@andy Thanks for the video on the laser install.
Watching it made me wonder whether it might make sense for me to add one or two pairs of 18 AWG cable and some slack to the drag chain during the build. Does adding a laser just require a single pair? Any reason not to add two extra pairs for potential future use while setting everything up? Assuming it can easily be zip tied neatly and safely out of the way on both ends?
-Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Your laser will probably need one pair for the power going to the laser itself and one pair for the fan.
You can probably share a ground (3 wires instead of 4) if you need to, but I just went and extended all of the wires.
If you’re planning on adding a laser, then sure, might save you some extra time to put the wires in during the build, but putting the wires in after the build only took a few minutes anyway so I wouldn’t stress too much if you don’t end up putting it in during the build.
Best,
Andy
When I assembled my longmill I ran a four conductor cable along with the other wires. This would be used to add a laser at a later date. I used 16 gauge wire because this is what I had in the shop.
A suggestion for folks assembling in the future… Run an Ethernet cable with a few feet left on the table end in the drag chain during build. It has 4 pairs, 8 wires, which is ideal for connecting inductive sensors mounted on the XZ…