Is there any reason I can’t use the 24v “wind” pins with a relay to turn my air pump on and off? I don’t need a compressor, the big air pump I have works just fine, but I don’t want it on all the time.
No reason what so ever. That’s the way I have had mine hooked up since I got my laser. Works perfectly. In my opinion the air compressor is overkill, unless needed for some special cutting.
There is no reason at all that you can’t use the Wind pin and a relay for your pump. It would be a very suitable option for an Air Pump or a Compressor.
Using an Air Compressor is far from overkill. It is often the best way to increase the material thickness you can cut and to provide better quality and much cleaner cuts.
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My wish to run it off ‘Status’ instead of ‘Wind’
With ‘Status’ is always ‘active’ when the machine is in ‘Run’ mode. So you have air anytime you run anything. I have this going through a restrictor so I get a very low pressure for engraving.
The ‘Wind’ can bypass the ‘restrictor’ so that when you select ‘Air Assist’ on the layer, you have the ‘higher’ pressure when that executes. This only requires a single relay for the pnuematics.
I used a SS relay from Amazon to switch the compressor and fan that were originally on the machine.
I don’t lase anything without some kind of air flow to protect the lens. So the default when running is low pressure.
Thanks for the info everyone.
As for a compressor making better/thicker cuts, what kind of airflow are we looking at? Right now I’m using an aquarium pump; 58w/1200gph (much better than the one that came with the laser) and am having occasional issues cutting through 1/4" ply. (60w laser@20mA, 5mm/sec@85%, 2 passes) Is this due to user error/settings or not enough air? I’m assuming user error. 
Higher pressure is usually for cutting operations.
In any kind of machining operation, the material dictates cutting technique.
I cut plywood at high pressure, acrylic cut at low pressure.
The pressure you read has to go down a supply pipe into the nozzle. If the nozzle hole is larger than the inside supply pipe diameter, you won’t have the ‘full pressure’ you think at the nozzle.
My library says I cut 5mm ply at 12mm/s @ 65%. I have a China Blue 50 watt (45 actually). 80% is about 15ma, if I remember correctly.
12mm@65? Welp, looks like I’m getting a compressor!
After poking around the forums, I have more questions. I did search, but I think my terms were too generic.
Can I use my air pump AND a compressor? I’m thinking the pump stays on all the time for low pressure assists (not cutting) and the compressor kicks on when cutting, using a separate external line/nozzle. Or should I just split the line from the compressor? (1 restricted always open for engraving and the other wide open, controlled by a solenoid) If the latter, do I need to change nozzles between engraving and cutting? I would much prefer not having to change nozzles (or more to the point, not have someone else do it when I’m not there.)
If there’s a good thread on this that I missed, I’d appreciate a link.
Thanks again for all the help!
This is a common fix for your problem.
Here’s one… solution
Lots of variations on how they used it.
Awesome, thanks!
If I read this right, the solenoid will ALWAYS allow low pressure through and NEVER close the valve completely, so I want to make sure the compressor is off when the laser’s not in use. Another relay should take care of that (with the compressor on it’s own circuit of course. )
That system uses an external compressor, but I had my original machine similarly configured. They add an extra solenoid (connected to ‘Status’) so that your external compressor isn’t just allowing low pressure air all the time.
On my stock machine, I put the compressor/exhaust fan was on a SS relay wired to ‘Status’. That is active (sinks current) whenever the machine is in ‘run’ mode. This was the original compressor/exhaust fan that came with my machine.
In run mode the compressor air went through a restrictor bypassing the ‘air’ solenoid giving you low pressure anytime the machine is in ‘run’ mode.
If not ‘running’ the compressor(/exhaust fan) is off.
The air solenoid is connected to ‘Wind’. When a layer executes and the ‘air assist’ is enabled, it sinks current, bypassing the restrictor and giving full pressure. It must be enabled in the controller.
Pretty simple and there are many variations.
Hope this make sense… If not chime in…
Got it.
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