My Chinese 80watt laser has just started refusing to move on the X axis. It will move perfectly well on the y-axis. I have looked at the 2 controllers (YKD2305M-DK).
The one which controls the y-axis shows a single green led. The one controlling the x-axis has both a red and a green led displayed.
The wiring loom is too short for me to swap the connectors over to see if that sorts the x-axis without physically taking the controllers out of the machine to try the swap.
How safe is it to assume that the controller is faulty and should be replaced, or are there other options I need to look at first?
The stepper driver can also detect an overcurrent in the motor, which may be a broken / shorted wire somewhere in the drag chain to the gantry. With the power off, unplug the motor wires at the driver (the 4-pin plug on the left in your pictures) and measure the resistances of the A and B wires / motor windings; the resistances should be equal, a few ohms each, and the two windings should not be connected to each other.
The fault may be sensitive to the axis position, so measure those resistances while moving the laser head left-and-right by hand around the spot where it stopped: any glitches indicate a problem.
With the motor still unplugged, turn the machine on and whack whatever controller button cancels the homing cycle. If the driver red-lights again with no motor connected, the problem is almost certainly in the driver.
The power supply (over on the right) may be failing, because they tend to be under-specified for the job. For example, the total current required by the motors / lights / controller in my machine exceeds the power supply current rating by about 2 A. If that’s the case in your machine (and I have a Jackson saying so ), then a new supply may be in order.
I assume the ice-cube relay over on the left is in the other stepper’s wiring. If, instead, it’s connected to the failing driver, then we’ve seen those relays immolate themselves (and their sockets!), taking the driver down with them.
Thanks for the advice, though I’m not familiar with “Jacksons”! I tested the resistance across all four motors and got the same result for each, so I assume they are all OK.
I took the good controller out so that I could plug in the leads from the faulty one, and the x axis worked perfectly, the y-axis not moving.
I would assume I definitely need a new controller, which leads to a second question. The ones fitted to my laser are YKD2305M-DK. I can find one of these online, but from AliExpress I could get YKD2305M without any DK suffix. Are they different enough to matter?
Because the fault follows the stepper driver, that’s the most likely failure.
A bit of rummaging produces the YKD2305M datasheets, but it seems the manufacturer has nothing to say about the -DK version.
All of the search engine hits for -DK land on bulk sites like Amazon / AliExpress, with descriptions emphasizing the keyword “Genuine”, leading me to think it’s a Genuine Knockoff™. The -DK could be a special wholesale version made by YAKO for OEMs (in Germany?) or a nice counterfeit.
@fins discovery of really cheap ones (for a Jackson each ) on eBay suggests they’re equally Genuine.
My guess: they’re identical and the choice depends on how lucky you feel today.
I received the “new” controller from China and fitted it, making sure all the switches were in the correct position, matching the failed unit that came out. Powered the machine up, no red lights on either controller, and it went through it’s resetting procedure correctly, with the x axis moving at last.
However, going back to it today to actually use it, still no red lights, but no movement on the x axis… When exiting the reset process, the y axis moves normally, the x axix doesn’t even twitch.
I will check the resistance across the motors again tomorrow, but is there anywhere else I should be checking?
Checked both x and y axis motors, neither shows any problem with the resistance across the two coils. The power feeding in appears to be 24 volts, but the x-axis still does not move when required…
Just realised that at some point during my attempts to sort the original issue, I had switched the z axis on. Just rectified it and the machine is now restored to it’s former glory. Thanks to all who helped.
), then a new supply may be in order.