Im in the middle of my 4th burn this session and when almost complete the machine throws an Alarm 1: Hard limit triggered. what could cause that? I’m engraving names into cutting boards. the laser head is moving in the lower left corner of the range, but with plenty of room to the actual hard limits. I can use the move commands and send it all around the frame (Longer B1, 40W, lightburn 2.1.02 (just installed before these burns)) and it will be fine, but as i have it pass through the range where i was engraving, it will throw the code. what can i look for? thanks! Matt
- Loose power connector
- Momentary A.C. power loss
- Flakey
- key switch
- power switch
- limit switch
- door interlock
- tray interlock
- coolong water loss
- tilt switch
- flame sensor
- …and whatever else
ANYTHING that interrupts power can trigger an Alarm 1 message. This is considered a catastrophic failure.
Thanks for the response. should i look for power cords that are shaking due to vibration of the laser head moving? am i understanding your comments correctly?
That sounds like you have a strong suspicion. Yes, if the laser frame shifts while running, that can be a problem. It would be a good idea to rule out everything anyhow.
Thanks for the help. i unplugged/replugged all wires to/from the laser. made sure they are secure.. so far now two runs. no issues. thanks for being a sounding board!
Since we don’t know what you’re doing, I’m guessing, but it could be an overscan issue.
I am burning/lasering names into the side of a hardwood cutting board. I do have overscan set at 10%. That’s what it took to keep the center of the image as dark as the edges. Maybe I just ran the laser faster than it can handle. I have it set to 6000mm/m supposedly 25%of max speed. But at 2.5% stock overscan even at 6k, there was a difference in darkness across the image…
Did I understand the jist of your note?
I rarely run my 40w diode laser over 3000-4000mm/m, and I have the feet anchored so it cannot move. Unless you have 25-50 cutting boards, that high speed is really not necessary.
That’s good to know your usual speed range. How did you arrive at that range? I hate the idea of run the machine slower than necessary, that’s the manufacturing background in me. I suppose I can do a test of 6k speed with 10% overscan and compare the image quality and total run time with 3-4k and 2.5% overscan…
What other considerations do you make for travel speed? After I do a test coupon, i make it go as fast as possible. I’m still new to this. When would that not be advisable? Thanks for the education. Matt
Mostly through testing. I was a maintenance tech in manufacturing, so I understand the need for speed. When cutting I limit my power to about 95% and add passes if needed. When engraving, I run 20-30% power to minimize the blowtorch (overburn) effect. Again by trial and error.
Let us know what you find with the time runs. I suspect the 6K advantage will not be that impressive.
I have a Vette and this is my rule too. But not all the time. The harder you run something, the less time it will last, but not at a 1:1 ratio.
Bottom Line: If your machine is a capital expense for production, by all means run it at Warp 8. But if it is a hobby machine that generates a little income, make it last.
Words of wisdom. Thanks. I’ll get the speed comparison in the next few days. Much appreciated!!
Just following up. I found out that I have a loose dc power pin on the socket on the circuit board. The guys at longer are sending a new board. My buddy who is a pc tech looked at my machine, and zip tied the power and data wires so that they didn’t move relative to the circuit board…. The machine has been running smoothly since… thanks for all the help!!