Thanks, I got it. Guess people don’t understand but what the OP wanted. and I as well. was a concise and easy to understand manual for the Ruida controller, not RDWorks software. Thanks anyway.
Not sure what the confusion is when reading the Rudia manual.
In a paragraph above what the OP is quoting as confusing is this quote;
“Layer parameters display area: To display the layers’ information of the current file, such as
max or min power,”
So the min/max is the current file. What was quoted was about how to change those parameters.
Reading to the end he says, “the manual just tells you the obvious, but uninteresting stuff” so presumably he’s looking for something with more depth. I’m not sure it exists.
Probably, but he did not state what he is looking for.
That was answered in the paragraph I referenced.
I am assuming you are reading this manual on Ruida controller?
http://en.rd-acs.com/Private/Files/635f44a5a62a888d.pdf
I think that is the best there is. No reason for them to write anything better.
Also you may want go to youtube and search for rdworks learning lab and go through the 156 videos by Sarbarmultimedia. He has a couple vid on min/max power settings.
If you have a different controller version here is the base website
http://en.rd-acs.com
I just picked an example at random. Take another example: Vendor settings for min/max power. It doesn’t say if it’s limits or if it’s a rescale, it just tells the name of the setting and which buttons to push to change it. It doesn’t tell if it’s relative to the tube or the power supply. It is the typical manual written by someone who either don’t know how it works, or a technician who does not want to write manuals.
And, as jrjr said, I’m looking for Ruida documentation, not RDWorks documentation. Since they are closely tied, RDWorks helps, but pure Ruida documentation would be better.
My link is to the Ruida manual and their website.
You have bought a chinese laser machine like I did at the faction of the cost of an American laser. Part of the high cost of an American laser is the better tech support and documentation.
One cannot not expect a chinese company to provide us both with a low cost laser and high cost instruction manual. They are a laser company selling low cost laser, they are not technical writers. It has nothing to do with whether they care or don’t care, it is business and they sell tons of them at a great price so why change the business model for a few individual they want more technical information? I assume if they were to provide a highly readable manual (Lasers for dummies101) and charged another $5k for the machine to cover the cost they would loose business.
Have you gone to the Ruida and actually tried to contact them directly? Whenever I have gone there there always have a popup asking “can I help you”
I don’t beleive that most people that buy lasers (like computers) actually understand how they techically work. They don’t know and they just want it to work.
I know this doesn’t help you.
The controller is dependent on the software sending it the parameters for the file to be used. The controller does have some override controls but most of the heavy lifting is done with the software. Changing the controller parameters are also done in software and easier than using the touch pad.
I am not disagreeing with you the fact that the manual is lacking, but I have not really found a reason to directly interact with the controller other than though software.
From the manual it appears the “Min Power” setting will only effect the current running layer of what is being engraved/cut. This the absolute power the tube is setup to fire at.
My take is the power supply adjustment limits the amount of power you can get from your laser tube. Say it is rated at 130w peak but should only be run at 100w. If the power supply output is set to limit the tube to 100w power that is 100% power. Minimum power can be set to 0% but will not fire the tube as you would need to determine a minimum level (variable per each tube/power supply/manufacturer) as to the minimum % is needed to actual fire and have a stable firing, which you must experiment with. Mine will fire at 9%. This button has no other function.
The “Max Power” button has two function. It will set the maximum % the laser will fire for the current layer being engraved/burned. The second function is the set the maximum % the laser will fire at when you press the “pulse” button.
Both of these settings (MIN/MAX layer setting) should be done in the software 99% of the time when you create your model/image and not adjusted on the fly at the control panel. If the burn % is not high enough you need to update your model with the correct Min/Max % burn settings so you don’t have to change it at the panel everything you want to run the model.
So the only real reason to use these buttons is to set the Max % when you test fire the PULSE button. This MAX setting is the % of power the laser will fire when you press PULSE.
If you are drawing something in which the head starts and stops at a point or abrupt change of direct and you are cutting through is does not matter if the MIN=MAX as long as it goes all the way through the material. If you engraving and not going all the way through, you really need to set a MIN and a separate MAX %.
To show you what I mean. Take the piece of cardboard from the back of a legal/letter notepad. Draw a 6" square line (not filled square, just a line). Set the speed to 500mm/s and the MIN and MAX to 10%. You will see that the corners are burned deeper than the lines between the corners. That is because the laser starts at 10% power at 0mm/s and accelerates up to 500mm/s. The first few mm the head is lingering over the corner for a longer time period that when it is run down a long side. It is also lingering over the line when gets to a corner and stops to 0mm/s and turns 90 degrees. By setting a lower MIN power and a MAX power (Min=10%-Max=20%) speed your a telling the laser controller it is ok to reduce the power at the corners but go ahead and run at full power when it reaches 500mm/s.
Another tip is to set the MANUAL SET+ parameter to “manual” and set a specific distance. Then when you press the arrow buttons to move the head X+/X- or Y+/Y- with one press of the button it will remove that fixed amount and you won’t have to hold the button down. Leave it in “continue” if you want to controller the distance by pressing and holding the button.
Rob
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