I have a nasty issue with something presumably related to a backlash but I do not think it actually is a backlash issue but I’m running out of ideas. If I cut different circles with different starting points they have an offset between the start and the end point, here are several examples, all circles in a line are cut from the left to the right in one job. After changing some settings (first I have tinkered with the backlash settings of the RuiDa controller) and after that I have changed the tension of the x belts and lastly of the y belts. I also have tested it with different speeds (most of them are cut with 45mm/s) but they look all the same (tested with 20mm/s up to 100mm/s).
Only the first circle has always still the offset, regardless of the laserhead position before I start the job (I moved the laserhead on several places on my table and then started the job - all the same outcome).
So my last hope is now that anyone here might have had such an issue before and can point me to the right direction. I have also realigned my whole machine, tested with different speeds, tinkered with belt-tensions and so on. All with no avail.
we are running into similar issues so I am tagging along on your topic.
What size work area do you have? We started thinking of our big bed and axis (3mtrs of belt per axis) there is to much stretch / slack in there…
thank you very much for your reply! I have just tested the “Hide Backlash” option and here is the result, the upper circles are without this option enabled and the shifted ones below them are with this option enabled.
The difference is quite remarkable! So thank you very much for all your efforts and very good work with LightBurn!
So now what would be the solution? Obviously I do have a backlash issue. My x-belt is about 2.3m long and I never got any improvements with the backlash optimizations in my RuiDa controller, it completely messes with my cutting shapes if enabled (that’s why I thought it must be something else then backlash).
Do I just always keep this option on and keep my setup as it is? Or should I tighten my belts even more, I find them already very tight, so tight that the setscrews are marking the inner side of my belts.
It’s actually possible to have the belts too tight, which can make the motion of that axis stick a little bit, so reducing the tension might help, but you’ll have to try it to see if it improves or makes it worse.
With an axis that long, it’s possible that this is just the natural amount of flex from the belts. I don’t have much experience with large machines.
The Hide Backlash option is fine to leave on - it will limit the other options you can set in the optimizations, but it doesn’t hurt anything to leave it enabled.
