Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems


Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    229
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

    I'm a bit of a 'fix it yourself' person wherever possible. Burning out servos and drives diagnosing the problems and getting them going again with our cnc router has been an interesting adventure- and no problems in the last 18 months, touch wood! That was all a servo control system.

    However, I recently bought a laser engraver. 2nd hand. 45 watt. Made by Universal Systems in USA.
    It was built in 2002, but the tube was renewed in 2012.
    This runs on stepper motors.

    All was fine, till tonight, and suddenly the Y axis movement failed to happen.
    If you go into XY setup, homing and set a new origin, you can drive the lens all over the bed along the X axis, but it groans and gurgles and struggles when you try to move it in Y direction.
    It eventually won't go any further as it's convinced you're at one of the limits, when in fact it's sitting in the middle of the bed.

    I got into diagnostics for the motors and it said Y error.
    I rebooted it, and in diagnostics is said X & Y: OK.
    I tried to steer it around the bed - and same problem - little or no activity in Y direction.

    The timing belt is fine.
    The gears are OK.
    The stepper motor is OK - I swapped it with another, and the juddering and groaning happened to that one also- leaving me thinking it's electronic, somehow.

    There's no difference between booting it up connected to the PC, or starting it not connected at all - and trying to use the arrow keys to test the axes...

    I turned it off again, twice, and rehomed it, and all was good for 5 minutes, then back to tricks again.

    I was wondering if anyone here might have had something with similar issues, and knows a possible solution?

    Tomorrow I'll take a torch inside it and see if there's a loose lead half-plugged in, or something.

    Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

    Similar Threads:


  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    229
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

    Update:
    I cleaned everything... found a lead a bit like an old IDE hard drive lead that was partly unplugged, so I replugged it on the motherboard.
    Swapped out three stepper motors - no difference - all behave weirdly when plugged into the & axis servo plug/lead.
    I connected in the rotary attachment- it works fine - but it knows it's a rotary, although that does go in place of the flat Y axis.
    I even reflashed the firmware, and removed and reseated the single RAM chip - still no improvement.

    This is all while not connected to the PC - just in the booting-up, initialising & homing options, which does not need a PC to be done.
    That eliminated the software and the LPT lead as a culprit.

    What's weird is it all worked fine, then it suddenly did not.
    I'm running it from Win XP, though the former owner was using Win7.

    Any ideas would be appreciated!

    Last edited by Stewey; 09-15-2016 at 12:15 AM. Reason: typo


  3. #3
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    75
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

    Does it use limit switches or proximity sensors to stop it from moving past the end and crashing? If so, have you checked to make sure those are all functioning OK? Maybe swap one of the known good ones from the X axis with each Y position?

    "80 Watt” 700mm x 500mm Ke Hui KH-750 Laser (Similar to the Red Sail)


  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    229
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

    hanks for the thought - no it uses a magnetic sort of limit sensor in Y, and a bump-switch in X. The problem had been its refusal to travel in Y after homing.

    I decided that since it was OK with rotary files, I'd run a couple - and after 'homing' it 5 times till it homed properly, and rebooting twice, it then worked normally.
    So I went back to cutting acrylic- the file that alerted me to the problem last night - and it did it contentedly...

    So touch wood it stays like that, but somehow it's now been coaxed back to normality...
    weird!



  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    229
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

    Nope... after 5 good files, it's back to having a very iffy Y axis motion... Grrr!



  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    229
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

    Blast it... somehow I solved it and all was good, till tonight, and it's playing up again.
    I wish I'd typed up the solution...

    The other queer problem was I sent a file to it, and the machine console came up with power=0, speed = 0 , ppi=0. Although the settings were in the file I sent.



Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


About CNCzone.com

    We are the largest and most active discussion forum for manufacturing industry. The site is 100% free to join and use, so join today!

Follow us on


Our Brands

Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems

Universal Systems M-300 laser engraver Y axis problems