Inconsistent engraving help!

[TechGuy (Brian)]

I am not sure what is happening here. It seems ever since going to the latest version of lightburn my engraving became inconsistent. Im losing details, the same settings that once produced a consistent result no longer do. Some of the engraving is black other parts it is brown. Some areas look fuzzy others do not.

I have tried all sorts of different settings:
Speeding up the laser , slowing it down increasing DPI. But the end result is still inconsitent.

I have a 130Watt Co2 Laser, Ruida controller, RECI tube. With 63.5mm laser tube.

I have aligned my 3rd mirror perfectly. I have cleaned all my mirrors even the lens on the end of my laser tube and even changed out my focus lens. I also leveled my bed as it was off 1mm on the right front corner. Nothing has helped improve it.

I do have new mirrors on the way as they are approx. 2 years old but I doubt this is the problem as I havent even run 40 sheets of 5’ x 5’ plywood through it in the time I have owned the machine. Its not like it has had heavy usage.

The only thing thats changed is the lightburn software to the latest version since the last time i ran this file (the originals).

I have a craft fair in 2 weeks and need consistent engravings any help is greatly appreciated!

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[TechGuy (Brian)]

I did a material test. Same exact piece of wood, same laser paper, SAME EXACT TEST
2 different versions of the software
1.5.06 vs 1.6.03

The results speak for themselves, there is a problem with version 1.6.03 and maybe 1.6 in general.

The lines are rougher and not as close together in the newer version.

[jkwilborn (Jack Wilborn)]

What does the beam look like coming out of the tube?

Post a photo of the spot, not a hole… it should be light enough to show the power distribution over the tubes beam. This will check the tubes resonance mode. If it’s fine, we can move on.