Preventing & Recovering From A Head Crash

If certain conditions are met in the settings, design and workflow of the project the z axis could react unexpectedly. It's best not to enable Z Axis control in the software until you have a good grasp of the operations of this feature.

If the bed components are not placed or seated correctly, or if they are out of calibration or adjustment, this can cause a variety of issues and possibly a head crash.

To utilize the auto-focus, the nozzle distance is determined by the stop ring around the lens tube. Here is how to re-calibrate this ring:

The auto-focus system was primarily designed for the stock 2" head. The 4" head, for instance, is much longer and the focal gap is 10mm. It is recommended to only auto-focus with the stock 2" head and manually focus other optics arrangements.

There are rare instances where a system failure or other anomaly can cause a crash. For instance, if you were using your longer 4" head and you had a brownout, when the systems cycle and come to ready the bed could move to a position that is safe for the stock lens but causes the 4" head to drag through the honeycomb while homing x, y, and z on start-up.

You may be able to release the tension at the lens tube as shown in the video below:

Perform this with the machine powered off and unplugged from the wall.

Manually move the Z axis belt by hand to lower the honeycomb out of the jam/bind with the laser head.

• Check Head and Y axis bearing tension — Checking And Adjusting Bearing Tension
• Check that the laser tube receiver is tight and in the right position. It is held on with three bolts
• Check the Y Axis Verticality — Nova X and Y Verticality Adjustment
• For the 2" head, check that the stop ring is still in place for an auto focus — Calibrating The Stock 2″ Head To The Autofocus For Nova Series
• Check your laser Alignment — How to Align your Thunder Laser Nova Series machine - Quick Start Alignment Guide