How to zero the home position for Comgo Z1

LightBurn Software Questions Tips and Tricks
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1

Hi,

I 'm fairly new to the laser (Comgo z1 10 watt). I’ve been having trouble with the zero or home position. I’ve been getting by with current position for small projects but when I need to make something bigger the laser runs into the side and triggers a hard stop.

Also, when I click on ‘Home’ or ‘Origin’ it hits the side and I get this:

ALARM:1

Hard limit triggered. Machine position is likely lost due to sudden and immediate halt. Re-homing is highly recommended.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

2

Home the machine on power up and use Absolute Coords in the Laser window. I only use Current Position with the rotary. User Origin is only useful if you do not have limit switches.

You do have limit switches, right?

3

Yes… I think I have limit switches. I tried what you suggested. When I frame the project it hits the limit switch and triggers alarm and stops

4

This suggests your machine parameters are not set up properly. You should not be going onto the limit switches.

Question: Does your machine Home properly?

HOME

  1. Trolley and gantry rapid move towards the switches.
  2. When the switches are hit, the machine will stop and reverse.
  3. The machine will pull off the switches slowly until the switches open.
  4. The machine will reverse back onto the switches very slowly until the switches close.
  5. The machine will reverse and pull off the switches slowly until they open.
  6. The controller establishes this as the Home position. It is usually shown as something very close to 0,0 as the position if the controller is set for the first quadrant. If it shows large numbers, this can be changed with the G10 command.

There is no other version of the Home cycle. If you have limit switches, this is how it should work.

If you do not have limit switches, where it powers up is the Origin. Home is a machine mechanical function. Origin is a software design position. They are not the same thing.

5

I don’t think it’s homing correctly. How do I re-home it?

6

Sucess depends on whether or not you can change the GRBL parameters. It also depends on whether or not you have limit switches.

Place the laser module in the middle of the machine. Power up the laser. Tell us exactly what it does in great detail.

If it does not move, click on the Home button and tell us exactly what it does in great detail.

If you have limit switches, the Home cycle has to be correct first.

7

I placed the laser head in the middle of the work area. I turned on the laser and the light on the laser came on but the laser didn’t move at all.

I clicked home in LightBurn. The laser head started moving diagonally slowly towards 0,0. It hit the bottom edge first and started moving left until it hit the left edge and then started making a rattling sound until I turned it off

8

This sounds like the controller thinks the front-left corner is the Home position. This is pretty common.

It also sounds like there are no limit machines on your machine.

If you do not have limit switches, then the Origin (not Home) is wherever it is sitting when you turn it on.

Please do these two things:

  1. Confirm whether or not it has any limit switches.
  2. Enter $$ in the Console window. Then copy all the $xx parameters listed and paste them in your reply.
9

I checked online. The Comgrow Z1 10W does have limit switches. Here is the output from the $$ command:

$$

$0=10

$1=25

$2=0

$3=1

$4=0

$5=1

$6=0

$10=1

$11=0.010

$12=0.002

$13=0

$20=0

$21=1

$22=1

$23=3

$24=25.000

$25=1500.000

$26=250

$27=1.120

$30=1000

$31=0

$32=1

$33=1

$100=80.000

$101=80.000

$102=480.000

$110=12000.000

$111=12000.000

$112=1000.000

$120=1000.000

$121=1000.000

$122=100.000

$130=400.000

$131=400.000

$132=40.000

$140=8

ok

10

This indicates it is trying to home front-left.
First, try to make it home, but press the Xaxis limit switch (watch your fingers!) before it moves very far. You should be able to hear the switch click, or at least feel it. It should stop and reverse. If it does not, you have an Xaxis limit switch issue that needs to be solved.

  1. Connector not fully seated.
  2. Broken wire.
  3. Bad controller input pin.

Okay, we have some details to work with.
If the switch stops the travel, then it might be a parameter settings issue. Before messing with any parameters (put a copy in a safe place), we need to know how the machine behaves now.

If the home direction is correct, then we move to direction commands using the Jog feature. Report your results with the Home check first.

11

Thank you. Can you please elaborate on this:

First, try to make it home, but press the Xaxis limit switch

How do I press the limit switch?

12

It is either a mechanical switch with a lever (you push the lever), or it is a sensing switch that detects metal (use a small screwdriver to trigger it).

Have you found the switch?

13

I only see one switch. I’m assuming it’s a Y switch. Which explains why I’m having issues with the X axis

14

Not really. I am pretty sure nobody installs only one limit switch. GRBL code is written to expect either no axis switch or both have a switch. It is in there somewhere.

Yaxis switch would be on the frame, Xaxis switch would be on one end of the gantry.

15

Ok I found both limit switches.

I clicked on home. Laser head started moving. I clicked the x limit switch and it stopped left and kept down. At the end the console displayed an alarm

Alarm:9

Homing fail. Could not find limit switch within search distance defined as 1.5 * max_travel on search and 5* pull off on locate phases

16

When you clicked the X switch, did Xaxis try to reverse?

If it did not stop at the Yaxis switch, that one may need adjustment or repair.

17

When I hit the switch it just stops moving in that direction. When I hit the second switch it stops moving completely and throws that homing fail error

18

I think part of the problem is that the x axis switch is not hitting the left side. I put a piece of tape to trigger it but I’m still getting the homing error

19

You cannot just tap the switches becaise that will cause an alarm. Below is the Home cycle description. It has to be right before you can do any programming (design work).

HOME

  1. Trolley and gantry rapid move towards the switches.
  2. When the switches are hit, the machine will stop and reverse.
  3. The machine will pull off the switches slowly until the switches open.
  4. The machine will reverse back onto the switches very slowly until the switches close.
  5. The machine will reverse and pull off the switches slowly until they open.
  6. The controller establishes this as the Home position. It is usually shown as something very close to 0,0 as the position if the controller is set for the first quadrant. If it shows large numbers, this can be changed with the G10 command.

There is no other version of the Home cycle. If you have limit switches, this is how it should work.

If you do not have limit switches, where it powers up is the Origin. Home is a machine mechanical function. Origin is a software design position. They are not the same thing.

20

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