Hi, I am new to lasers and here in the forum, its my first post. However, I am 63y and a very experienced guy in woodworking, electronics, mechanical work and CAD/CAM.
My topic:
I bought a Sculpfun S30 with Y-extension and officially this should support 400mm x 930mm. So, this is what I entered in Lightburn and I ran into quite some issues:
Homing didn’t work when the Laser was > 430mm in Y-axis. After searching the web I solved this by entering $131=930 in the console. Now it accepts the working range in the Y axis.
Actually trying to run to y = 930 doesn’t work, its beyond the mechanical boundaries.I found that 910 is safe. So - $131=910 - all good.
Then I tried to run to x=400 which didn’t work either. After several experiments I conclude that the X working range is 375mm (with 2-3 mm margin) - but not 400. So entering $130 = 375 makes the machine behave nicely. But thats not according to specification.
My guess is that the end switches reduce the (physical) working range in both directions by 10-15mm.
QUESTIONS:
Have others experienced the same outcome with their extended S30?
Hi Jess,
I actually dont have an issue any longer as the commands $130 and $131 fixed it. But I am surprised about the reduced range compared to the manufacturer spec.
Before I have set $131 = 910 the machine behaved as if it was Ymax = 430. So when returning from - lets say - 0,500 to 0,0 it would stop at 0,70 with an error message. ‘Could not find home within search range which is …’ something like this. The machine also lost position data when moving beyond Y=430. This is now solved.
Hi Mike,
I have just checked that. There are no holes for the limit switches closer to the corners. The X-Axis limit switch holder could be modified to provide another 10 mm, would require some minor mechanical mod.
Hi Mike,
this is great information, many thanks ! I was actually hoping that I could somehoe modify my laser axis system to the long Y axis becomig the x = axis which is horizontally in front of me on my workbench.
From the Wiki I understand that I have to
Use the Command ‘Swap x/y output to laser’.
Mount the x-axis limit switch to the opposite side.
Reverse the direction of Y - movement with $3 = 2
Set $23 to 2 (probably)
Its a bit hard to figure ouit which inversion also affects the other ones.
Will give it a careful experiment later today …
Very cool! I will report …
Hi Mike,
I have tried it and it works like a charme! What I have done:
Activate the ‘Swap X/Y output to laser’ option in [Device Settings]
Set new X/Y range in Lightburn Device settings
Send the new X/Y max settings to the controller using $130/$131 commands.
Then it already basically worked but the machine was obviously expecting the (new vertical) Y-axis limit switch at the bottom (the MAX) of the (previous x-) rail. So homing didn’t work then of course.
Thus I provided a new M5 thread for the limit switch (there is no mounting hole at the bottom of the S30 X-Axis, the original ‘X max-end’) at an appropriate position. See photo attached.
Reading my post again I should note that I also had to modify $23 to $23 = 2, which inverts the Y-axis but not the X-axis. Please note that this refers to the NEW Y-axis, the short vertical (former x-axis) axis in my case.
After doing this, the homing looked for the limit switch at the bottom of the rail (The former x.axis max).
When Homing, the direction ($23) to the switch is either right or wrong. It does not care how far away the switch is located. That is controlled by another parameter, $131, which had to be adjusted for the new rail length…
However, I am 63y and a very experienced guy in woodworking, electronics, mechanical work and CAD/CAM.
