Can anyone please help. I can’t find an engineer to come out. The screen on my Chinese 100w CO2 laser is unresponsive. It has what looks like a file transfer symbol. None of the buttons respond apart from stop which clicks but does nothing. The laptop has no effect. Switched off and on - nothing. Menu is inaccessible.
If it has internal lighting on the platform, does that turn on (as usual?) when you flip the power switch?
Does the machine attempt to home when you turn it on? If so, does it succeed?
A photo will help us look over your shoulder and see what you see.
Not in your first message.
Given this:
Check the cable between the display panel (labeled HMI = Human Machine Interface) and the controller, because that image suggests it’s disconnected.
With the power off, unplug and replug both ends, making sure the connectors sit squarely in their sockets.
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Thank you. It’s night here now but I’ll try that first thing tomorrow. Many thanks for your help.
Hi. First of all, thanks for helping me. I really appreciate it.
I have been out to the workshop and had a good, thorough look at the wiring. I unplugged everything I could and checked all the connections. All are fine. A1. No signs or smell of scorching. There was no bang or visible event. Just that message.
When I switched it on that morning I plugged the usb cable from the laptop into the u-disk socket in error. Could that have done something?
I can’t even reset anything because I can’t access any menu. Lightburn settings just says it can’t communicate with the controller.
Thanks again,
Bruce
The console is trying to connect to the Ruida, as @ednisley pointed out.
It could be the console, Ruida or anything in between. Re-seating the connectors is about all you can do.
I doubt the Ruida even looks at the USB inputs if it’s trying to connect to the display.
There are a number of machines using Ruida controllers that don’t have consoles.
The Ruida might still be functional. Most of us run Ethernet to a Ruida, seems a lot more dependable than usb.
It sounds like a hardware failure, but can’t tell you which. I’ve had my 6442g for over 5 years and the keypad is about gone in many areas, still works. I’m also in a generally very dry area.
It might be worth saving all the vendor information then doing a factory reset if you are planning to replace parts. Kind of a last ditch effort.
If that didn’t include both ends of the HMI cable, then deploy a screwdriver and move the controller / display enough to get in there.
Sure, but that’s not what the display is suggesting.
It’s entirely possible this is all coincidence and there’s a hardware fault that will evenutally cost you a new controller.
In that case, you’re going to take the whole thing apart to install the new hardware, so don’t be shy about getting into the guts: it doesn’t work now, so you don’t have much to lose.
Just don’t use The Big Mumble Hammer yet, OK?
Apparently your indicator light no.13 is not on, error indicator light…I don’t have a Ruida, but I think there are one or two solutions
-1 reset with a key combination.
-2 reset via a shunt on certain contacts on the terminal block, or a vault in the box. It’s curious.
What do you call when you plug in the USB of the PC by mistake?
Thank you. I can’t access the menu or I might attempt a factory reset. The wiring all looks very clean and solid.
Thank you. I wonder if anyone knows how to shunt it?
Ed, thanks very much.
Do you think I’m at the stage of buying a new controller? Would I buy controller and screen or just controller? Do you think if I swap one-for-one it’s going to behave when I switch it on; or will there be glitches/software differences etc.
I actually took the screen out and removed/replaced the connection to it. It all looks in remarkably good condition. Do you know anything about hardware resets? Like jumping it from one point to another to reset the controller?
Bruce.
LED 13 being off is the indication for no error, so the controller isn’t indicating a problem. There is, in fact, a problem, but not connecting to the HMI doesn’t trigger that LED.
As @jkwilborn notes, not being connected may be an error only as far as the HMI is concerned.
Neither of @Ganitta28’s solutions seem applicable:
- The HMI is inert and no “keys” are active.
- There is no access to “certain contacts” on a “terminal block”, other than standard I/O terminals for normal use
The 6445 manual does not mention any reset actions.
I’d check the +24 V power supply (which seems OK, but it’s easy to check), extract the controller + HMI from the machine and wire only those parts on the bench to a different power supply, then see if it suddenly starts behaving.
Plenty of folks have plugged their PC into the “disk” jack, but you may have lost the jackpot.
You will need to restore the new controller from a backup and, even then, there seem to be some settings LightBurn simply cannot access.
As I pointed out to @Ganitta28, the manual doesn’t say anything about resets. I have no idea what’s on the inside of the case and, frankly, don’t know how you’d get in there.
I think I’d suggest he attempt to control it, sans console, via Lightburn, usb, if that doesn’t work, then Ethernet. At least copy what Lightburn can read.
If you can’t talk to it, it might be toast…
Ed, Thanks, Not sure how I’d get on trying to fire it up with 24v outside of the machine. I’m a retired Medic - that’s getting a bit outside my comfort bubble. I have a friend with a multimeter I don’t know if it can produce voltage.
Q. 1. How would I save the settings from the Ruida if my laptop can’t speak to it?
2. Is there value in connecting an ethernet cable from my laptop (Lightburn) directly to the controller to see if anything happens?
I tried to control it from Lightburn but it’s not speaking.
Bruce.
Thank you very much. I might try that tomorrow.
It you can’t talk to it via usb or Ethernet, and no console, you’re sol. That’s why I suggested you try and communicate with it.
These devices are commercial controllers and each can be configured differently. It’s always best to have a copy of the original before you have problems… Think of it like a back up (which it is) in case of failure.
If you have a similar machine, you can use Lightburn and use Machine settings to read the controller vendor information and try it on the new one. It shouldn’t matter with the console, but it’s unlikely it will plug and play.
Hey, you can run medical equipment, so you’re most of the way to the goal.
You surely had to learn how to do all that and this is no different, except the patient is less squirmy. 
The key thing is that LightBurn automatically saves the Machine Settings, without your intervention, any time you made a change. I don’t know if it makes a backup the first time it starts up, but we’ll find out.
The backups for my machine are stored in C:/Users/my-user-name/AppData/Local/LightBurn/backup/machine_settings/zUwMDU3MTh/. Yours will be in a similar place, with a different user name up front and a different random subdirectory identifier at the end. Rummage around to see if any *lbset files await you.
You need a working controller to reach the Machine Settings window and restore them, so that’s for the future.
Well, hey, if it works, what’s not to like?
The trick will be figuring out the controller’s IP address without being able to see it on the display. The default might be 192.168.1.100, which is as good a starting point as any.
The doc gives the process:
The laptop likely has an IP address for the WiFI connection to the router going to your ISP, but you want the IP address on the wired Ethernet port. When you find that and if it’s something like 192.168.1.x, report back (with a screenshot!) and we can proceed.
Hi Ed,
I had to go out today. My wife said she was bored.
When I got back I was out in the workshop trying (and failing) to do some of the things you suggested. HOWEVER - I discovered that with the screen attached nothing works, but if I disconnect it I can work the laser direct from Lightburn to the RUIDA via USB. (I discovered that my laptop doesn’t have an ethernet socket.)
I’m trying to get hold of my mate with the multimeter.
I plan on testing the HMI communication cable and if that’s ok I’ll buy a new screen.
What do you think?
Bruce.
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