Hi, i bought Lightburn after a start up with Lite Fire/Engraver with a diode laser 5,5 watt. The main problem is about the size between the screen and the print/engrave object. Size should be 10 centimeters but is get only something about 3,5 centimer as a result. other problem is the laser power, 100% is not what i get, it stops at 65% level strange enough. Who knows what the reason for this problem is.
First make sure that the size of your workspace is indeed what you expect it to be and that your units are correct.
Next check your Machine Settings and make sure that $13 is set to 0. If it’s not, then switch this to 0.
Assuming these aren’t a problem it’s likely that your “steps per mm” setting in GRBL is not calibrated. These are defined in $100, $101, $102 for X, Y, Z respectively.
You can tune this with Calibrate Axis functionality in Machine Settings or you can calculate it manually. What values are you showing for $100 and $101?
Suggest you burn as large a square as you can. Then compare expected size vs actual size. Use that to calibrate your axes. Repeat the calibration to make sure or fine tune the calibration.
How do you know you are getting 65%? What are you basing that on?
Hi,
$13=0 $100 and $101 = 100.000 I follow the 3018 set up of james dean youtube, the result is the same problem, a square on screen with dimensions 11 x 16 centimeters is on the laser 2,7 x 4 centimeters.
In lite Fire( Engraver) i can change the laser power from 0 to 100%. It is not a very well program because we had the same problem with the dimensions between screen and laser result. I want to buy a Creality Falcon 10 wat but i first want to know how Light burn works and if it fits my targets. I’m a model builder so i want to cut and engrave. I also tried the diferent machine setting, older version and so on.
Hi, thanks , i follow the instructions but it went wrong in the communication with the laser/3018. The laser follow some commands out of Light burn but Light Burn didn’t regognize the laser as a GRBL strange enough.
Try changing $100 and $101 to 25. I’m basing this on the measurements you’ve provided.
Test and report back please.
Even then, what in LightBurn gives the impression it only goes to 65%? Are you not able to set Power in Cut Settings to 100%?
Can you Save gcode with a .txt extension and post here?
How can i fix the value’s in the console list as you said? I see a command line but the old one is still there
2 options:
- Make the change in Machine Settings
- In Console entry field type each command and press enter:
$100=25
$101=25
Yes. That’s fine.
A few comments:
- Disable “clustering” in Device Settings. Your laser needs special support for this to work.
- As far as I can see LightBurn is asking for 100% power.
Can you check Device Settings and make sure S Value Max is also set to 1000?
I noticed you’re using user origin for your “Start from” mode in Laser window. You may want to stick to Absolute Coords until you’re very familiar with how your laser and LightBurn work as others can be a little confusing.
Hi, here we are again. Settings as you told. Made a square 28x16 centimeters. Result a fat burned square 1,8 x 1 centimeter. I bought this laser in 2019, had the same dimension problem but after a while we made large formats and burned on this way a lot of figures in teakwood sizes. Playing with the laser power a bit and it works. Not the way it should be. In the Engraver software i could see a preview with a 6% laserpoint which shows me the real size of the print. The ratio of the figures had the same problems, a printsize of something like 20x20 centimeters do i have to make by 120 centimeters in square to get the format. We made a lot oif prints so far but now it is time to get a better solution. We choose for Light Burn because of the Falcon 10w machine of Creality. Light Burn has a different way of working, that is not the problem so far, the problem is i think the calibration of the laser in my configuration. Sorry for my language, i have to translate this to dutch language of where i live. I hope we can find it because it takes a lot of time and that is not what we prefer.
Do i need a driver for this?, i looked for other mainboards but i didn’t get the idea they are better as mine.
For the calibration i use $100 and $101? At least the S Value Max setting, where can i find that?
Some things about to know: $100=200.000 and also $101 give a square of 8x14. So some higher to 250.00 for both the first time a bigger square and the second run gives some errors on the Y-motor/position The laserhead doesn’t went back to the startposition. Overall the speed was also rising up.
Try setting $100 and $101 to 400 and retest please.
Go to Edit->Device Settings to see this.
S Value Max setting means Speed? I reset the language to englisch in prg. What happens with 400 on the $100/101 First time laser moves in high speed to upper right and then a lot of noises out of the stepmotors, it looks if the Y is set in reverse. Head moves back to starting point. Second run is drama, lot of noises in X and Y motors, some moving passes and then it stops on somewhere on the board. Nothing seems like the Square it should shown.
No. It’s the value LightBurn will use to represent the max value for laser power. It should match the value of $30 in GRBL settings. This setting is unrelated to $100 and $101.
This should not have affected speed directly and does not affect motor direction.
I’ve looked at your Console output and a few things I’m noticing:
- Your GRBL version is very old. This could explain the issues with power. It doesn’t even list some settings used like $30 for max power . Can you confirm that your laser can modulate power at all? I feel like it should be on or off only.
- Because of the old version of GRBL you need to change your device profile for your laser.
Push “Devices” button in Laser window. Then click the name of your laser and then hit Edit. Choose GRBL-M3 for the device type. Leave other settings unchanged. - After that, in Device Settings make sure that “Cluster mode” is disabled.
- Let’s revert back the $100, $101 changes and start again. Run these commands in Console:
$100=100
$101=100
- Make a 100mm x 100mm square in LightBurn and burn. What is X dimension and Y dimension of burned square?
I made the settings as you told, $30 isn’t in the list at all. In the software Engraver Master i can put the laser power in % from 0 to 100%.
I made a 10x10 Square, it was burned in 2,5 x 2,5 centimeters. Laser started at the point were it was at that moment.
Strange enough is $30 also not in the list of Engrave Master. I checked it just
Is it maybe a better idea to buy a recent version of a motherboard? So yes, can you give me a good solution. The powerunit does have 12v to 24v settings. There is no text at the motherboard. On the laserunit is -12v visible.
Can you take a high quality photo of the MB. It’s possible you can update the firmware. Given that the board is likely designed for older hardware there may be some hardware modifications required. How are you with a soldering iron?
In this case can you set S Value Max in Device Settings to 255. That’s the default for old boards.
I feel like the old values should have been correct then. Let’s try something in the middle.
Can you run in Console:
$100=200
$101=200
I think this should create a 5x5 cm square. Can you confirm? Also, does the speed seem to change? It’s possible that your acceleration/speed settings are too high for your machine once the steps are configured.
Yep, Square dimension is 5x5 cent. Line is thicker, looks like more laser power.