Need some help and direction.

[Ken_Shea]

Making little to no progress on my EXLAS 1410 130W, about all it will do is burn paint, it never has been right but is even worse now that I have tried adjusting mirrors and lens.

As far as can be seen the laser beam is directed at the center of the mirrors and the focal length set to 4" for the 100mm focal lens.

I have the program power set at 80% with 400 speed, laser power set at 95% at the key pad under laser power.
New mirrors and 100mm lens installed.

The kerf area seems wide to me (about .100) but figure the 100mm lens may have something to do with that.

Anyway, up for any questions, comments or suggestions.

It is starting to get very frustrating having spent many hours on it with out any real work being accomplished.

Thanks
Ken

[ho-229]

Watching with interest Ken... Hope you find resolve quickly!

[alblaio]

.

[EXLASer]

Dear Ken,
First of all, we are sure the laser path is adjusted well based on your description-is directed at the center of the mirrors and the focal length set
to 4" for the 100mm focal lens.

For the kerf, actually, big focus lens 100mm has bigger kerf, 63.5mm focus lens is with smaller kerf. So, if you want to get smaller kerf, you
can use the 63.5mm lens.

Meanwhile, we feel regret that you'v spend long hours in front of the machine but without good result. Pls tell us what job you want the laser do,
what material & cutting depth you want? so we could give some advice!

Regards/Mike

Making little to no progress on my EXLAS 1410 130W, about all it will do is burn paint, it never has been right but is even worse now that I have tried adjusting mirrors and lens.

As far as can be seen the laser beam is directed at the center of the mirrors and the focal length set to 4" for the 100mm focal lens.

I have the program power set at 80% with 400 speed, laser power set at 95% at the key pad under laser power.
New mirrors and 100mm lens installed.

The kerf area seems wide to me (about .100) but figure the 100mm lens may have something to do with that.

Anyway, up for any questions, comments or suggestions.

It is starting to get very frustrating having spent many hours on it with out any real work being accomplished.

Thanks
Ken

[Ken_Shea]

Hi Mike,
Iris has been very prompt in answering my questions but they are questions I come up with and not necessarily moving toward a solution.

What I am trying to cut is 7/16" (12mm) plywood.
At this point I would be happy if it cut a circle
At least that would be making some progress.

I am beginning to suspect the laser tube or power supply is not capable of full power.

Could the scan gap settings be too large ?
Iris showed me where to set this for engrave but have been unable to locate this setting for cutting.

Thank you.

Ken

[Ken_Shea]

Well,
the time has come to fire XYZ-tech and go it alone with the EXLAX 1410, which is not so much different then what has been my experience thus far. I will eat the warranty, now I know that is playing right into their hand because that is exactly what they want, for me it is easier to just forget them. Found new trouble also, table goes crunch, crunch, crunch bind when it goes down over three inches, although they will not get any questions on this because I truly am done with them.

Don't kid yourself, XYZ-Tech has no real support unless you want your sales lady to be your support.
Here is how it goes, you determine what question you think should be asked when laser does not work, then the sales lady goes and flags down a "Technician" (notice the quote unquote) and asks them the question, the "Technician" then takes all of several seconds to answer and goes on his merry way forgetting all about your trouble. Oh... and the only reply you will get is a simple small sentence with a very simple answer, never anything further to guide you to success. They will never get fully engaged in a remedy because it may commit them to having to honer their warranty.

While I will say replies were almost always prompt, my last very technical question of ,what power and speed to try cutting 11mm plywood, was ignored for almost three days, with the answer was also made aware tonight that my sales lady/tech support is tired of my questions, but, no mention of how tired I may have become in having to ask them. Apparently she did not like my comment about starting to move from frustrated to angry about this laser.

It is my personal opinion they do not know squat about a laser, they know what it takes to bolt parts on but not bolt parts on properly, they know how to drill holes and they keep drilling them till they get some to fit, they know this wire goes here and that bolt goes there but they seemingly know nothing about the technical aspect of laser operation and even less about their crap version of LaserCut5.3 software.

Now honestly, I do not think they are out to do you bad but if it is making profit or doing you bad they will choose profit. Do not expect much in the way of after the sale technical support because there really isn't any "Technical" support people and do not expect much in the way of quality control because there really isn't much of that either.

But.. maybe I was expecting too much for over $8k usd.

[ho-229]

Ken,
I feel your pain friend… You have captured my thoughts on XYZ-TECH to the letter!

There are watch makers and there are Time Keepers… XYZ-TECH is a Time Keeper and it is my belief they are incapable of providing any REAL after sales service other than sending questionable quality parts.

Let’s talk about replacement (1410 Servo) parts and issue:
•The 1410 servo attempted to destroy itself when I attempted to use it. The X axis would repeatedly smash violently into the micro-switches at the datum points.

•Servos oscillated at rest, clear sign of lack of tuning

•Enclosure door does not freely close

•The Laser head was full of corrosion and broke apart during the first series of smashing events.

•The optics within the laser head were full of debris

•The replacement laser head was not a form, fit replacement part

•The red dot pointer mounting hole on the new laser head assembly was drilled to a larger diameter screw size, now the red dot laser does not mount

•The plastic stick-on cable mounts are falling off

•The X axis belt-link cable guide hits the enclosure when it nears the Y datum

•The linear guide block lost about 50% of its bearings when the laser head smashed into the X axis micro switch

•The micro switches are improperly positioned and the laser head hits the Y axis linear guide rail and in doing so jars the laser head

•Upon opening the Laser screws were found missing on the guide rails

•Cer-clips were found amongst other hardware items that required me to spend time looking at components to see if the machines integrity was intact.

•I am unsure of the wire type utilized in this machine; per Panasonic specification it should be shielded twisted pair… for obvious reasons! It is on my to-do list to verify.

•Cable splicing looks unprofessional.

•Enclosure Feed thru are not properly equipped with anti-chaff

•The power connectors were ungrounded and of the 110-120V USA type and required cutting them off and installing grounded 220 V type

•The Coolant interface has no less than 3 different feed thru, or adapters on it.

•The Pad03 user interface did not work at the first go.

•Currently the Z axis does not know where to stop and required the use of the emergency stop

•Currently the options menu of the LaserCut 5.3 does not show the
correct control card

•The options menu has no parameter for the Z axis

•The second laser head was full of machine oil and severally affected the beam; had to disassemble the lot and scrub with hot soapy water, reassemble and blow out with compressed air

Quality is very questionable:
The laser head components I received had hand scribed layout markings on them and were of such poor tolerance that known good parts from the old laser head could not be utilized with the replacement parts.

Local Reverse Engineering will be required for replacement mechanical parts held to ASME tolerancing requirements.

[LaserDudeUSA]

I have to agree with Ken and Ho in their comment about the poor quality of the EXLAS machine and the horrible lack of customer support from XYZ-Tech.

When I initially read Ho's list I thought I'd written it myself. Here's a few highlights from our experience:

• Machine damaged in shipping. Broken foot.
  
  
• Inline laser diode pointer not correctly installed. Iris said she "forgot" to properly install it, and instructed us how to align it. The next day, the module's mirror burned. XYZ-Tech has *never* responds to repeated emails about that, or requests for a replacement mirror or assembly.
  
  
• The ONE-YEAR warranty was changed such that the laser tube and power supply are only warranted for 3-MONTHS.
  
  
• X-Axis micro-switch failed. Incorrectly drilled.
  
  
• X-Axis cable assembly interferes with X-axis gear on Y-axis gantry. (Had to attach a guide wire to prevent further problems.)
  
  
• Most connectors in machine are incorrect size. They have mixed 1/4-inch female with 3/16-inch male. The connectors fell off so XYZ-Tech used HOT MELT GLUE to secure them in place.
  
  
• The motorized table fell out of the machine. Probably not tightened in the factory. There are many shims to mount it. Several of the screw holes are stripped.
  
  
• The hood door would not close properly. This was due to a mis-mounted cover (containing the touch pad). To "fix" it, XYZ-Tech mangled the metal with a drill. I was astonished to see such a horrible mess. The assembler clearly failed to understand what they were doing.
  
  
• The touch-pad LCD display is not sealed. Consequently, after several months of use, Acrylic dust has obscurred the display. Had to disassemble, clean, and seal.
  
  
• Most the plastic stick-on cable mounts have fallen off.
  
  
• The cable mount for the under-gantry LED lighting fell off, causing the power wire to grind into the Y-axis toothed belt.
  
  
• Nearly every label has embarrassing spelling or grammar errors.
  
  
• The installation manual from XYZ-Tech is embarrassing. To ground the machine they show a wire laying in a flower bed.
  
  
• There are no hard limit switches, so when the controller loses it's mind, the machine has on several occasions rammed the head into the chassis. This has caused a lot of head damage.
  
  
• The belts are anchored to the extruded aluminum rails with simple bolts. Many are now becoming stripped. This will be a significant problem to correct.
  
  
• The machine was filthy from the assembly floor. I don't mean dirt. I mean nearly every surface had metal chips form the assembly floor drill-and-mount technique. We spent the better part of two days with a chip brush and ShopVac detailing this machine.
  
  
• Several of the table slats were cut too long and could not be installed. Apparently XYZ-Tech knew this as the ends had been sloppily re-worked on a bench grinder, but still didn't work.
  
  
• The "honeycomb" table insert was pre-damaged for our convenience. Someone at XYZ-Tech had repeatedly run the focus probe and lens cone into the upper right corner of the table. As if in testing. This really bent the honeycomb frame and grid
  
• This is a 220VAC machine, but they used American-style two-prong power connectors. But they wired the American-style connectors to 220 VAC (not 110). They shipped Chinese-style 220VAC power cords that don't plug in to anything.
  
  
• The chassis feed thrus are not protected by a rubber grommet. Many wires are suffering gouges from installation. Very questionable on the HV connection.
  
  
• They attempted to solder the HV lead to the tube. But the pin is not solder-able. Consequently the solder bead just fell off.
  
  
• The laser diode pointer (mounted on the cutter head) is a "positive ground" and marginally insulated from the chassis with a fiber washer. Consequently it shorted out.
  
  
• The HV Power Supply was mis-adjusted for a 130W tube, but installed with a 100W tube in the machine. Consequently the tube burned out with only a few dozen hours of service. Iris admitted that this was their fault, and then invited us to purchase a new tube. No warranty for their manufacturing defect.
  
  
• Most the AC wiring in the machine seems to be undersized for the current load.
  
  
• The alignment mirror above the lens assembly was not properly adjusted and the "alignment" screws fell out.
  
  
• The tightening collar that secures the lens tube is poorly designed. It is nearly impossible to hand tighten it around the tube. This is born out by the fact that the machine, as shipped from the factory, had a skuffed and scored adjustment ring (with a tool, such as pliers). And it *still* wasn't tight.
  
  
• The safety interlock does not work. It is conceptually mis-conceived. In effect it is wired in parallel, instead of series.
  
  
• You can fire the laser with the hood open. If you pause the machine, the act of raising the hood causes the machine to continue the job, firing the laser, with the hood open.
  
  
• Coolant leake around the temperature sensor area. This was due to the questionable technique of attaching two plastic hoses to eachother using cable ties.
  
  
• The touch-pad display, on occassion, will randomly reverto to showing a few Chinese characters.
  
  
• The temperature guage, and machine shut down, has never properly worked. XYZ-Tech had not details of how to program it.

[ho-229]

Laserdude
XYZ tech should have their assertion pulled from the FDA...
My door interlock has never worked!
Very dangerous....
Should be forbidden from importation...
HO-229

[Ken_Shea]

Laserdude
XYZ tech should have their assertion pulled from the FDA...
My door interlock has never worked!
Very dangerous....
Should be forbidden from importation...
HO-229

Laser interlock, forgot about that, mine never worked either.
Just an oversight I am sure because they told me that they know how to build lasers .

Their idea on securing the machine to the box by putting a bolt through the foot pad must not have changed LaserDudeUSA.

All of the text from this point was deleted because it was more of an attack rather then subjective. Still, the following is a valid question for those contemplating Exlas lasers, the question again is...
Are you feeling lucky...well are ya ?

It's a crap shoot with them on getting a solid machine, how sad and so totally unnecessary, one would think they would have more pride in them selves and their country.

Ken

[ho-229]

My Z axis is still jacked up... I gave up on support from the OEM! It must be noted that the control card is jacked up also... The letro card excites the laser at start up and fires for a moment.... Very dangerous!
I could comment more but what more can be said?
The only correspondence should be to the FDA requesting a investigation into the assertion and banning importation
HO-229

[Ken_Shea]

Ho-229 and LaserDudeUSA,

Either one of you ever get to the point that your laser is usable.

I simply quit on mine, it is just setting there holding concrete down.
Perhaps I'll look into it at a later date, for now still to frustrated to spend any more time on it.

I find it strange that XYZ-Tech has been so silent here, one would think they would defend their name, know I would, although for them, it is difficult to defend shoddy worked slapped together in order to ship it and move on to their next victim.