[nate]

I'm hoping someone here can help me.

A friend and I have a used 1290 Dianman laser. The tube was replaced shortly before we got the machine, as the owner of the machine at the time let water freeze in the tube.

The original owner moved overseas, so I cannot reach him for any help.

Thus far we have the machine operational, can jog, download files to the machine and "cut" We have now extensively learned mirror allignment and have fixed some geometrical issues with the machine. We have the air assist functional.

We are unable to cut through .250" plywood. we can get through .075" cardboard, but it is painfully slow at almost the slowest speed setting.

I believe that we should be able to zip through thin materials like the .075" cardboard. and we should be able to cut through .250" plywood.

We have not been able to find a power setting for the laser in the "PH" software, nor have we found this setting in corel draw. We can "change the max and min power settings on the machine at the controller interface, but we are unconvinced that it is making a difference.

Any ideas. we are pulling our hair out.

[fixtureman1]

You should be able to set the power for each color line on your design software.

[gfacer]

The controller software should work to control the power, unless some connection to the laser power supply is wonky. I'd look up how to hook up an amp (milliamp) meter to the laser and see what power you are getting.

The other way to do a quick test is to set the laser power and laser time settings on the machine (somewhere in the menu you get when setting Z height on my machine). Laser (hitting laser button on my machine) a few materials and vary the settings up and down and see what happens.....it's tough to compare because laser is only a quick spot on and off thing, but you should get an idea. 100w should be able to make quick work of .25" plywood. If you post the results (how long in milliseconds at what power) to get through X material, others probably can chime in on whether your machine is operating normal or not.

[nate]

Thank you both for your help.

We have now verified that the settings are for 100% power in the software.

I think I may have found the problem- the internal power supplied for motion control, stepper power etc were set to 220 when we got the machine. we were confused by this and set them to 110 and ran it on 110. the motion control and controller work great. BUT- the laser PS never was set to 110. actually, it cant be set to 110, at least i find no switch or jumper anywhere (including inside) to allow it to be set to 110. So...I believe that we have been running a 220 laser PS on 110, and this allows us to cut, but only with severely reduced power.

Your thoughts?

NOTE: the laser ps does not say 110 or 220, but i presume it is 220, as thats what the ma chine was running on before we got it. unless, their is a step down transformer inside the machine or only one hot leg is used to power the ps. would be nice if chinese manufacturers actually marked anything...

[gfacer]

Thank you both for your help.

We have now verified that the settings are for 100% power in the software.

I think I may have found the problem- the internal power supplied for motion control, stepper power etc were set to 220 when we got the machine. we were confused by this and set them to 110 and ran it on 110. the motion control and controller work great. BUT- the laser PS never was set to 110. actually, it cant be set to 110, at least i find no switch or jumper anywhere (including inside) to allow it to be set to 110. So...I believe that we have been running a 220 laser PS on 110, and this allows us to cut, but only with severely reduced power.

Your thoughts?

NOTE: the laser ps does not say 110 or 220, but i presume it is 220, as thats what the ma chine was running on before we got it. unless, their is a step down transformer inside the machine or only one hot leg is used to power the ps. would be nice if chinese manufacturers actually marked anything...

Get a small 110 to 220 transformer. $50-100, I had to do same with my chiller. Easy fix if that's the problem.

[Nolan Yang]

can you post some pictures of your software and your machine? I don't know which brand of your controller.

[nate]

Running on 220, all is well!