Hi folks,
I bought a larger laser cutter (100W) with a m2 nano controller AND additional stepper drivers, so the wiring seems to be different to the instructions I can find.
The nano I have has no stepper drivers on it, so the output is 3 wires: pulse, direction an 5V.
Also, the power wiring misses 2 of the 4 wires.
So the replacement controllers I could find won’t fit imho.
Are there other boards available whih are similar to mine BUT are compatible with lightburn?
I’d LOVE to use lightburn because I will use the laser commercially, so it has to be efficient and in my language (german).
I don’t see how to attach pics, would help to do that.
Yes, I’m beginning to realize I’ve bought a unicorn. It’s a 1000x600 100W Lasercutter for 2500.-EUR, and now I know why.
I’m about to change the board, last recommendation was Ruida. Seems only to be expensive, but no problem.
Would prefer a cheaper solution with decent support, not chinese babble.
I believe most of the common K40 type conversion boards will allow for external stepper drivers. C3D allows this as should others.
Depending on the stepper motors you have you could likely drive the stepper motors directly from the internal drivers of a replacement board
Ruida type replacement would work fine. Not sure your power situation but generally these solutions have a separate dedicated 24V power supply. Apparently these are also compatible with 36V but not recommended.
On a different note, have you looked at using MeerK40t to see if it can be used to as a GRBL or Ruida proxy to allow you to use LightBurn?
Hi,
I watched endless tutorials, also about MeerK40t, but I tend to be stupid and lazy here. I need a smooth and direct solution without much data shoving around. Or rewiring and diagram interpretations.
The Ruida Rdc6442S seems to be pnp, even the plug names are the same.
My target it so export dxf from the CAD system and hit the button - no fussing around to save some bucks.
I will use this thing commercially, although this china stuff hasn’t the best recommendation. It’s for packaging foam and bag cloth primarily.
Maybe I manage to cut ribbons with holes as well with a rotational axis from the spool, that would be fantastic.
That’s why LightBurn is it, no matter the costs. I got a brain and heart attac when I (finally…) managed to open the OMW “software” the first time.
Hi,
there’s a decent looking power source for the steppers, see pic.
And the limit switches look managable, either the axis moves not (wrong wiring) oder it stops at the limit.
I’m exporting dxf all the time for metal laser manucfaturing, I know it has to be clean of any obscuring lines but the contours. And for the scale I need to make a test beforehand. The rest is try and error/succeed
Er…what’s the difference between a home witch and a limit switch?
In the pic, is this a inductive or mechanical switch? My machine only has mechanical switches afaik.
I think I will leave the stepper boards as they are. The steppers are not big, around 40mm height, so I’m wondering why they did not use a controler with onboard step controllers - but it is like it is and maybe this solution is longer lasting because they have an powerful external supply with 24V and 10A.
Dunno if this would be that big with onboard step controllers.
I found there are two versions of the Ruida. Which one is older/newer/better?
The Ruida only uses these switches for a homing operation. Once that is complete they are never examined again until the next boot/reset.
Limit switches go outside of your work area and will stop the machine if they are triggered… Your home switches are wired to LmtX- and LmtY- … there is also LmtX+ and LmtY+ for limit switches…
In the image, the red indicators are home and the green are limit.
NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) a US based standard. The motors are sized by the side dimension… A NEMA17 is 1.7 inches wide (43.18mm), NEMA23 is 2.3 inches wide…
I have a 6442g, can’t remember what the S version has that this doesn’t or vice versa…
I would put in a 6445 as it will support a rotary on the U axes and the 6442 apparently doesn’t. I’d consider it an upgrade from the 6442… The console has a higher resolution display …
