Laser took wrong path

[contractpressings]

Hi Guys
We bought a second hand 3kw LVD laser just under six months ago from LVD. I programmed it with Lantek and the program path looks fine, we've done dry runs afterwards and it has run correctly since, but for some reason it took the wrong path, dipped into a hole already cut and had a very serious crash. Could someone help with why it did this and why the head sensors didn't stop the machine before the damage was done. Lvd are insinuating that it was user or program error. They are also saying that if the machine was moving fast then the sensors may not have had time to stop the laser before damage was done, can this be true? The head now has to be sent to Germany in the new year for a very expensive repair.
Thanks for any help

 

[Lasercutpaul]

From looking at your picture. It looks like you had a popup from that larger hole that caused the head to drag across the sheet making it lose it position. I have had this happen before on my Trumpf 2030 Lasers but never to where they did that much damage to the head. I do run at 550 in/min. Could it be that your DIAs measurement was off due to a dip in one of the measuring corners? What is the speed you where running at?

 

[laserdog]

If it's anything like the Amada lasers if you run in high speed mode (HS) the head will drop down in any hole because it's looking for the material. So when the head moves from one hole to the next if it runs over one that is already cut the head will drop down and clip the edge and it will look just like your picture.

 

[Lasercutpaul]

Hey laserdog. I did not know Amada lasers do that. Thanks

 

[Merrill101]

I would set your retract height to 1.5"-2". I know everybody likes seeing the laser head glide across the steel while cutting but it isn't sustainable for blue collar production runs. If you do have a Head Control like the Amada controls I would use Medium on the IDs and Standard on the OD.

 

[Foostrap]

Hi ContractPressings,
Did you purchase this machine from a third party or from LVD? Just curious as it looks like a Helius machine which has discontinued for many years? Same question for the software. Contact Lantek or LVD (whichever sold you the software) and provide the NC file that you used. They can look at the code and see if something is not correct in the code (cutting a profile twice, head retract value too small, sensing system disabled,...).

As far as the repair, I don't know who told you this, but there is no need to send anything to Germany. Based on the picture, it looks like the plastic ring (called insulation ring) is cracked or damaged. That ring is designed to take the hit when you have a severe crash (when the crash detection sensor cannot react quickly enough). The Precitec sensor screws into that plastic ring. You might be able to unscrew the sensor and screw it right back (straight) into the existing plastic ring. If the ring is in bad shape, then you may have to replace that ring. Contact LVD to get the part. That's a common stock item. I would recommend you actually keep one of those in your stock. The small orange Precitec cable is another part that is good to keep in stock. It may have gotten unplugged due to the crash.