The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Category: Electronics Workbench

Electrical & Electronic gadgets

CO₂ Laser Tube Current: Test Wiring
Having seen some rather bizarre laser tube current waveforms from the replacement power supply (and an equivalent Cloudray supply I bought as a backup) in the OMTech 60 W laser, I finally got A Round Tuit for a closer look.

I tapped three signals from the Ruida KT332N controller by the simple expedient of crunching wires into the output terminal clamps along with their original ferrules:

KT332N controller – Tube Current test connections

From top to bottom:
- X axis DIR: low = left-to-right motion = toward X+
- Laser L-ON: low-active laser beam enable
- PWM: pulse-width modulation laser power control
Those three cables pass through a small hole in the cabinet to the left of the hatch on their way to channels 1, 2, and 3 of the scope.

The PWM signal (cyan, channel 3) isn’t particularly useful, but a quick look confirmed it is an active-high signal ticking along at 20 kHz, with a duty cycle corresponding to the selected laser “power”:

Tube Current – 40pct PWM first detail – 250mm-s – 10ma-div

The bottom trace (green, channel 4) is the laser tube current, as monitored by a Tek A6302 Hall-effect current probe around the tube’s cathode (low voltage return) lead:

HV laser power supply – current probe setup

This time around, I poked a bight of that overly long wire through the hole in the cabinet (just above the power-line earth ground terminal) so I could keep the probe outside the cabinet and close the hatch.

Minus the PWM signal, the scope looks like this:

Tube Current – 40pct – 250mm-s – 5ma-div

The top trace (yellow, channel 1) is the DIR signal, with a high-to-low transition triggering the scope when the X axis begins moving from left to right.

The second trace (magenta, channel 2) is the L-ON laser enable; the high-voltage power supply drives current through the laser tube only when L-ON is low.

The third trace (green, channel 4) is, as above, the laser tube current. The Tek AM502 amplifier sets the gain, with the scope channel always set to 10 mV/div with a 50 Ω input impedance, so I must put the current scale in the screenshot file name (which becomes the caption here).

With all that in mind, the next few posts will make more sense … and I can remember what I did.
2022-09-27

Laser Cutter: Improving the Red-Dot Pointer

The red-dot pointer on the OMTech laser cutter has the same problem as my laser aligner for the Sherline mill: too much brightness creating too large a visual spot. In addition, there’s no way to make fine positioning adjustments, because the whole mechanical assembly is just a pivot.

The first pass involved sticking a polarizing filter on the existing mount while I considered the problem:

OMTech red dot pointer - polarizing filter installed — OMTech red dot pointer – polarizing filter installed

The red dot pointer module is 8 mm OD and the ring is 10 mm ID, but you will be unsurprised to know the laser arrived with the module jammed in the mount with a simple screw. Shortly thereafter, I turned the white Delrin bushing on the lathe to stabilize the pointer and installed a proper setscrew, but it’s obviously impossible to make delicate adjustments with that setup.

Making the polarizing filter involves cutting three circles:

OMTech red dot pointer - polarizing filter — OMTech red dot pointer – polarizing filter

Rotating the laser module in the bushing verified that I could reduce the red dot to a mere shadow of its former self, but it was no easier to align.

Replacing the Delrin bushing with a 3D printed adjuster gets closer to the goal:

Pointer fine adjuster - solid model — Pointer fine adjuster – solid model

Shoving a polarizing filter disk to the bottom of the recess, rotating the laser module for least brightness, then jamming the module in place produces a low-brightness laser spot.

The 8 mm recess for the laser module is tilted 2.5° with respect to the Y axis, so (in principle) rotating the adjuster + module (using the wide grip ring) will move the red dot in a circle:

Improved red-dot pointer - overview — Improved red-dot pointer – overview

The dot sits about 100 mm away at the main laser focal point, so the circle will be about 10 mm in diameter. In practice, the whole affair is so sloppy you get what you get, but at least it’s more easily adjusted.

The M4 bolt clamping the holder to the main laser tube now goes through a Delrin bushing. I drilled out the original 4 mm screw hole to 6 mm to provide room for the bushing:

Improved red-dot pointer - drilling bolt hole — Improved red-dot pointer – drilling bolt hole

The bushing has a wide flange to soak up the excess space in the clamp ring:

Improved red-dot pointer - turning clamp bushing — Improved red-dot pointer – turning clamp bushing

With all that in place, the dimmer dot is visually about 0.3 mm in diameter:

Improved red-dot pointer - offset — Improved red-dot pointer – offset

The crappy image quality comes from excessive digital zoom. The visible dot on the MDF surface is slightly larger than the blown-out white area in the image.

The CO₂ laser hole is offset from the red laser spot by about 0.3 mm in both X and Y. Eyeballometrically, the hole falls within the (dimmed) spot diameter, so this is as good as it gets. I have no idea how durable the alignment will be, but it feels sturdier than it started.

Because the red dot beam is 25° off vertical, every millimeter of vertical misalignment (due to non-flat surfaces, warping, whatever) shifts the red dot position half a millimeter in the XY plane. You can get a beam combiner to collimate the red dot with the main beam axis, but putting more optical elements in the beam path seems like a Bad Idea™ in general.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Laser cutter red-dot module fine adjust
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU 2022-09-22

	Layout = "Show"; // [Build, Show]

	/* [Hidden] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	inch = 25.4;

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	//———————-
	// Dimensions

	PointerOD = 8.0 + 0.2; // plus loose turning fit
	Aperture = 5.0; // clear space for lens

	SkewAngle = 2.5;

	MountRing = [10.0,16.0,8.0]; // OEM laser module holder

	GripRim = [Aperture,MountRing[OD] + 2*1.5,3.0]; // finger grip around OD

	NumSides = 24;

	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes

	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);

	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);

	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,
	h=Height,
	$fn=Sides);
	}

	//———————-
	// Holder geometry

	module Holder() {

	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d=GripRim[OD],h=GripRim[LENGTH],$fn=NumSides);
	PolyCyl(MountRing[ID],MountRing[LENGTH] + GripRim[LENGTH],NumSides);
	}

	translate([0,0,-Protrusion]) // close enough without skew angle
	PolyCyl(Aperture,2*MountRing[LENGTH],NumSides);

	translate([0,0,MountRing[LENGTH]/2 + GripRim[LENGTH]])
	rotate([0,SkewAngle,0])
	translate([0,0,-MountRing[LENGTH]/2])
	PolyCyl(PointerOD,2*MountRing[LENGTH],NumSides);

	}

	}


	//———————-
	// Build it


	if (Layout == "Show") {
	Holder();
	}

	if (Layout == "Build") {
	Holder();
	}

view raw Pointer fine adjuster.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

2022-09-23

SJCAM M20: Another Battery Bites the Dust

A little more than two years after replacing its internal battery, the SJCAM M20 camera on my Tour Easy once again wouldn’t last to the end of the driveway if I forgot to turn on the external battery pack. This time around, the camera was so firmly jammed in the printed seat frame mount that I had to cut the mount apart.

Yup, that puppy is all swoll up:

SJCAM M20 swollen battery – side view

Poor thing looks like a tiny pillow:

SJCAM M20 swollen battery – pouch

While I had it apart, I tried to clean / refurbish the button contacts on the top. Unfortunately, they’re pretty well buried in the camera frame and I was unwilling to dismantle the optics, remove the display, and gut the camera to find out if they were more accessible from the back surface:

SJCAM M20 – switch internals

While all that was going on, I ran off a new mount in white PETG:

SJCAM M20 – white case installed

I’m down to the last battery. The “4.35V” on the pillow indicates they’re special high-voltage lithium-polymer cells, so I can’t just drop a random lithium pouch cell in there and expect it to Just Work.

I think the “782633” is the cell size, so, if I were willing to have a few thousand on the shelf, a 552525 pouch might fit. The reduced capacity wouldn’t be a problem, as it must just keep the camera’s clock ticking between rides.

Drat!

2022-08-30
OMTech 60W Laser: Repurposing the HV Power Supply Water Protect Input

For reference, the input terminals on the OMTech anonymous 60 W HV laser power supply:

OMTech 60W HV power supply – terminals

AFAICT, that’s the default layout for all similar power supplies.

The H and L pins are the High- and Low-active enable inputs that, when it’s working right, control the laser output. The KT332 controller (and, most likely, all RuiDa controllers) produce a low-active output, so you just wire the controller’s output to the L input and you’re done.

That was the original failure that got me to this point: the power supply ignored its L input and turned the beam on at whatever power the PWM signal on the IN terminal called for. Having that happen was surprising, having it happen with the cabinet lid open was … disturbing.

The P input is intended for the Water Protect signal from the flow sensor on the laser cooling plumbing. When the water is flowing, the IN terminal will be low and the power supply will pay attention to the L input.

The power supply arrived with a jumper between the P input and the G ground / common terminal:

OMTech 60W HV power supply – Water Protect jumper

The jumper holds the P input low = active, meaning the power supply thinks the water is always flowing.

It turns out that the Water Protect signal goes only to the controller. When it’s inactive = no water flowing, the controller will refuse to fire the laser and also sound an alarm. Running the signal directly to the power supply would result in a puzzling failure-to-fire with no diagnostic from the controller.

I removed that jumper and added a (green) wire from the Lid Interlock signal at the controller:

OMTech KT332 controller – Lid Interlock input – added wire

To the power supply’s P input:

OMTech 60W HV power supply – Water Protect as Lid Interlock

In principle, if this power supply fails the same way as the previous one (with its L input always active), then at least it won’t fire with the lid up.

Believing that may display a childish naivety, but at least the thing seems marginally safer than it was before.

2022-08-17
Discrete LM3909: Drain ‘Em Dry

Given that I put them into a gadget intended to use partially dead alkaline cells, the “05” date on the cells, and that it’s been blinking since last November, I cannot complain when this happens:

Discrete LM3907 – leaky Duracells – as found

I might just fill the battery holder with vinegar and let it fizz for a while:

Discrete LM3907 – leaky Duracells – corrosion traces

Even my simple discrete LM3909 circuit can blink a blue LED from a battery producing under 1 V, but those cells were flat dead. Gotta look over there more often, I suppose.

2022-08-15
Newmowa NP-BX1: Video Duration vs Charge

Having run the Newmowa NP-BX1 batteries through my old Sony HDR-AS30V helmet camera a few times, a plot seemed in order:

Newmowa NP-BX1 video duration vs charge

The cluster of dots shows most of our rides last about an hour.

The line is an eyeballometrical fit, slightly coerced to pass through the origin because that’s where it should go.

The 9.1 mA·hr/min slope is in reasonable agreement with past results, given different batteries and charger. The Keweisi meter emerged first from the box.

Straining the hr/min dimensional nonsense out of the slope suggests the camera averages 550 mA and 1.9 W. Derating those by a few percent to account for the recharge efficiency might be in order, but they’re surely in the right ballpark.

2022-08-05
OMTech 60 W Laser: Replacement HV Power Supply Waveforms
While I had the hatch open, I thought it would be interesting to look at the HV supply’s current waveforms:

HV laser power supply – current probe setup

The Tek current probe over on the right measures return current through the cathode wire, the point in the circuit where you might be tempted to install an ordinary analog (moving-coil) panel milliammeter, oriented so (conventional) current returning from the tube will produce a positive voltage.

Unfortunately, an analog meter isn’t up to displaying anything meaningful for this nonsense:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 50 ms 10 pct pulse

Admittedly, that’s a 50 ms pulse, during which an analog meter would barely twitch. The vertical scale is 5 mA/div, so the highest peaks exceed 35 mA, more than twice the tube’s recommended “14-15 mA”.

A closer look at the pulse startup waveform:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 50 ms 10 pct pulse – detail

It sure looks like the chaotic current through a forced neon-bulb relaxation oscillator. Remember neon bulbs?

An even closer look:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 50 ms 10 pct pulse – tight detail

That’s at 10% PWM, close to the threshold below which the laser just won’t fire at all. The power supply must ramp up to produce enough voltage to fire the tube while simultaneously limiting the current to prevent the discharge from sliding down the negative resistance part of its curve.

Apparently this supply isn’t quite up to the task.

A 10 ms pulse at 50% PWM gives the supply enough time to stabilize the current:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 10 ms 50 pct pulse

The 14-ish mA at the tail end of the pulse (note the baseline offset) matches my previous 13 to 14 mA measurements as closely as seems reasonable. That 2 ms of hash on the leading edge suggests the start of each cut or engraving line will be a bit darker than you might expect.

Another 10 ms pulse, this time at 99% PWM:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 10 ms 99 pct pulse

The peak 24-ish mA matches the previous measurements. Note that the peaks in all the previous pictures exceed the 99% PWM current level.

AFAICT, all PWM values below about 25% produce equivalent results: random current spikes with unpredictable timing and amplitude. Changing the PWM value does not affect the (average) tube current or laser output power in any predictable way.

Some samples to illustrate the point, starting with a different 50 ms pulse at 10% PWM than the first one up above:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 50 ms 10 pct

A 50 ms pulse at 15% PWM:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 50 ms 15 pct

A 50 ms pulse at 20% PWM:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 50 ms 20 pct

A 50 ms pulse at 25% PWM:

HV laser power supply – 5 mA-div – 50 ms 25 pct

Now, that last one is different. After the hash during the first 8 ms or so, the power supply actually produces a stable 5 mA beam current, which is roughly what I measured using the power supply’s meter.

However, the other three are pretty much identical: the 10% PWM pulse does not delivers half as energy as the 20% PWM pulse. The waveforms may be different, but not in a meaningful or consistent way: the two 50 ms 10% pulses are different, but you’d (well, I’d) have trouble separating them from the 20% pulse.

To summarize:
- The first several millisconds of any pulse will consist of randomly distributed spikes with very large tube currents.
- For PWM values greater than 25%, the tube current will settle down to the corresponding current after 5 to 10 ms. Before the current settles down, the tube will be firing those random spikes.
- For PWM values less than 25%, the tube current never settles down: the entire pulse, no matter how long, will be short, high-intensity spikes, without a consistent DC-ish level.
No matter what an analog meter might show.

I have no way to know if this power supply is defective, but I’ll certainly ask …
2022-08-04