Just unboxed a new iKier Master CO2 and ran into a few issues. I reached out to support, but their explanations seem a bit off. Looking for a quick sanity check from other laser owners.
Video of the machine:
The Issues:
Exhaust & Air Assist (0:40): The internal exhaust fan and air pump don’t turn on during a test file. Support claims they only activate when the laser tube is actively firing at power. Is that normal for this machine, or shouldn’t the job cycle/G-code trigger them regardless of power level?
Lid Gap (0:09): There is a visible light gap between the front lid and the chassis. Support stated: “A slight light leak from the enclosure door is a normal mechanical fit… no need to worry.” Given it’s a CO2 laser, is a gap like this typical or a safety/fume concern?
Seized Screw (0:24): A factory panel screw was over-torqued and stripped immediately when trying to remove it.
I’m leaning toward asking for a replacement, but want to make sure my expectations are realistic first.
Thanks!
Thanks for the response, and yes. I’m using their included config, have tried updating their firmware as well since I saw an update show up when I tried connecting to their device via their mobile app as well.
Here’s my test file, I was just using a 0% power with air assist so I could safely vet it without having to worry about my eyes due to the gap and could also test without the ventilation hose hooked up using the paper test in the vid. I also tried below.
Direct Console G-Code Injection: When manually sending explicit M7 and M8 commands directly via the console, the controller responds with a successful ok status, and the machine’s live telemetry string updates to read |FLOW:100.0>. The motherboard’s logic is functioning perfectly, but zero physical electricity is leaving the board to power the components. This seems to me as though it would confirm a dead auxiliary power rail on the hardware itself.
M8 was the first thing I tried since that is what the settings came up as for the device settings. Just tried M7 calls as well to make sure as a fallback. Tried several times power cycling the laser and restarting lightburn and even running that gcode directly from the machine’s USB.
ps. I’m total newb, as the title says this is my very first laser. I’ve been watching tons of youtube videos on them and wanted to pick this up as a hobby.
Yes, as I was saying I tried with 0% power. Is this something that would cause the exhaust fan and air assist to not come on? This was my concern is not the laser not coming on as it moves just fine, just the air assist and exhaust don’t appear to be turning on. Not wanting to fill my room with smoke and laser beams or cause a fire.
Ikier support told you the internal exhaust fan and air pump will only come on if the laser is firing…even if LightBurn tells the machine to turn the air on, it sounds like the firmware on the controller requires the laser to be firing first.
In your cut settings editor in LightBurn, make sure air assist is enabled:
Do a tiny little 1/2" square with 5% power in line mode…or use the settings the recommended from Ikier’s support page.
Ask as many questions as you need to, we’re here to help.
The broken bolt is a shame, I will try to get the rest out and use a new one, but it requires some knowledge and tools.
Regarding the gap mentioned, my CO2 laser lid is about 10mm open - to get the necessary amount of air in that my industrial exhaust sucks out, and no, I have no safety concerns about that.
@Jess has answered your first point on the list, try with the power on, to start with you can set it to something very low % to test.
Ps. I would recommend sticking to only one software, especially at the beginning otherwise it will quickly become confusing.
Luckily stripped not broken, but had to take it out to make sure the tube was good as part of their instructions. I will be trying @JessN 's recommendation, just have to cut window vent kit down to size so I could fit it into my window. Hesitant to spend the money on an inline duct fan until at least giving the internal a try since it at least has a squirrel cage instead of PC fan style and very short run as window not even a foot away. I’m overly cautious on things, but at same time love to tinker so will report back once I try turning on laser power.
Only reason I went with other software was to ensure they wouldn’t try to blame it on me using lightburn vs. their own.
Okay, I was able to verify that the exhaust fan is working, I also placed some weight on the lid just to be cautious of the gap still. What would be the best way for me to tell if air assist is actually coming on? since I used a piece of wood this time I wouldn’t be able to see it flap or anything.
Okay, after trying a burn test can confirm the air assist appears to kick on as well. Guess only concern left will be the light gap and I already have some weatherstrip from when I was installing the window vent kit so I can probably do that if all else fails. I’ll wait until support gets back to me tomorrow though. One thing I have certainly learned here is that even though the website says “support 24/7” they only ever seem to respond during the middle of the night for me which makes it seem like support is only there during some sort of m-f business hours in China. Also, no matter what day of the week they always have an email footer of:
Notice:
Please note that we have received your message sent between Friday and Sunday. As our team is off on weekends, there may be a slight delay in response. We will begin processing your request promptly on Monday and get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
@JessN@bernd.dk Thank you both for helping me out and I really do appreciate just being able to get a quick back and forth conversation going to help ease my nerves a bit.
This is a great video from Russ Sadler on beam safety.
I wear regular glasses and have some home depot safety glasses for visitors. I know how it work and where the dangerous parts are.
I’ve been around these for about 6 years and have never heard of anyone loosing eyesight or killed by one. Some are pretty low cost, even when it comes to interlocks.
Now that I can get behind. Much more informative and understandable for CO2. You don’t happen to have any other helpful nuggets that would relate to IR do you? I got a low wattage (1.6w) IR attachment that I haven’t messed with yet, but know it does interact with different materials so would have different properties on what it bounces off vs absorbs into.
Having problems as well with the Master and they extend a bit further. As far as I think Lightburn goes,
1)I am getting a stoppage during engrave and get a message that The movement Exceeds Software Limits.
2)Doing a Material Test with Lightburn, I am getting the outer text and all but instead of getting test blocks showing results, I am just getting small straight lines.
