Dealing with glass co2 laser tubes, it is difficult to accurately tell if it is going out or loosing "oomph". The laser will loose its co2 levels, which will cause it to loose cutting strength.
We have noticed that the laser at its "strongest" or new state fires a purplish/reddish color laser through the tube, and when it is loosing its cutting strength it turns to a faded red orange/orange color.

Using a ammeter will only measure the current going to the tube. The PSU will not know when the tube is losing its cutting strength, so it will constantly flow the same voltage and current.


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How many dots should come out of the laser

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What is a clear indication of a failing/failed laser tube? I know that laser tubes eventually "wear out", but how does one determine if the tube is loosing its "oomph"? My 40W Blacktooth laser tube return goes through an ammeter, so is the ammeter reading proportional to the beam strength, or can the beam die and still draw the same amount of current?

Make sure to check your supply lines. Air flow is especially important.

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hi, I atacched a laser system to my modified book machine. it worked fine for a few trials but for some reason has lost power and is not cutting through any more, it does engrave thou. what can I check for? I´ve tried everything I can think of.

Can you check if there are cracks in the inner glass tube? Also, check to see if there is water between the inner glass tube and the outer glass tube. That will give you an indication of cracking in the inner glass tube.

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I was in the process of aligning mirrors for our vertical XL and suddenly the laser does not fire anymore, there is an arcing sound and a light near the Anode (positive) connector of the tube on the very inside. Do you think the laser tube would go bad so quickly? how could we avoid this?

It is most common for the laser tube to go out, after about 1000 hours of work time!
It is strange that the new laser tube will not fire!
We would recommend to check the tungsten leads, if they are making good contact!

Also here is a link to a instructables page where they have tested a laser power supply!
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-test-and-set-a-Chinese-China-made-CO2-Laser/?ALLSTEPS

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Hello - I have had some years of good use from my Blacktooth CN Laser, but had to reduce the speed on jobs over the last year to get satisfactory cutting. Recently, on a long job, the laser beam weakened and disappeared entirely over about 30 seconds (guess). I fixed a new tube, but this won't fire either. How can I safely test the output lead to see if it's dead or partially so?

These connectors are not necessary and they are not included in the kits anymore. I have revised the step to reflect this change. The connectors are actually an undesirable addition since that is a point at which the hoses can be disconnected during the machine operation and cause water to drop into the driver electronics.

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In the Blacktooth instruction 90 A pair of coolant hose connectors are to be installed. These didn't come with all the other parts, and aren't on the packing list. Are they really necessary? Could not the tubes just exit through these holes and go to the pump, bucket, or water container?

Stepper motors are known to make noises while function, however this does not affect accuracy or job function. However we recommend to check your wiring for solid connections, and for good connectivity!



On a personal note, here is one cool video dealing with making songs with stepper motors!

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I bought and built the Blacktooth laser cutter. It works, but one of the stepper motors makes a loud static hiss a second after the CNC power supply is turned on or off, and makes loud tweets and twirps when running. It seems to operate fine otherwise. I was wondering if it was "going bad" or if that is normal?

There is some variation in the outward appearance of laser power supplies due to sourcing through different vendors. However, the basic wiring requirements are the same in each case. For the unit with integrated laser controller, follow the diagram found here: https://buildyourcnc.com/blackToothLaserCutterAndEngraver.aspx#prettyPhoto/0/. The terminals on the signal side will have a 6 connection terminal block -- these are the ones labeled 5V, IN, G, P (or WP), L (or TTL-L), and H (or TTL-H). The High Power side will have 3 inputs for AC power, one high voltage lead, and one return line. Connect these as shown in the diagram as well: the return line goes on the "front" (beam exit end) terminal of the laser tube, the high voltage lead goes to the "back" terminal of the tube, the FG terminal (or G) receives the earth ground wire of the AC power cable, and the two AC terminals receive the line and neutral wires of the AC power cable (it doesn't matter in this case which wire goes to which terminal).

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I purchased the blackTooth Laser Engraver with integrated Laser Control Unit and have been following your instructions. I noticed that the laser tube power supply is different that what is shown in your instructions. Do you have any better wiring guides that I can follow for the version that I received?

The fact that you cannot move the motors with the keyboard serves as a clue to a couple possibilities.

- The software may not be communicating with parallel port. (One possibility may be that your step pins are not low active, or vice versa depending on your drivers).
- You may not be in the correct tab of Mach3. Make sure you are in the Program Run tab.
- The jog on/off button on the program run screen may not be lit (invoked).

This address below shows the complete troubleshooting for this type of situation. It will show how to test each pin at the parallel port at the back of the computer and everything else associated with correctly wiring the electronics.

https://buildyourcnc.com/CNCElectronicsandWiring.aspx




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6 axis robot with Mach3 Card 6 Axis Motion Controller

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I have a home built CNC running Mach 3. I have power to all the motors and the breakout board but no movement when running g-code. I cannot even manually move the motors with the arrow keys or page up and down. It also has an integrated 120v receptacle showing an open ground. I don't know if all this is related.

Yes, if the power supplies were supplied by us, we will exchange them with 110v equivalent power supplies.

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Hello, I am a student working on a CO2 laser. We recently ordered two 40watt CO2 laser tubes and two 40 Watt CO2 Laser Tube Power Supply at 220V. However, our school is unable to use them due to being 220v. Is it possible to exchange these for the 110v supply, or is there a way we can go about connecting it at 110v instead of 220v? Thank you.

You would use a combination of bearings and collars to prevent your lead screw or rod from being able to move back and forth. Without it being able to move back and forth, you shouldn't have the couplings coming apart, because the motor is solidly mounted and unable to move as well.

I will try to draw a picture using symbols, with a key to define what each part is.

--CB|--------------|BC}{M

- = Lead Screw or Rod
C = Collar
B = Bearing
| = Wood, the frame of your machine
}{ = Coupling
M = Motor

On the example above you could replace the collar on the motor side with one half of the coupling, putting it right upside of the bearing to hold it in place instead. Like this:

--CB|--------------|B}{M

You could also place the bearings on the inside as follows:

----|BC----------CB|--}{M

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can you please specify how to connect the collar/nut and bearings to prevent the axial movement of lead screw. Do I have to put that next to the stepper motor /coupling assembling or on the other side where the lead screw comes out. Or is there any way I can make the flexible coupling rigid so it does not come out of the middle spider?

VCC is the same as 5v. I will clarify on the instructions.

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In the BlackTooth instruction the concluding sentence suggests connecting a wire from the right terminal of the pot to the VCC on the Laser Supply. There is no VCC on the power supply for the Laser that I can find. So, does this wire go to a different terminal on the power supply, or somewhere else where VCC exists, such as either stepper motor control?

Wiring diagrams for the Laser Power Supply will be mostly the same with the updated power supply. The main difference is the newer power supply contains a secondary green terminal block on the front of the power supply next where the hard leads are connected. This differs from the older power supply which had contact points on the back of the power supply. Please refer to the tutorials section for updated information and if you have specific questions please email techsupport@buildyourcnc.com

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I am assebling the Blacktooth CNC laser 20x24" with what appears to be an updated power supply. After refrencing the wiring diagram on line and the totorial, may I ask for an updated diagram or totorial, the current version do not appear to match match the configuration provided. I do not feel confidant in the educational guess, that I have. thanks

Since the nozzle is getting warm, much of the laser energy is not exiting the aperture and is hitting the inside of the nozzle. You need to align the laser's final mirror to direct it out of the nozzle's aperture and you will have more than enough energy to cut 1/8" acrylic efficiently.

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I've been unable to cut through acrylic or wood at a thickness of 1/8" or less with the BlackTooth. Even with multiple passes (x10) and full power, a clean cut cannot be accomplished. Based on videos I've seen something doesn't seem right. I noticed that the nozzle gets very warm, almost untouchable during even short runs.

You may want to try using a ferrite core or an inductor in addition to the shielded cable. Also, make sure you are grounding the shield at both ends. Even though this is not high frequency, grounding the shield at both ends in a motor scenario may help. Also, try to reduce any parallel wire runs.

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[575] Hi, I plug HY 220v spindle on the board. It work, but the is a unstable frequency on the spindle. I put shielded wires from BOB to Inverter, and from Inverter to Spindle. But the problem still there. I read that I have to put a Analogue PWM, is that true, or I have problem with my wires... Thank you

Yes, you can contact me at customerservice@buildyourcnc.com to get the full BOM for that machine.

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I have a green lean machine that I acquired from a friend that had to move cross country and could not take the machine with him. It was partially disassembled and stored in his garage. Unfortunately, he lost a couple of parts I cannot easily replicate. Is there a parts list anywhere for this machine so that I can order replacements?

Hi, you can call me at the 281-815-7701 number. Please leave a message when you call as most of the calls are screened to avoid scam calls. You can also email me at customerservice@buildyourcnc.com or phooddaniel@berkeley.edu.

The newer kits that are featured on the home page include everything you need except a computer and software. The legacy CNC routers that are located in the CNC machines menu selection include all of the parts for the gantry, but you will need to build the table yourself. All of the information on the measurements to be followed for the table construction are on the machine pages.

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I am looking at getting a 4x8 cnc router kit. I am having a hard time figuring out what is included in the kit and what else i will need to buy with it to get off the ground and running. Is there someone i could talk to to walk me through it? If not, can you break down what all I need to go from scratch to a running set up? thanks

If your laser machine needs to reflect off of three mirrors before it finally passes the focal lens, then I would recommend realigning the laser.

You might also want to see if the nozzle is hot. If so, then the laser energy is hitting some of the nozzle body and not all of the laser energy is exiting the small aperture of the nozzle. To determine if this is the cause, remove the nozzle and try the operation again to see if you have better results. If the results are better with the nozzle off, then realign the mirrors. If you are still having difficulty getting the laser energy to exit the nozzle, increase the diameter of the nozzle aperture.

If you are still having poor results, take a look at the focal lens and the mirrors for any debris. An unclean lens and mirrors are a common cause of poor lasing performance.

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Is this a problem with the tube or the power supply? The tube is illuminated but I don't get clear firing to the piece. This is a rastering work and I get faint results and then it will be fine, then nothing. Tube changes from pink to solid line purple even when vectoring or manually holding the fire button. https://youtu.be/rX5xZoM6_bk

Fusion 360 is a program that allows you to design in a parametric 3 dimensional environment and also provides a great CAM toolset. Fusion 360 will produce the gcode with the CAM capabilities. The gcode is used to move the machine in various ways in order to mill the material; however, software is needed to interpret this gcode and cause the machine to move according to the gcode instructions. This is called control software. So Fusion is CAD/CAM, and you still need "control". Mach3 is one example of control software for milling and is highly recommended.

Install Mach3 onto the computer that will connect to the redFly(CNC electronics), then configure the Mach3 parameters for the machine (motor tuning, plug-ins, inputs/output, etc.). Home the machine, load the gcode into Mach3 and the machine will move according to the gcode.

A word of caution, since you are new to CNC machines, make sure you familiar yourself with the machine and the movements of the machine specific to how the gcode is arranged with respect to the coordinates of the machine. Try with very simple gcode until you get a very good understanding of how the machine will move.

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Hello, My friend has purchased the Redfly and I am helping him a little with it. We are both very new to CNC. I am using fusion 360 at the moment. This can tool path and create gcode. I was wondering if Mach 3 or similar is still needed. Is there a tutorial you could point me to that explains how to get the Gcode from the PC, via Serial to the Redfly?

If you have the laser firing using the Z direction, then you want to make sure that the thickness and clearance plane is extremely small. The time it takes for the software to think that the z axis has lowered to the depth set in the design is causing the laser to stay on in a single position for too long. Make sure that the depth is extremely small, like .0001" or the smallest amount allowed by the Vectric software. Also, make sure the clearance plane (the height that the z axis would raise to clear any protrusions like clamps and the such) is extremely low.

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I have been using a Blacktooth for some time, with Vectric2d and Mach3. I have always found that the laser burns a hole before moving off. I have always set material thickness at actual value. Should it be set very low? Also, of the many post processors supplied with 2d, which is best for Blacktooth?