Article·5 min

Troubleshoot Dross Buildup for xTool MetalFab CNC Cutter

For a faster troubleshooting experience, use the interactive troubleshooting guide.

If a more detailed explanation of each step is preferred, you may continue reading the article below.

Issue description

If dross appears (metal debris or molten stuff adhering to the bottom of the processed material) even when you adopt xTool's recommended settings in XCS to cut materials, please follow this troubleshooting guide or the tutorial video to resolve this issue.

Processed material with dross

Normal cutting result

Tutorial video

Possible causes

  • Improper gas supply: The assist gas suffers low pressure or poor purity, affecting the efficiency of slag removal and the laser cutting capability.
  • Power attenuation: The reflector is contaminated or the optical path is misaligned, resulting in power attenuation.
  • Incorrect focal position: The focus setting is wrong, leading to reduced energy concentration on the material surface.

Detailed procedure

Step 1: Check if the processing conditions meet the requirements

  1. Refer to Troubleshoot Incomplete Cutting with Recommended Parameters for xTool MetalFab CNC Cutter to ensure that the shielding gas, lens protector, laser focus position, and optical path meet the requirements.
  2. If this does not resolve the issue, proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Adjust the defocus amount

  1. Determine the type of dross on the material.

Hard dross

Soft dross

Layered sections

  1. Adjust the defocus amount according to the type of dross.

 

For hard dross

For soft dross and layered sections

Possible cause

The focus position is too high.

The focus position is too low.

Solution

Lift the cutting tip by rotating the knob on the right downwards.

For example, if the current defocus amount is -2, adjust it to -3.

Lower the cutting tip by rotating the knob on the right upwards.

For example, if the current defocus amount is -2, adjust it to -1.

Related video





  1. If the issue still persists, please prepare a video recording your troubleshooting process and results and contact xTool Customer Service for further assistance.

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