I have an issue with the controller on one of my machines. We had a power surge and it looks as if the panel will no longer commuicate with the controller. The Controller is a Ruida RDC6445 but I don’t really like it. On my other machines when you press escape the laser head goes back to origin, on the RDC6445 you have to press reset and the whole origin control is a mess. I’m thinking of downgrading to an RDC6442S which I think I will get on better with as some of my other lasers have a similar controller.
Questions: Am I being sensible doing this? The connections seem pretty much the same so hopefully its unplug the old and plug in the new? Do I need to get some settings from somewhere or are these simple enough to config when fitted?
The 6442 will have a smaller display, so you will need to make an overlay plate to support it in the larger hole.
There are a few other differences, but since you say you already have the 6442 in other machines, you are already comfortable with it, so it becomes a personal choice thing. Having all the same controllers would make all the firmware updates identical as well.
The issue I have is when I turn the machine on the display panel just shows connecting, it’s trying to communicate with the controller but nothing is happening, the laser head doesn’t home. I’ve checked all cables.
How do you know the Ruida is working? You can purchase a replacement control panel.
I’ve never seen the Ruida say this or I’m not following you…
Is it usb or Ethernet?
Does it home properly?
I would think the power supply for the controller would be the first victim. Are you sure all the supplies connected to the mains are working properly?
There is power to the laser, control power and the panel. As you can see in the photo below, the panel is trying to connect to the controller, but its stuck like this. The laser head does not home or move when you turn the laser on. It’s connected to Ethernet, but what difference would that make?
The machine is only six months old, so I’m also talking to the manufacturer (in China) which is a slow process. They have got me to try various things that haven’t worked.
In the end I decided to stick with the same controller. Delivery was within a week from China, I just unplugged the old controller and display and plugged in the new set including the new cable between the two. Everything back up and running fine again.
I did open up the old controller to see if I could see any obvious signs of damage, but I didn’t spot anything.
