Here is how the machine arrived
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Here is the machine after I rewired it
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Of course I also went through the machine and rewired all of the Power, common and ground wires. I do not like seeing Daisy Chained power sources which all of these were. This actually cleaned the wires up quiet a bit. I also verified that all of the connections were snug and tight and cleaned up the wiring from its original installation. In the end, I ended up with a gallon zip lock bag full of wires that were replaced or were trimmed down to remove excess wire that was just cluttering the wire tracks.
I removed the connector for the rotary axis and wired the Y axis straight into the driver. I will be adding another driver for the Rotary (A) axis. The small stepper drivers used in this machine, can be found on Amazon for a mere $25. If you look at the Ruida controller, it has two terminal blocks un-used on the right side. The top one is for a second laser PSU for Dual-Head cutters. The other empty terminal block is designated for the Rotary (A) Axis.
I also relocated the DIN-Rail power plug for the TP-Link and the fast and slow DIN-Rail fuse blocks.
In the Second photo of my rewire, the EMI Filter is not connected. This original EMI filter is not large enough to power the 220v upgraded system. I upgraded this EMI Filter with a larger unit and located it on the floor of the electronics compartment.
I also added all of the grey wire tracks that are seen throughout the unit. I purchased a 6’ raceway and used all 6’ in the machine.
Here is the Most Significant part of the rewire.
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The 220v power comes in from the Panel on the back of the machine, the metal flexible conduit can be seen at the bottom of the compartment. As can be seen the metal straps keep it firmly fixed in place, these are placed along the length of the conduit. Where the wire comes out of the conduit, I wrapped enough black tape around the cable to keep it firmly in place and extremely snug where it exits the conduit. Heat shrink was applied to help clean up the final product and and keep everything clean and tight.
The Yellow cable is for the TP-Link that I will be replacing since the factory supplied unit was only in Mandarin/Chinese.
This was my first experience using DIN rail and DIN rail Components. I am Sold on them now and will be using them many many many more times in the future.
The first thing on the DIN rail was an endstop. Beside it is the power supply for the TP-Link.
Next are two DIN rail Ground Terminal blocks. This is where the Ground first connects inside of the machine.
amazon.com
ASI ASIUSLKG2.5 Din Rail Mounted Ground Circuit Connection Terminal Block, Screw Clamp (Pack of 50): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
The ASI ASIUSLKG2.5N is a DIN rail mounted screw clamp ground circuit terminal block with the housing molded in the internationally accepted colors of green and yellow to signify that this is a ground …
$83.52
The RED, BLACK and White White are connected to the 3-Pole circuit breaker. This is the MAIN POWER SWITCH. I can lock the compartment and no one can power up the machine without getting to this switch first. Keeps the machine from being used without my knowledge. With all three wires connected to the Circuit Breaker, when the power is switched off, the Common wire is also disconnected from the machine. I did this for protection from Lightning strikes or other electrical spikes being back fed through this wire when the power has been switched off.
I added 2 LED voltage meters, Line 1 and Line 2. At a quick glance I know how much voltage is coming in and the amount of amps being consumed on each line.
Each Power Line also has its own Slow Blow Fuse and a Fast Blow Fuse connected one after the other on each line.
When the Power wires exit both sets of fuses they are connected to the EMI Filter.
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After the EMI Filter, the wires go to DIN Rail mounted Power Distribution Blocks. I absolutely love this method of distributing the power. It is extremely clean and efficient. I need to replace the jumpers on the RED and BLACK blocks, I had misplaced the original jumpers like the one in the WHITE distribution block and I had to use the 2-pole jumpers to link the blocks. I put them somewhere safe so that I would not lose them and then couldn’t find them, I had put them in such a safe place, that I couldn’t even find them. I had to order more from the manufacturer.
For the Ground Blocks I used the same ones as mentioned earlier. These do not link to one another like the others. These actually lock onto the DIN rail making it the grounding bar. I attached the DIN rail to the Ground lug on the power panel that connects to the grounding rod outside the house.
The final 3 blocks of the distribution block is for power activating the SSR-40’s and the cooling fans
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I also added Voltage meter for the stepper driver PSU. This meter was not necessary but for $13, it did not come at a high expense. I also wanted to add a 4th unit for the Laser PSU, however Amazon was sold out at the time so I had to settle for the odd ball unit shown here. In the end, this was actually very beneficial. I connected this unit to the Laser PSU. With this unit I can keep track of the hours that the laser has actually been in use. This will help me with maintenance scheduling and life time of the Laser Tube itself. Blessing in Disguise. lol.
On the end, you can see the ground wire that grounds the DIN rail to the Ground Lug on the rear Power Panel
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I am very happy with how clean the new wiring came out.
I also reworked the Y-axis Stepper wires and LED light wires and the 24v homing switch. These wires were ran through holes in metal without grommets and some holes even had ragged sharp edges and burrs.
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As can also be seen, I tried to run the wires connected to the Laser Tube so that they are as far away from the metal cabinet as possible and as clean as possible.
