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Thread: Trotec Speedy 400 Engraving not Lined Up Correctly

  1. #1

    Trotec Speedy 400 Engraving not Lined Up Correctly

    Noticed an issue with the engraving on my Speedy 400.

    The laser seems to be losing track of where it should fire. It seems to be more noticeable as it moves between short and long strokes, but it seems to affect engraving quality regardless.

    I checked the belt tension and it seemed fine. Beam alignment was good. What could be causing this? Is it something I can fix myself or will I need to get a tech out? Would like to have this machine up again as soon as I can.

    IMG-1579.jpg

    IMG-1580.jpg

  2. #2
    I'm going to assume it has servo-steppers, because that's classic dirty encoder strip engraving... Someone with a Trotec will chime in shortly to better explain, in the meantime you can probably find a video on how to clean yours...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  3. #3
    servo motors, but not stepper motors, which wouldn't be able to cope with the Trotec's high acceleration/deceleration curves... and yes, could be dirty encoder though no idea whether they use a linear strip encoder or a rotary encoder.

  4. #4
    Update looks like Trotec uses a rotary encoder. Took out the motor and encoder but couldn’t really get in to clean it well.

    Still has had the same issues. I did notice that if I slow it down below 10% it engraved fine.

    Hopefully a replacement encoder will do the trick if it can’t be cleaned.

  5. #5
    Sorry that I calll servo motors 'servo steppers', but while servo's don't mechanically step like basic stepper motors, servo's do indeed move in distinct steps determined by the distance between the hash marks on the encoder strip or disc.
    So right or wrong I still consider them steppers, JMO

    And Chris, not sure about your disc setup, but my GCC Explorer uses disc encoders. I had to clean my X axis encoder once,
    looks like this under the cap...
    be2.jpg

    Was pretty filthy-
    be4.jpg
    be6.jpg

    I removed the disk, which seemed pretty fragile yet it wasn't really, I cleaned it with DNA and
    a soft artists paintbrush. Cleaned up nice and the machine hasn't lost a step since...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    I have never seen a dirty encoder lose position then get it back again which it looks like it does in those pictures. I'd be more inclined to think it is something mechanical - X axis bearings, belt, etc, that change when the speed increases or decreases. I would contact Trotec support, or your rep, and get their take on it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Thomason View Post
    Update looks like Trotec uses a rotary encoder. Took out the motor and encoder but couldn’t really get in to clean it well.

    Still has had the same issues. I did notice that if I slow it down below 10% it engraved fine.

    Hopefully a replacement encoder will do the trick if it can’t be cleaned.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    It's either servo motors or stepper motors, no such thing as a servo-stepper.

    Here is a snippet from Advanced Micro Controls regarding the difference. This also shows why a stepper will stall and a servo will burn itself up if something blocks it, the servo feeds more current until it's dead where a stepper just loses steps.

    Stepper vs Servo

    The basic difference between a traditional stepper and a servo-based system is the type of motor and how it is controlled. Steppers typically use 50 to 100 pole brushless motors while typical servo motors have only 4 to 12 poles. A pole is an area of a motor where a North or South magnetic pole is generated either by a permanet magnet or by passing current through the coils of a winding.
    Steppers don't require encoders since they can accurately move between their many poles whereas servos, with few poles, require an encoder to keep track of their position. Steppers simply move incrementally using pulses [open loop] while servo's read the difference between the motors encoder and the commanded position [closed loop], and adjust the current required to move.


    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    I'm going to assume it has servo-steppers, because that's classic dirty encoder strip engraving... Someone with a Trotec will chime in shortly to better explain, in the meantime you can probably find a video on how to clean yours...
    Last edited by Gary Hair; 06-16-2019 at 7:19 AM.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Hair View Post
    I have never seen a dirty encoder lose position then get it back again which it looks like it does in those pictures. I'd be more inclined to think it is something mechanical - X axis bearings, belt, etc, that change when the speed increases or decreases. I would contact Trotec support, or your rep, and get their take on it.
    No, it didn't 'get it back again', the bottom line simply didn't skip so much. I took his pic, rotated it .2° right to correct the angle, and added the yellow lines... the horizontal lines are dead on to the X axis; but the left justified text is all over the place...
    off.jpg
    based on the left edge of line 1, line 2 moved right, line 3 moved slightly right, then line 4 moved left, and lines 5 and 6 both moved right. Exactly what the GCC did when its encoder was dirty...

    Could be mechanical, I've had a less-than-tight lens cause wobbly engraving. But because the engraving keeps moving right, my money's on the encoder...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  9. #9
    I appreciate all the suggestions. Ill give Trotec a call in the morning. Was hoping to get it back online this weekend. It seems things never break during the week or when times are slow...

    As an FYI the Trotec encoder is quite a bit different from Kevin's machine. It is an HEDM-550. Seems to be a pretty well enclosed unit. I couldn't get inside to clean it, but I also cant see it getting dirty easily.


  10. #10
    Are those results with High Quality turned on?
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  11. #11
    Forgive my ignorance. The machine is new to me.

    How do you turn on and off high quality?

  12. #12
    A long while back I had an issue like that and I called tech support. I followed all the stuff the techs told me to do but nothing worked. An Austrian engineer happened to be in the tech support offices that day and he just plainly said what you're telling us can't happen; are you sure your material isn't moving? Duh

    Never happened again.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    ... are you sure your material isn't moving? Duh

    Never happened again.
    I had that happen in the Triumph once, know what caused it? - Air assist turned my plastic into an air hockey puck
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Thomason View Post
    Forgive my ignorance. The machine is new to me.

    How do you turn on and off high quality?
    In your Material Setting for that color, on the "Advanced" column on the far right side of the colors, click the drop down arrow. Select "High Quality" and try to run the same job. Report back.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  15. #15
    The main cause was a loose mirror. Trotec support was great working with me through the process. Can’t say enough nice things about their support. Also a huge thanks to everyone on here that offered up suggestions.

    After tightening up the mirror and belts I don’t really notice a difference between high quality and standard other than the time that high quality adds.

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