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Thread: Engraving error

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Sun City West AZ
    Posts
    132

    Engraving error

    I have an zing 50 about 10years old. The problem I am having is as follows:
    When engraving I get about 1/3 of the letters burned then the unit returns home as if its done. It also acts if home for the burn is upper left corner, not center or anywhere else.
    Vectoring is fine no issues on centering in the project or completing the burn. What I've done:
    Replace the flex cable (X,Y) in the unit, twice, the cable from PC to the unit twice, verified the IP address for the machine and PC. (The PC is isolated from the network and is direct connected to the laser.)Tried printing from two different programs with the same result.
    Epilog support looked it over and is at a loss for a solution.

    Any other Ideas?
    Thanks in advance......
    GARY ROBERTS
    ShopBot Desk Top
    Full Spectrum 60 Watt Pro

  2. #2
    sounds similar to a problem with my Gravograph LS-900, which is like yours but opposite, as in, if I feed a job to the laser from my Gravograph software, it engraves just fine, but any attempt to vector cut or engrave results in the machine either moving right in extreme slow motion with no laser fire, OR the machine will go total bonkers where the head could go anywhere, at ludicrous speed, smacking and bouncing off the gantry rails, all the while firing the laser--

    I know what my problem is, the controller's firmware is corrupted, which happened when I got a new version of Gravostyle (7, was using 5) with a used machine I bought (an IS-400 rotary machine), and attempted to run the laser with the new software, at the higher resolutions that are available (up to 3600dpi vs 1200 with the old software)- turns out my older machine's controller wasn't designed to accept those instructions, and something in the controller memory went south. Oddly, once I reinstall the machine's driver, it runs perfectly using Corel. But if I use Gravostyle to send a job and there's ANY vector info included on-screen, whether I intend to engrave or cut with it or not, it will corrupt the driver in the computer, making it useless even using Corel. Thankfully, removing and reloading the driver and using ONLY Corel still works. I'm supposing because it doesn't contain all the features available in Gravostyle. Anyway, for the past 10 or more years it's been fine as long as I ONLY use Corel to send the jobs--

    YOUR machine seems to be vectoring okay, but not rastering correctly, by placing the engraving top/left only (yes?) and then not finishing... Not exactly like mine, but similar in that the machine goes thru the motions, but they're the wrong motions...

    Why I haven't had my controller fixed? $1200 repair, so not cheap. Wondering what Epilog would charge, IF they think you may have the same problem?
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Sun City West AZ
    Posts
    132
    Yes I think that It could be a firm ware issue with the machine. what ever it is, they seem to be at a loss. They think its my PC. I will try a different hookup to see if that helps.
    Thanks
    GARY ROBERTS
    ShopBot Desk Top
    Full Spectrum 60 Watt Pro

  4. #4
    yes, definitely cheap to try a different PC, new cable, etc, I can't count how many times a cable or some sort of connection/connector has been "thee" problem at any given time...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Sun City West AZ
    Posts
    132
    Problem fixed. Different PC, cable and new loads of driver and firm ware. Somewhere in all that was a fix. Thanks everybody.
    GARY ROBERTS
    ShopBot Desk Top
    Full Spectrum 60 Watt Pro

  6. #6

    Firmware update

    [QUOTE=Kev Williams;3190815]sounds similar to a problem with my Gravograph LS-900, which is like yours but opposite, as in, if I feed a job to the laser from my Gravograph software, it engraves just fine, but any attempt to vector cut or engrave results in the machine either moving right in extreme slow motion with no laser fire, OR the machine will go total bonkers where the head could go anywhere, at ludicrous speed, smacking and bouncing off the gantry rails, all the while firing the laser--

    Did you try updating the L solution driver to the one with the latest version of Gravostyle, then update the firmware in the laser. Message me if you need directions. 6b is the latest build of Gravostyle 7 available. If that's not what you have, here's the link to the latest. Remember to update the printer driver and firmware also. Let me know if this we transfer link doesn't work for you or if you need assistance with the printer driver and firmware update. There was also a similar issue not limited to our units caused by a windows update a while back.

    https://gravotech.wetransfer.com/dow...0154140/b3f791

  7. #7
    My LS-900 is a 2004 machine, and as I understand it, the last year of serial/parallel only connection, no USB. How the firmware got screwed up is, way back when I got my factory refurb'd IS-400, it came with Gravo 7 Discovery software, which included the newer L-solution driver with lots of newer functions, like bottom-up engraving and much higher resolutions. But, my 900 refused, and still does to this day, to upload the newer firmware. So one day I sent a job to the 900 at 3600 dpi just to see how it worked-- it didn't; the machine went into hyperdrive, slamming the right wall and 'machine-gunning' the head until I could shut it down. To this day I can't engrave ANY job in the 900 sent from the G7 software, does the same thing. And the other issue is the vector-kills-it thing I mentioned above. According to the guys in Georgia they need to rebuild the controller and also make it USB capable, which is (was) a $1200 fix. A bit much for my needs so the issue remains. As long as I only send jobs from Corel and not Gravostyle the machine works fine
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


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