looks like all your doing is supplying a ground on the Limit terminal when the switch is closed. You need to consult your documentation for the new controller for setting it all up. Hopefully you have done screen shots of the old settings.