Chinese Laser died

[mrpurples cnc]

Hi Guys

Can you help

My K40 style laser was in the middle of a production run today when it finished a piece it wouldnt then respond to the PC to start the next piece

it would initiate if you switched the laser off but wont repsond to the PC

I switched the pc off ...reinstalled the newlyseal software ...checked the pc still ran my cnc router....said a lot of rude words ....gave up

any ideas before I junk the drive board in favour of a pair of routout cards

[Tweakie]

From what I have seen of these machines control is split into two distinct functions:-

a) Interpret the print driver information into X, Y coordinates and laser burst
b) Drive the steppers.

The Routout option would only provide a replacement for (b) so you would need to drive the K40 from Mach3 (or whatever you use for your router) and forget about Newlyseal. I use Mach3 to drive my laser but there are functions that the Newly software can achieve that I can’t at the moment (but I am working on it).

It isn't something silly like the cable or foul up with the PC print Que or path ?

Tweakie.

[mrpurples cnc]

I havent investigated this too thorougly yet, But from my experience of all things chinese I suspect its crap electronics.

The driver board is in a right state some of the chip carriers are melted and there seems to be a load of SMT components which have been taken off the board. I did look inside the case to see if there were any traces of them in there but no. Im guessing its a board from some other machine pressed into service to make this work and their flow soldering is a bit too hot.

I did buy the machine secondhand but it has already done numerous hours of me tinkering and it was 50 pieces into a production run of some table decorations ....

I still hold out a vague hope it might be pc based but the pc just finished off the other 50 decorations running my cnc router ....

[fullspeceng]

We will sell you our drop in replacement for NewlyDraw using our 100% USA designed control electrics and software, RetinaEngrave USB.

In addition to superior laser motion control, we offer direct Windows print drivers so that any application under Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 32bit or 64bit that can print can be used with the laser.

It makes the laser as easy to use as a regular printer.

We design the board to have the same connectors and installation only involves swapping 3 cables.

See Full Spectrum Engineering and click the RetinaEngrave USB link.

[zax15uk]

Originally Posted by fullspeceng We will sell you our drop in replacement for NewlyDraw using our 100% USA designed control electrics and software, RetinaEngrave USB.

Does this still require a standard parallel port driver board?

Do you sell your driver board separately?

Is your driver board and RetinaEngrave USB available as a combo?

This information would be good for others that have problems and are looking for replacement options.

Zax.

[fullspeceng]

100% drop in replacement means exactly that. There is nothing else to buy.

The driver board and the USB card come in a package that is a 5 min install for NewlyDraw and Moshisoft boards.

All information and pricing is on our website:
Full Spectrum Engineering

Full 60 day moneyback satisfaction guarantee (excludes shipping and handling).

[mrpurples cnc]

That all looks like a very neat soluition but out of my budget im afraid

$700us is twice what I paid for the machine !

Ive already converted a couple of CNC machines to Routout so am happy to do my own conversion.

However ....for other members looking for a lifeline for their laser this looks ideal

[zax15uk]

Originally Posted by fullspeceng 100% drop in replacement means exactly that. There is nothing else to buy.

I don't see anything on your site about the motor driver card, except the picture of it in a system.

Previously the Retina card was USB to parallel port but you were working on an all in one solution - is that what you have now?

Zax.

[mrpurples cnc]

My machine has a molex type header and a ribbon cable for connection ......I didnt see that in the photos of the fullspectrum link

[fullspeceng]

RetinaEngrave USB was never a USB to parallel port. It has a DB25 connector on the end but this has nothing to do with the parallel port. We make our own motor driver board with a DB25 on the end that RetinaEngrave plugs into. Both of these are needed and sold together as a package for NewlyDraw upgrades. We have always made our own motor driver boards.

Combining these two boards together is an integrated solution.

We also sell an interface board to Leetro boards with same Euro connectors also that has a DB25 connector as another option. We do not current have pictures of the motor driver board with the DB25 connectors or the interface board on the website.

Our solution is risk free.

We tell you there is nothing else to buy and give you 60 day full money back (excluding s/h) and accept credit card payments which should remove all doubt about trying out our solution.

Full Spectrum Engineering
See the section "Drop In Replacement for All NewlyDraw and MoshiSoft Laser Machines"

Originally Posted by zax15uk I don't see anything on your site about the motor driver card, except the picture of it in a system. Previously the Retina card was USB to parallel port but you were working on an all in one solution - is that what you have now? Zax.