Help! Misaligned cut layer. Possible communication problem?

[MountaineerTradepost (John)]

Hello !
Having an issue with my new Monport Onyx 55w.
Randomly my cut layer being misaligned. I have been reading through the forum and it seems to maybe be a communication issue rather than mechanical? Everything seems tight and the machine is literally 2 days old.
I thought maybe the x axis was slipping because it failed two ornaments. Then I rotated the ornament and it failed in the Y axis…and not exactly in the same spot. Please help?

First issue popped up when cutting 4 ornaments at once, but last night I cut 12 at once flawlessly.

Now it seems it is losing data constantly? I cut one ornament at a time in this set, the second one was closer, but still not aligned right.

its really bad here, the hanging hole didnt even line up at all.

I cut this half hour before I started this plate…its flawless.

My machine is connected to the laser via factory USB>USB cable. I run from my laptop which sits atop the laser. The only settings I have changed is a speed adjustment, and a 90° rotation to see if it slipped on the x axis again, which it hadn’t.

Any ideas what may be causing this? In crunch mode for a show next Friday. Thank you!

[MountaineerTradepost (John)]

After digging a but more I think it may be mechanical after all…the Y axis move perfectly smooth at low speeds but when I grabbed the gantry to shove it out of the way it got a bunch of resistance and then made some weird noise. It doesnt happen at the same spot every time but more when I try to push it too fast, possibly something jumping a tooth? Back to the drawing board.

[Dskall (D Kallenberger)]

Majority of misalignment problems are due to mechanical issues. Especially new machines.

[jkwilborn (Jack Wilborn)]

Probably a good idea to check over the mechanics. Some things can loosen up in transit.

A good alignment check is also a good idea.

[Dskall (D Kallenberger)]

And poor quality control.

[jkwilborn (Jack Wilborn)]

@Dskall

poor quality control

You mean they actually have any?

[MountaineerTradepost (John)]

Welp I checked everything and its all tight…the vibration on the Y axis only happens when I move the gantey very fast…maybe the steppers resistance is translating to the belts?? I brought in my gaming laptop as a driver and connected to laser via ethernet. I have also tried sending the file instead of streaming it. So far…no issues! shrug Dont really feel like it is solved but for now, back to cutting I guess!

[MountaineerTradepost (John)]

I found a stripped out bolt for torquing down the x axis belt…good thing there are 4 of them per bracket…I miss good QA in hardware, tjough, dont know if it has been present in imports for a loooong time.

[ednisley]

@jkwilborn

You mean they actually have any?

As the bluesman said, “If it wasn’t for bad QC, they wouldn’t have no QC at all.”

Something like that, anyway.

[MountaineerTradepost (John)]

Ive ran over 40 ornaments since this issue occurred. After switching to ethernet not a single slip or failure! Manufacturer must be providing USB cables made with rubberbands and bubblegum. I’ve ordered some better quality ones to see if that helps.

[jkwilborn (Jack Wilborn)]

Usually that’s the first thing I mention… dump usb…

Glad you’re up… have fun

[MountaineerTradepost (John)]

I knew I should have kept my mouth shut!! Jinxed myself…

Now it will not align cut layer even if I just send the cut layer. Sigh…

[MountaineerTradepost (John)]

I had to look at my own pocture to see that somehow between engrave and cut my BOARD MOVED. It was off exactly the shifting of the wood piece. After shoving it to extents on top and left I just ran the cut agsin and boom fixed…i need hold.downs or to raise lens tube up more.