I bought one of these, even though there were no reviews (worth the name) out there, as I prefer a gantry system over the (much faster) galvo options out there, I have never been afraid of early adoption, and have had previously had great experiences of Atomstack products, so I sold my previous Atomstack products, and my very hard won savings and bought one.
This was a huge mistake.
After a two week delay on the machine…plus rotary devices, it arrived.
I set it up…eventually, the manual is very lacking in detail , and what there is, well, it’s not great.
The screen didn’t work, but I could run it from lightburn, so I focused it up, more on that later, and fired it up.
It’s ok, not as crisp as i expected, not quite as clear as the R30v2 which it replaced.
Atomstack asked for video of the faulty screen, which I sent. The laser mounts very poorly, as unless you are only working on thin material it’s very difficult, or impossible to mount the head to the slide, without only using one of the two mounting points, which is not a particularly stable solution, and leaving no adjustment.
To overcome this, I had to mount the unit on blocks.
To use the rotary devices would involve stilts, so they are still in the box.
The next day, after a couple of hours experimenting, the laser stopped functioning!
Nothing, Red focus lights, but no laser.
I asked for a refund.
They asked for videos…which I sent.
They attempted to blame my focussing skills and asked for more video at their parameters…still nothing.
No response to my request for a refund, but they said they would send me a screen.
Remember at this point I have only my CO2 so I am letting customers down…some I have now lost forever.
I did the usual, turned it off and on again, reinstalled lightburn, checked all connections, and jiggled the screen plugs.
Nothing.
Atomstack said they would replace parts, but I wanted a refund…losing business, and income here!
Next day the screen AND laser came back on, and I was elated, got a sheet of stainless, and started working on some designs two hours later…laser went down.
Atomstack asked for more video, and would only replace the unit…after asking if it could be a fuse, no, it’s making a noise like a model jet engine, and had I tried measuring the focal length as they are critical on fibre. I am aware of this, and had been very careful lining the two dots up.
While this is ok on wood, but on stainless, or aluminium, they are virtually invisible.
When I did measure with my callipers, the red dots were 3 or 4 mm apart.
It was then that I noticed that the light surfaces seemed to have been butchered by whoever had set it up, very poorly!
The laser came back on! But my confidence is gone in the machine, is gone now, and I have lost nearly half the cost of the machine in revenue.
They said if I send the head back to them, they will send me another when it returns.
This is not happening, as I pointed out.
My refund was skirted around again…so I went to my payment provider (I always use a credit card for the protection it provides).
They are still asking to replace, but I am not willing to accept that, as I can’t risk losing the customers I still have!
I live with a disability and find winning customers very hard to do, so this is heartbreaking.
I am no longer speaking with them, and letting my card company sort it out, they have videos, photos, and emails, so hopefully the intermittently operating machine will be gone soon.
When it does work, and I can focus it, which seems to be quite different to the measurements they give, the R module could be induced to to produce slightly different colours by altering focus, power and speed, this seems almost impossible with my machine as there is very little to be won at any point just slightly different shades of grey.
They are welcome to the machine back, once I have my money back and can buy a machine that is suitable for me, ie, one that works every time I attempt to use it!
I hope this is a rogue machine, as intermittent problems are very difficult to deal with, and this is an awful lot of money if it’s just a hobby machine.
I would be very interested to hear from other users
