Air assist relay switching

Apparently the new firmware .18 has an additional state for the air assist where by it switches on and off when the laser fires, this would be great and save my compressor from running but can be very annoying working on small items or engraving with the relay chatter, I wonder is it possible to add a small timer to in effect smooth out the on and offs so they happen less frequently, I was thinking of a capacitor across the relay so if the laser stops for a 1/2 second the relay still stays on and reduce the chatter. If the laser is off for more than 5 seconds the relay would stop. Just a though has anyone tried it. Can it be done in lightburn even ?

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If you are using a RUIDA controller then there is a contact on the Conroller that says Wind, this is activated when the controller/Laser starts a job and will de activate when it finished the job. This is used to operate through a relay a pnematice 24V valve which you use to switch the air assist on an off. There is also a circuit design available where you can have a 3 state air circuit, air off, air low and air full power. Check www.CloudRayLaser.com and they have the circuit diagram and a kit to assist in making the AirAssit modification.

Maybe a timer OFF module would suit your needs?

Thanks Mike, I have the air assist working ok with the firmware .15 that grounds the pin to energise to the 24 volt relay, as soon as the job starts, laser in any state on or off.

In the new firmware .18 there is an option to have the relay energise when the laser is energised tis would be great but in reality the laser is on and off so much and hence the relay is switching on and off making a terrible racket probably not good for the relay either.

Yep I am thinking along the lines of a relay timer JP Jacobs. going to play around a bit.

Thanks Alan

Before proceeding:

Air assist solenoid fires rapidly on RDC6445G

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Hi Jeff, yea I seen that I want Blowing while laser on with the tweak that I can dampen the number of times it switches maybe with a timer set to 3 seconds to hold the relay on it makes a terrible noise with that option selected at the minute

Why not use the setting for blowing while Processing?

Currently thats what I do at the minute, but as soon as the job starts the air starts and if I can save air the compressor runs less and its easier on my ears.

I read where you wired your solenoid as such:

I read this as, you have wired your solenoid alternatively (such as on CN1 Pin 4 Status), opening the solenoid when the job starts, closing when the job ends (and not having layer control).

If you are wiring your solenoid on CN1 Pin 5 Wind, you will have discrete layer control of the solenoid. Ruida’s newest firmware also added to the discrete layer control with three states:

  • pulsing wind with laser
  • constant on
  • constant off

Again, this is at each individual layer level.

I have it on CN1 Pin 5 Wind ok but, and pulsing wind with laser is working fine.

I just want to reduce the number of pulses for example when I wm cutting small items the laser is on and off so many times the relay is nearly thrashing as the laser switches. Sorry if I am not explaining very well.

So if I can add a small delay holding the relay on it would work. I have ordered some capacitors to try and will let you know

Maybe a timer off would be an idea to achieve your goal of the relay not firing so much?
I would prefer that over the capacitors.

Beware, some of the new firmware has a problem with controlling the Air assist ( WIND ). I had to downgrade to .15 to get some semblance of order with my almost new 6445G.

One work around, use the STATUS terminal instead of the WIND. It comes on as soon as the laser goes into action and shuts off when it goes back to the home position. I did that for quite a while until I downgraded to the .15.

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Update - I wasn’t using the read / write correctly. it was strictly an operator head space error.

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