Loss of low power control. Any suggestions

[Strelitzia]

I have a stange problem that i need to resolve. Any suggestions welcome.

The machine uses the MPC03LV control card and LaserCut5.1 software.
Used the machine this morning and all was ok. Doing a two process job where a design is marked onto ply using the cut set at speed 400, power 5. The ouline is then cut at speed 20, power 80.

Tried to do some more of the same this afternoon and i seem to have lost the ability to have a low output on the machine so it is marking the design far too dark/deep.

Even if i set the power to 1, it is still far higher than it should be, and showing around 6mA on the meter. Previously, a setting of 1 would barely leave a mark on paper, now it incinerates it.

Nothing had been changed on the machine, and no settings in the software had been altered.

I have tried rebooting the pc, moving the control card to a different slot, reinstalling lasercut software and unplugging/replugging the control cable.

I'm completely stuck and need some help.

Thanks
Steve

[DaveDoesIT]

Originally Posted by Strelitzia Even if i set the power to 1, it is still far higher than it should be, and showing around 6mA on the meter.

Hi Steve, Sounds like an electronic component failure in the intensity control circuit. Do you have a schematic you can post? Have you tried drawing several small filled rectangles each with varying intensity on a piece of scrap plywood? If they all come out the same then it is my guess it is the intensity control circuit. To get around the problem can you increase the speed for the sections that are marked too deep/dark? If the intensity is stuck at one level, then more speed should help prevent the burn-through or over-burn. Dave

[amd]

check the (manual / automatic) switch in the machine. it should be on automatic mode

[Strelitzia]

Originally Posted by amd check the (manual / automatic) switch in the machine. it should be on automatic mode

There is no such switch on this machine. The power control is entirely software based.