Laser Board Sparks When I Plug In the Power

[Kleake (Kendall Leake)]

Machine: K40 - Replaced with a LaserBoard Full Size

Board: LaserBoard Full Size

Firmware: Smoothie

Problem: Whenever I plug in the power cord into the board it sparks, I assume this is not good for any of the components in the machine. Is there something wrong with the board, or power supply that came with the board?

[Xanvier (Cliff Bryans)]

The sparks are due to the large inrush current as the capacitors charge on the board. It is expected behavior and to prevent it you can plug the power brick in after you plug in the board.

[Cohesion3D]

Yep. Recently covered here:

AC Adaptor Sparking (Board side)

Some sparks just when plugging in an already energized power brick to the DC Jack on the LaserBoard is a known behavior. There is a surge of current required when the board first comes on as the capacitors charge, etc. I typically leave the board DC connector plugged in and unplug the power brick cable from the wall outlet if I need to turn the board off after a work session, and plug in the AC cable last when turning the board back on.

[Kleake (Kendall Leake)]

Ok, thank you, I will do that. I just wanted to make sure.