Seven Red Flashing LED Lights on X or Y Driver on a Nova Series Laser and Laser Won't Move

Seven Red Flashing LED Lights on X or Y Driver on a Nova Series Laser and Laser Won't Move

Preface: This Article Covers what to check if you are getting seven Red Leg Light Flashes on your X or Y driver on a Nova series laser machine



The basic premise is that something is causing the Driver to not be able to move the laser head due to position error. Position error can be derived from bad cabling, hitting a hard stop, malfunctioning End Stop sensor, extra resistance in the mechanical components or a bad motor.



5 Major Components in the motion setup that can lead to this Error Condition:
Motor Driver
Motor Cabling
Motor (Rare)
Endstop (Easiest to troubleshoot and fix, most common)
Mechanical: Gearing\Belt Tension\Pulley and Bearings (Rare)
In order to clear the 7 Red flashes after performing any adjustments, you must power cycle the Driver. Powering the machine off and then back on will cycle the driver and perform a homing sequence. After you fix the issue, you should Reset the machine using the Red Reset button so that the machine can home itself properly

Questions you should answer and follow:


If I power off the machine, manually move the laser head to the middle of the bed and power up the machine, what does the laser head do?

Your Possible Answer 1: The laser head moves to home position in both the X and Y directions but then stops working in one of the directions, a loud clunk was heard:

Solution 1: Check the endstops for the direction that failed.

You can refer to this article on how to check your endstops for the X and Y axis: X and Y Endstop Tests

If the endstops check ok and you do not have to press the endstop hard to get it to trigger (refer to the video in the referenced article about an endstop that "What a Failed Limit Switch may look like" Video is here. If you have to press the arm on the endstop very hard to get it to trigger, replace the Endstop and test the power up of the machine again.


Your Possible Answer 2: The laser head moves to home position in both the X and Y directions but then stops working in one of the directions, a small clunk was heard:

Solution 2: The laser Head is not able to change directions.

This issue may be due to the laser head only traveling Left or to the back of the machine and not getting the command to change directions. This is commonly caused by a loose wire on the Direction pin. The troubleshooting for this scenario is listed in here for the X axis and here for the Y Axis.


Your Possible Answer 3: I power up the machine and the driver immediately goes to 7 Red Led Flashes without even moving
 

Solution 3a: Swap X and Y Drivers and see if the problem follows the Driver or Remains with the Motor\Cable

You will need a small phillips head screwdriver. Swap the X and Y Drivers positions. It is good to mark them before you start swapping. You will need to swap the physical position and the cabling. Your drivers may be vertical or horizontal mounted.

           
Did the problem follow the problematic driver? If so, the driver likely needs to be replaced. If the problem remained with the original axis, the issue could be with the motor and cabling.

Swap the X and Y Motor - Did the problem follow the motor? If so, the motor likely needs to be replaced. If the problem remained with the original axis, then the cable likely needs to be replaced. Email your results to support@thunderlaserusa.com.

Your Possible Answer 4: Machine powers up and the laser head homes, goes to origin. It only is faulting out while I am engraving or cutting

Most likely there is excess mechanical load or slop that is causing the axis to loose position at higher speeds

Need to check:
Motor shaft spins freely. Un -mount the motor from the motor bracket and belt, with the power off the motor, spin the output shaft several rotations and feel for resistance, locking up
Belts are not over tight - These are cog timing belts, not v-belts, they only need to be snug, not banjo tight.
Bearings are not over tight, warped, locked up. Checking And Adjusting Bearing Tension

Reference Articles:




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