Calibrate the floating cutting head¶
FTC calibration establishes the relationship between the capacitive height signal and the real sheet surface. A successful dialog alone is not proof: the nozzle, ceramic, cable, material contact, and sheet conditions must also be healthy.
Keep emission disabled
Calibration needs motion and sensing, not laser output. Keep hands and tools out of the head path. Be ready to stop normal motion if the nozzle descends without recognizing the sheet.
Before calibration¶
- Use clean, flat, bare conductive sheet with a reliable electrical relationship to the machine bed.
- Remove film, heavy rust, paint, insulating scale, or debris under the test point.
- Fit a clean, round, undamaged nozzle and intact ceramic; verify the nozzle is tight and centered as specified.
- Inspect the head signal connector/cable for looseness, contamination, damage, or pinching.
- Place the head over clear supported sheet—never over a slat gap, cutout, clamp, or loose offcut.
- Confirm the correct head/source configuration is active in mLaser.
Run the documented calibration¶
Open the FTC/head calibration function in the mLaser version supplied for your machine. Follow the on-screen sequence without changing advanced values copied from another machine. Watch the nozzle travel throughout. The head should approach consistently, detect the sheet, complete the expected movement, and report a stable successful result.
Stop if it continues downward, touches heavily, hunts, reports a signal-wire alarm, or produces an implausible value. Use the normal stop/E-stop appropriate to the immediate risk; do not catch the head by hand.
Prove the result¶
After a successful calibration:
- jog over several supported points on the same sheet with output disabled;
- command the normal approach/stand-off behavior;
- verify the head does not drift, bounce, or touch;
- run a no-emission frame across the actual job area;
- repeat after moving to material with a different surface condition if behavior changes.
If calibration fails¶
Work from the physical layer inward:
- Clean/replace a damaged nozzle and inspect the ceramic.
- Move to clean, flat, electrically conductive material over a supported area.
- Reseat accessible signal connections only with the machine safely isolated.
- Inspect the cable route for pinch, break, or intermittent behavior while moving—without opening service enclosures unless qualified.
- Restart the control/software only after recording the exact alarm and current state.
- If the FTC signal-wire alarm remains, use the FTC alarm guide and send Gweike the model, serial, software version, photos, exact message, and the steps that reproduce it.
Never bridge the signal, disable the collision/height function, or use a service password from a copied manual screenshot to force a cut.