Hello. I’m posting this here hoping someone from Ortur will see it and respond. I sent them an email about this issue but since they never replied to any of my previous support emails, I’m not holding out any hope they’ll reply to this one. So I’m hoping they might see it here and respond.If not at least anyone considering this Z-height adjuster will be forewarned about this issue..
I recently purchased a Ortur Z-Height Adjuster for my Laser Master 3 (LM3). Yesterday I noticed the CENTER BLOCK that the laser head mounts to isn’t tight. I can take the laser module and wiggle it top to bottom (put another way the bottom of the laser head moves in and out). The bottom of the laser head probably has about 3/8" (10mm) of movement!
I remove it and tighten all the set screws, but there aren’t any for the laser mounting block to rails tension–where all the movement is. Based on the way it moves, it appears that the holes in the block were drilled too big.
So far, I haven’t noticed any problems with the engravings, but I’ve only run a few jobs and they were at low speeds (500-750). I’m concerned though that at much higher speeds the laser head will begin to move.
I have another Ortur Z-Height Adjuster that I purchased about 18 months ago on a smaller Aufero AL1. Everything is nice and tight on that one and it works very well (which is why I purchased another one from Ortur rather than a cheaper version). So something must have been changed in the manufacturing process since I purchased the first one. I check the guide rails and those on the new one are exactly the same size as on the old one. So the hole size must have been bored larger.
I took a video with my phone, but I figured it’s too big to post at 15MB. If a file that size is possible (and acceptable), please let me know and I’ll post it.
Hi Guys, thanks for the advise. Yea, I figured fixing it myself was going to be my only option. I tried wedging some thin packing foam between the block and frame. It doesn’t help much, but this way it can’t rock quite as easily. The weight of the (20w) laser head tilts the bottom of the laser module inward toward the gantry pushing it out of plumb. I also tried adjusting the set screw in the top of the mounting block. That adjusts the tension on the threaded rod, but it doesn’t affect that in/out movement.
The only way I can see to fix it is to drill and tap for a pair of set screws in the mounting plate centered on the rails. Hopefully then the set screws can be adjusted enough to push the laser module back plumb, but still allow the block to slide up and down. Possibly a tiny piece of rubber in front of the set screw will help keep it rigid, but can still move.
It doesn’t seem to be affecting any of my engraving jobs so far (I usually run at low speeds), so I guess I’ll leave it go for now. I’m just disapointed in the quality of this one. I was going to gamble on the cheaper 3D printed lift from King Gubby, but decided to spend the additional money on the metal one since the first one works so well (the plate is nice and tight on that one).