I bought a secondhand laser machine on eBay a couple of weeks ago and I’m struggling with a few issues. The machine is badged as a HPC LaserScript Mini 500, though was sold as an LS6040 (I’m not sure the seller actually knew what model it was though). With hindsight, the purchase was rash - the BIN price seemed very good and I let that get in the way of good judgement - but hopefully I can still make the best of the situation.
Before I get into the issues I should add that, naively, I just assumed I’d readily find tons of information about the machine and software on the web when in fact I have found literally nothing. There is no trace at all of a HPC LaserScript Mini 500. Even HPC (who have been very helpful) hadn’t heard of it and had no manual, hard or soft copy, that they could provide. The manufacturer plate on the rear has become illegible so I can’t get a serial number. All I can get are photos of ID’s like that of the controller, attached. For context, I’m not new to lasering, just to CO2. I’ve been using an Elegoo Phecda 20w Diode laser for the last couple of years but needed something with a 600x400 work area. I’ve had to, unexpectedly, do some maintenance and repair to the machine - getting loads of gunk out of the cooling pipes, replace the flow valve, sort out the magnetic safety catches - such that the machine is now basically functional, but I would greatly appreciate some help around the following;
Issues:
Config settings: I’m pretty certain the config settings on the machine are wrong, not least because the bed size is set to around 120cm x 60cm, when it’s more like 55cm x 40cm (yes, I was mis-sold, but I like to think this was an innocent mistake). I’d really like to get hold of a stock config file for this machine if anyone has that or knows enough about the settings to guide me to create one. The reason is that the machine seems to have a very low cap on cutting speed and there seems to be a mismatch between what one sets and what one gets i.e. if I set a speed of 40mmps I’d expect it to fairly zip around the piece, whereas it does more of a plod. I thought a 60w CO2 would be way, way faster than a 20w diode, when at present the reverse is true. So, I’m speculating that the speed algorithm is being determined by the config file i.e. it thinks it’s a different machine.
Machine Manual and Specification: I don’t have a machine manual and would love to have this. HPC were able to share a copy of the LS3060 operating manual, which seems fairly similar, but this is quite thin on information. For instance, neither this nor the software manual give any indication of the machine capacities, limits, parts or typical setups.
Red dot: the dot is present and seems focussed and well-aligned, but it’s only visible if I turn all the workshop lights off to have complete darkness. Makes it a mite tricky to work with! Does anyone have any ideas?
To be honest, I’m hoping someone on here is familiar enough with these older machines to help me get up and running with a sound machine setup.
Hi Michael, many thanks for responding. I didn’t have that manual so that will undoubtedly help. I do have cooling set up, the pump and reservoir are under the table. As the laser wouldn’t fire when I set it up, I ended up having to thoroughly flush and clean all the tubing and replace the flow sensor.
I’ve cleaned the mirrors, and the lens at the end of the laser tube, but not meddled with the red dot diode so far. It’s producing a nice strong light for what that’s worth, but seems to fade out by the time it reaches the workpiece. The clear lens at the end of the laser tube is yellowed and has faint marking in the central area, presumably due to the laser. The same is true of the second mirror.
Anyway, no, I haven’t read the ‘getting started’ so I’ll do that and see if that gives some leads. I’m very reluctant to start messing with the mirrors until and unless I’m pretty sure this is the problem, in case I mess up the cutting beam. At the end of the day, while the red dot is extremely useful, I can manage without it.
OK, the red dot really shouldn’t fade significantly in intensity over a short distance, being a laser. But most of the red dots are replaceable parts.
I hope the getting started docs are helpful to you. There are multiple folks here with practical experience with lasers in general, even if they don’t happen to have this particular unit. Sometimes it feels like no two units are alike.
Now that I’ve read the getting started material, I’m fairly sure it’ll be an alignment issue; that enough of the laser beam is making it through to do the job but not so much the red dot beam. I have a feeling that maintenance on the machine was near non-existent and I might find myself replacing the optics and tube before too long. It reminds me of one or two cars and motorbikes I bought way back in my youth - you end up knowing every inch of the machine out of necessity, which is no bad thing in the end. Anyway, I have a query in with HPC and will wait for their response before I thinker, but think I know where I’m headed.
Ah, there are multiple types of red dot system. It sounds like you have a combiner? (Fixed-bed units sometimes just project a dot at an angle, some moveable-bed units actually have a red cross with two line generator modules so the intersection of the cross stays in the right place as the bed moves up and down.)
In any case, yeah, it’s not that unusual for the optics to get out of alignment during transportation. So it’s not a bad guess!
Mine has a small red dot diode set at 90 degrees to the end of the tube. It sends the beam to what appears to be a coated lens, which then reflects it on to the mirrors.
I’ve now established that the machine is most likely a LS6450, not that this is especially relevant.
Thanks again for your input. I don’t have enough lasering expertise to reciprocate for others, but I will follow the 3D printing category as that is my bread and butter and sometimes, once in a blue moon, I have sometime useful to add!
As you have more specific questions, you’ll find that there are a bunch of forum denizens here with lots of actual experience with laser cutters.
I’m the crazy guy who has set aside my custom-designed laser cutter for other hobbies for a while after getting it about 80% built, so everything I know about these tools is still theoretical from reading posts here. I swear I’ll get back to that some day!
I have that trouble too… I have quite a few unfinished projects and very few that are officially complete!
Sometimes, just thinking out loud, so to speak, is a help in itself. The more I discuss the machine the more I understand it’s working and, therefore, the likely cause of it’s ills (and also the correct nomenclature, which is often necessary to help people help you). In this instance I’m now more and more sure that the mirrors need attention, possibly even replacement. My red dot is of the beam combiner design, meaning it uses the same mirror system as the laser. I’m told this makes it much easier to get the focus right, since you have something tangible to see (the red dot). But in my case, the reflection of the dot from the first mirror onwards is really poor. I know this because I took off the relevant covers and used a shaving mirror to redirect the red dot beam across my workshop. That gives me the same kind of sharpness you get with a laser level or such-like i.e. nice and crisp even on a wall 20 feet away. Whereas it’s washed out and fuzzy on a piece of white card 2 inches away using the machines mirrors. I guess the good news is that replacing the mirrors, which shouldn’t be that expensive, should also give a decent boost to the laser beam. As it stands, it’s pretty underwhelming!
While writing, here’s another thing for the benefit of anyone else who finds themself in this situation, regardless of machine make or model. The LS6450 uses an old, Leetro controller which is what limits me to the rather basic LaserCutEngrave software. What I’ve learned is that I could upgrade to a Ruida controller and get back to using Lightburn, for maybe £250 - £300. In my case, I think I’ll see how I go with the machine as is: it’s quite old, I have no idea how much life is left in the tube and I might just run it until it pops and, if I’ve made money from it, buy something much newer. What I will say is that these LaserScripts are built to last - massively over-engineered, which is almost always better than under-engineered. I’d say a good 50kg of the 70kg weight is just casing.
Sadly, @Tatarize (RIP) didn’t end up adding Leetro support to meerk40t, though he did do some reverse engineering:
So yeah, if you want to use LightBurn, a Ruida upgrade isn’t a crazy idea.
If you are mostly cutting rather than engraving, changing to a gcode controller is another idea. The limitations of gcode are mostly speed-based when raster engraving.
I wouldn’t even know where to begin! I have a very large blind spot called ‘electronics’, all of which is a dark art to me. But what I can do is unscrew things and replace them with other things. I’m good at that .
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