Many issues with new Snapmaker Ray

Snapmaker Ray
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1

Hi, I am new to the Snapmaker community and I am looking for some help getting up and running. I just assembled the Snapmaker Ray 40W and I am having several issues. I am in contact with Snapmaker Support, but as their hours are over night for me that is very slow and unhelpful so far. I really like the quality of the machine and I am very excited to use it. Also to note: I do not have an enclosure (yet). I have been working with Lighburn and a Ortur Laser for a while so I am not totally new to this. I have been digging through the on line resources and keep running into dead ends.

Here are my issues in no particular order:

I can get the machine to connect to Lightburn and move the tool head around. I did have to download and install the configuration file for Lightburn to see the Snapamker. I tried to cut a square out of a piece of paper at 700 mm/m and 100%. It runs as expected but there is not even a mark on the paper. I can turn the laser with the ā€œFireā€ button and see a laser dot and I also have the cross hairs.

I can not connect to Luban. I expect Luban and Lightburn may be trying to use the same port so I make sure to not have both programs open at the same time, I have even restarted the computer to try to connect to Luban but the only thing I see in the Connection drop down is ā€œ/dev/tty.usbserial 240ā€ It will not connect to the machine and that is the only item in the drop down, refresh does not show anything more.

I was able to update the firmware on the Snapmaker Ray and that seemed to work, however today when I turn it on I get a flashing red light on the controller. There seems to be several possible reasons for this, one being the limit switch but itā€™s centered in the work area.
beyond that when trying to use the laser with Lightburn it keeps pushing the tool head to the limit switch as if it does not know where itā€™s starting from, I am looking for advice to home the machine. Setting the Origin point is not working either. I can set it, but the machine will not move there when I try to return to origin.

Thank you if you have read up to this point! Any help is appreciated.
Rich

2

Hey, welcome to the community!

I have very little experience with Ray because 2.0 user.

Here is a wiki troubleshooting which suggests what I was thinking.
With the ray comes a more powerful laser than 10W (I assume 20 or 40W) and these are not able to be powered without closed enclosure.

No enclosure means no fire in this case.
This is your main problem I think.

https://wiki.snapmaker.com/en/snapmaker_ray/troubleshooting/red_light_warning

Here is the how to connect, maybe you could choose the same port as lightburn?
https://wiki.snapmaker.com/en/Snapmaker_Luban/manual/connect_with_machine_via_serial_port

You should be able to home the machine if you enter $H in the terminal

Auto Home

  • The following command can be used to go home.
$H

Have a look at the source for more information:
https://wiki.snapmaker.com/en/Snapmaker_Luban/manual/ray_supported_gcode_references

1 Like
3

xchrisd,

Thank you for the reply. I mention that I do not have an enclosure, but I can not find anywhere that says the enclosure is required for Ray including the documentation that came with it, and they are sold separately. I will continue to look into this as it seems to make the most sense.

I have looked into all the listed reasons for the red light. Itā€™s odd because it was not an issue, I updated the firmware, again was not an issue until yesterday when I turned it on. Itā€™s in the center of the work area. The laser appears to be installed correctly, at least no different than the previous day. Key is in and on, chirps as expected when cycled. There is no flame and itā€™s not working so I wonder if there is a false positive.

Thank you for the advice on homing. If I get it connected again I will try that.

4

At the release of the higher power lasers have read somewhere itā€™s needed for security (in Europe?).

Maybe some other ray users jump in and could help.

Please keep us updated!

5

I only use Luban, so I canā€™t speak about settings for other programs, however the laser being on and not doing anything sounds like a power setting issue. We usually have this in Luban when it detects an open enclosure door, so it powers the laser down for safety reasons. There may be a setting causing this in your other programs.
The cross hairs should come on whenever the machine is powered buy idle. Itā€™s for lining things manually up like your origin, but will go off when cutting etc. Luban compensates for the crosshair offset, I donā€™t know about the others.
With your connection issue, are you connecting via Wifi? If so, the machine and your computer have to be on the same Wifi channel. It helps to set your IP addresses manually and fix them so there are no conflicts with other devices, (Sometimes happens).

That red flashing LED may be a limit switch trip. It is usually accompanied by a beep from the machine, (and a pop up warning in Luban). I donā€™t how an origin is set in Luban, so canā€™t help there.

Perhaps try firing up Luban and see if the machine responds/cuts as it should, Then you know that your problems are just Settings in other programs.

6

So a small update: while the controller blinks red every time itā€™s turned on, one difference is there is no laser at all now. This is the first time connecting to Lightburn since the flashing red light. I assumed if I canā€™t get it to connect with Luban I wasnā€™t going to get any further. I do still have the cross hair. Also I can control it with Lightburn. Thank you xchrisd for the help homing it.

So no laser output at this point and can not connect to Luban.

Thank you all for the comments.

7

When you first started the machine, did you connect to Luban via cable and update the FW etc?
And I mean connect via cable, not just update via USB key.

8

Yes, I am connected to the Ray with the USB cable. I updated the FW with the micro SD card.

9

Hey Rich

Look for door/enclosure disable in (luban) settings, Iā€™m guessing same for Lightburn.

I havent switched on my ray yet and the comment about it not working without the enclosure got me sweating!
Ive been weeks building my own and nearly finished, Just waiting for safety screen perspex from Germany and eyeware.

I have a feeling your Homing issue may be settings related also(x/y).

You know about cycling the machine if moving between Luban/Lightburn! Have you tried manually inputting choice of ā€˜Portā€™ details and you have a good usb cableā€¦just hints Iā€™ve read from general laser issues on forums.

Also setting your work area so module does not hit the limitsā€¦like a couple of mm less and your ok

Good luck!

10

Hi, Thanks for the reply. Since I am unable to connect to Luban I am not able to disable the enclosure setting. I was able to home the machine with the $H command. I will look into manually changing the port!

I finally was able to get some time with tech support. They had me run some console commands in Lightburn and I was able to do everything except turn on the laser. With the flashing red light on the controller and not connecting to Luban tech support suspect a faulty part and had me send more info pulled from console inputs in Lightburn.

Tech support is only available during business hours in China, which is very frustrating, that is over night for me. However they were friendly and spoke very clear English which made the experience much better than expected. They also followed up with an email as expected.

While I am disappointed and expect this to take at least another week I am still hopeful this will be resolved.

11

Its good to be patient with this stuff for sure, I started looking into machine choice six or seven months ago at least and still havent lasered anything, but I have gained a broad understanding of problems, limitations etc etc.

I find SM Support friendly and helpful alsoā€¦even with the timezone differenceā€¦

I decided to use only lightburn to avoid any confusion and find their forum amazing for information and laser knowledge, but I wish there were more ray users around both here and there.

As with solving the homing issue, all other issues will be solved by experience and practice. I hope there are no parts replacement issues, but that should not be a big deal either once identified.

I know the information is all in the documentation and wiki etc but also, I found AI search engine (brave) helps me zone in on answers pretty quickā€¦until the learning is retained.

I opted for the 20w and IR1064 2w.

Keep us updated as to how you proceed as its helpful to everyone.

Regards

Peter

12

The 20/40w should Work with ray since they sell this Combination without any hint it is Not working.
I know they have the limitations with Artisan, but it is documented in the Shop. No hint for 2.0/ray.

13

Did you ever had a look at the gcodes?
https://wiki.snapmaker.com/en/Snapmaker_Luban/manual/ray_supported_gcode_references

View Error Code

  • The following command can be used to view the error code information defined in Ray.
$E
Error Examples

0: No error
1: Expected GCodecommand letter
2: Bad GCode number format
3: Invalid $ statement
4: Negative value
5: Setting disabled
6: Step pulse too short
7: Failed to read settings
8: Command requires idle state
9: GCode cannot be executed in lock or alarm state
10: Soft limit error
11: Line too long
12: Max step rate exceeded
13: Check door
14: Startup line too long
15: Max travel exceeded during jog
16: Invalid jog command
17: Laser mode requires PWM output
18: No Homing/Cycle defined in settings
20: Unsupported GCode command
21: Gcode modal group violation
22: Gcode undefined feed rate
23: Gcode command value not integer
24: Gcode axis command conflict
25: Gcode word repeated
26: Gcode no axis words
27: Gcode invalid line number
28: Gcode value word missing
29: Gcode unsupported coordinate system
30: Gcode G53 invalid motion mode
31: Gcode extra axis words
32: Gcode no axis words in plane
33: Gcode invalid target
34: Gcode arc radius error
35: Gcode no offsets in plane
36: Gcode unused words
37: Gcode G43 dynamic axis error
38: Gcode max value exceeded
39: P param max exceeded
60: Failed to mount device
61: Failed to read
62: Failed to open directory
63: Directory not found
64: File empty
65: File not found
66: Failed to open file
67: Device is busy
68: Failed to delete directory
69: Failed to delete file
70: Bluetooth failed to start
71: WiFi failed to start
80: Number out of range for setting
81: Invalid value for setting
90: Failed to send message
100: Failed to store setting
101: Failed to get setting status
110: Authentication failed!
120: Another interface is busy
130: Jog Cancelled

You can even configure the network parameters for wifi:

Configure Network Parameters

  • Using the command format provided in the example, Combining network-related knowledge, you can configure the network parameters.
$Sta/SSID=snapmaker
$Sta/Password=12345678
$Sta/IPMode=DHCP
$Sta/IP=0.0.0.0
$Sta/Gateway=0.0.0.0
$Sta/Netmask=0.0.0.0
14

xchrisd

Thanks for the link. Have you come across any video that would assist as an introduction to G code examples and how to write instructions.

Are the settings adjustments (screens) where we adjust for example speed & power, simply more convenient than looking through and changing lines of code?

15

Success!! ā€¦mostly

The laser works and itā€™s awesome, you DO NOT need an enclosure. Having said that the controller initially IS looking for one. So that is why the controller would only let me ā€œFireā€ the laser at a low power at first. I updated the firmware and the behavior changed where I had no laser at all and a blinking red light.

SnapMaker support sent me the command to have the controller not look for the enclosure: M2000 W5 P1 Q0

Also I highly recommend the enclosure. Even with the certified glasses there was diffused laser light I could see. Considering the damage it can do I suggest all the safety possible here.

I still can not connect to Luban.

So now I need to learn how to actually use it. My Ortur would always have to start from Home and I am used to that. I need to learn how best to position the work piece so it lands where I expect it and I am not running the tool head into the limits.

Thank you all and I will update again if I figure out the Luban issue.

1 Like
16

Join the Facebook Ray Forum. We encourage people to post settings and techniques there so you can pick up a few tips and tricks.

17

Hey Rich

Good news!

This is from the snapmaker wiki:-

Snapmaker Luban via the serial port

You can establish a serial-port connection between the machine and Luban using the USB cable. This guide applies for Snapmaker Artisan, 2.0, Ray and J1/J1s.

Before You Start

Make sure you have installed the CH340 Driver on your computer. If you havenā€™t, please click the appropriate link below based on the operating system of the computer.

Windows
macOS

I just copy pasted that so the links arenā€™t live but you can find it no problem, or have you already read that but there is some other reason for not connecting?

Absolutely right about the safety aspect btw.

1 Like
18

I joined Snapmaker Ray FB group and posted on Jan 9th about these issues. Not a single comment or interaction and itā€™s still the most recent post, is there another Ray group?

19

There is some Snapmaker & Ray info on ā€˜Lightburn forumā€™, but I can guarantee youā€™ll get/find all the info you can handle on general laser facts and issues which is relatableā€¦as well as creative ideas etc etc.
Those people really know their stuff and newbies are most welcome.

If you have something to ask, just make sure you provide your laser make, model, power(output), screenshots of settings and pics of what the issue looks like if its work quality related. If your vague in description theyā€™ll be vague in reply.

1 Like
20

I dont understand what you are trying to say.
There is grbl gcode which you need to home, like written before.
Or even custom gcode to deactivate the enclosure.
This is nothing you have to change in your gcode file, yes you can but this is not common.