Wavy Text Lines

[R. A. Mitchell]

Steve,

Thanks for posting the test file. Is it in a format compatible with Corel 11? I haven't upgraded Corel yet, and I'm having trouble opening your file.

Thanks,

Rob

[Scott Shepherd]

My mistake, I forgot you said V11.

Here ya go- give it a try.

[David Fairfield]

IMHO Rule #1 of messing with lasers is keep the frustration in check. Now that my laser and I are on friendly terms, we can work out any problems, but it wasn't always that way!

I only use the 100% speed setting for simple cuts or coarse work where some "squiggle" won't make a difference.

I start my tests at 50%P 50%S until I zero in on a combination that works optimally with the design and material. Murphy's law, an untested p/s/f setting will always produce crappy results.

In most cases I can't use 100% speed, but its not anything to get frustrated over. Try running a new Porsche at 100% speed all the time and see what happens . And they cost a hell of a lot more than a laser.

As long as I'm not hovering over the laser while its operating, I find a 50% difference in speed does not significantly effect productivity.

Dave

[R. A. Mitchell]

Dave,

I understand your point. My view, though, is when you buy a powerful laser on the basis of the additional speed and productivity you gain by working faster, and then find out that you have to work at a rate consistent with a laser at half that power, then your pocket has been picked for the premium paid.

Please note - I'm still trying to figure out my problem. I'm new enough where user error is more likely than machine error. Notwithstanding, I've been around long enough to know that you have to figure out the root of problems quickly to get to a solution or you wind up living with regret for a long time.

Rob

Rob

[Scott Shepherd]

In most cases I can't use 100% speed, but its not anything to get frustrated over. Try running a new Porsche at 100% speed all the time and see what happens . And they cost a hell of a lot more than a laser.

As long as I'm not hovering over the laser while its operating, I find a 50% difference in speed does not significantly effect productivity.

Dave

This is where it gets crazy for me. You know, those dealers aren't running demo's at 50%, their brochures don't show their top speed at 50% or show a note or disclaimer that says you'll be running the majority of jobs at 50-60% speed. I think it's unethical to boast of speed, yet when it comes down to actually using the machine on non-demo stuff, you have to run it at 60%.

I can say that my quality doesn't change with speed. Same quality at 100 speed as 50% speed.

Also, it can get really tricky, as you hit it right on the head, if it's a smaller job, more often than not, the cycle time will be less with 70% speed than it is with 100% speed. So in some cases, it's actually faster to run it slower.

With all this type of stuff happening, is there no wonder why it's so confusing?

[Peck Sidara]

Rob,

This is getting ridiculous. You buy a higher powered laser for more production, to have the ability to cut thru thicker substrates or for specific applications. You're having this problem because there's something going on with the x-axis. Contact our support group to trouble-shoot and get it fixed.

Rotating the image took care of the problem, tell tech support that as it may be helpful in their trouble-shooting.

I jumped in over the weekend as tech support was closed. They're open now and should be the first point of contact.

It has nothing to do with what others have suggested/indicated or may lead you to believe.

YOU CAN RUN THIS JOB AT 100%, NO PROBLEM. You will not have to slow the machine down to 35% or 50% for this job to come out perfect.

Call tech support. If cleaning the encoder strip and tightening up the x-axis belt doesn't help, it may be a faulty x-axis flex cable or a dirty encoder reader, dirty x-motor cog, loose y-axis component. Something along that line.

303.215.9171, press 1.

If by chance I'm completely wrong (it wouldn't be the first), I'll wear the dunce hat for a week.

Either way, keep us posted.

[R. A. Mitchell]

Peck,

I'm the first to acknowledge that I didn't give Epilog tech support a shot at fixing this yet. Just poor timing with the weekend. I'll be on the phone with them soon. I'm a newbie trying to figure out how to run an important job. I have learned a lot from this forum, and greatly appreciate the free advice from people more experienced than me, but I also know I have much more to learn.

Rob

[R. A. Mitchell]

Peck,

Got through to service, went through some more diagnostics, and I should get parts tomorrow.

When I started this thread, I wasn't trying to begin any crusades. I just want to figure out how to run a job. To that extent, I don't think posting a blow-by-blow tech support log is beneficial to anyone. I'll let everyone know when we've fixed the problem - that's all anyone on this forum is really interested in, anyway - but for now I'll stick with Epilog's very responsive tech support.

Thanks again to everyone who has tried to help,

Rob

[Scott Shepherd]

This is getting ridiculous.

Peck, I've read back through this several times, what's getting ridiculous? I think he got good advice. He was down on the weekend and asking for opinions. People offered up their experiences. I think one person said they start their machine at 50S and work from there, one person asked him to turn the graphic sideways (good advice), and I stated clearly that my experience may not be the same as his, but it's what I had seen on my Helix.

Not sure where the ridiculous part comes in.

When tech support opened, he called them. A batch of parts is on the way and let's hope that solves his issues.