Issues with my LM2 doing weird things

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving Day.

After I upgraded to the new LU2-10w on my LM2 everything was great. Now, not so much and I don’t have a clue.

I’m adding my code from LB so maybe there’s something in there that will point to something I may have wrong.

The first picture is my LB file. Christmas tree with two ornaments and two extra stars (that will get hand painted and glued on each side of the tree star.) I was trying to cut these out, then paint the board and cut the tree parts.

After the ornaments screwed up I stopped the laser and rehomed. I moved one of the ornaments to the right and it started the squggily line thing so I stopped it again. The only stars that cut where the were supposed to were the upper left stars. The lower left one was off the board a little. The graphic framed as being completely on the board before I started the laser. The other two stars were where I put them and they are where I positioned them on the board.

Here’s the code from LB from start to Frustration, I mean finish.

Waiting for connection…
ok
[AUTHOR: ORTUR]
[MODEL: Ortur Laser Master 2]
[OLF: 140]
[DATE:17:23:54 - Jan 4 2021]
[VER:1.1h.20190903:]
[OPT:VNZHI,99,254]
Target buffer size found
ok
Homing
ok
Project loaded in 7 milliseconds
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,253|FS:0,0|Pn:P|WCO:0.000,0.000,0.000>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
ok
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,253|FS:0,0|Pn:P|Ov:100,100,100|A:C>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
ok
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,253|FS:0,0|Pn:P|Ov:100,100,100|A:C>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
Starting stream
Layer C01
Job halted
Stream completed in 1:20
ok
ALARM:3
Reset while in motion. Grbl cannot guarantee position. Lost steps are likely. Re-homing is highly recommended.
ok
Ortur Laser Master 2 Ready!
OLF 140.
Grbl 1.1h [‘$’ for help]
[MSG:‘$H’|‘$X’ to unlock]
[MSG:Caution: Unlocked]
ok
ok
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,253|FS:0,0|Pn:P|WCO:0.000,0.000,0.000>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
Starting stream
Layer C01
[MSG:Pgm End]
Stream completed in 1:04
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,254|FS:0,0|Pn:P|WCO:0.000,0.000,0.000>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
Starting stream
Layer C01
[MSG:Pgm End]
Stream completed in 0:23
Starting stream
Layer C01
[MSG:Pgm End]
Stream completed in 0:27
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,253|FS:0,0|Pn:P|WCO:0.000,0.000,0.000>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
Starting stream
Layer C01
[MSG:Pgm End]
Stream completed in 0:27
Starting stream
Layer C01
Stream completed in 0:18
ALARM:3
Reset while in motion. Grbl cannot guarantee position. Lost steps are likely. Re-homing is highly recommended.
ok
Ortur Laser Master 2 Ready!
OLF 140.
Grbl 1.1h [‘$’ for help]
[MSG:‘$H’|‘$X’ to unlock]
[MSG:Caution: Unlocked]
ok
ok
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,253|FS:0,0|Pn:P|WCO:0.000,0.000,0.000>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
Starting stream
Layer C01
[MSG:Pgm End]
Stream completed in 0:27
<Idle|MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000|Bf:99,253|FS:0,0|Pn:P|WCO:0.000,0.000,0.000>
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:10
Starting stream
Layer C06
[MSG:Pgm End]
Stream completed in 0:43
Starting stream
Layer C06
Job halted
Stream completed in 0:03
ok
ok
ALARM:3
Reset while in motion. Grbl cannot guarantee position. Lost steps are likely. Re-homing is highly recommended.
Ortur Laser Master 2 Ready!
OLF 140.
Grbl 1.1h [‘$’ for help]
[MSG:‘$H’|‘$X’ to unlock]
[MSG:Caution: Unlocked]
ok
ok
Starting stream
Layer C06
Job halted
Stream completed in 0:05
ok
ALARM:3
Reset while in motion. Grbl cannot guarantee position. Lost steps are likely. Re-homing is highly recommended.
ok
Ortur Laser Master 2 Ready!
OLF 140.
Grbl 1.1h [‘$’ for help]
[MSG:‘$H’|‘$X’ to unlock]
[MSG:Caution: Unlocked]
ok
ok
$$
$0=2.000
$1=25
$2=0
$3=0
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=3
$11=0.050
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=1
$21=1
$22=1
$23=7
$24=600.000
$25=3000.000
$26=100
$27=3.000
$30=1000
$31=0
$32=1
$33=250.000
$50=0
$100=80.000
$101=80.000
$102=80.000
$110=9000.000
$111=9000.000
$112=1200.000
$120=2200.000
$121=1800.000
$122=2500.000
$130=400.000
$131=430.000
$132=1.000
ok


Is there a proper sequence for starting up my laser? Just want to make sure this isn’t ALL my fault.

Thanks,
Ernie Hodge

PS If I had the money I would probably have a much bigger laser than what I have now.

I’m walking away from the computers and lasers for the rest of the day. Any help would be great.

1 Like

Your laser is set to go home automatically and establish it’s starting point.
The data provided shows that it has limit switches.

The strange wiggly line in the middle of the job looks like mechanical binding.

With the laser disconnected and unpowered slowly move it around the workspace to feel if there is a sticking-point. You want to move slowly here because the motors generate higher voltages when pushed quickly.

Inspect the belts for damage and debris.

2 Likes

John,
I checked my belts and they look good. I have about a 16th to an 8th of give at the gears. The X axis belt may have been a little tight so I backed it off a little. It was making a little more belt/gear noise when I moved the laser around by hand.

I won’t have time to run a test today. I’m finishing up a smoked chicken but will run one tomorrow.

Thank you for your suggestion.

2 Likes

My laser is about three years old. I bought belt tensioners in June of 2021 and I had enough extra length on my original belts to use those. So, my belts are at least three years old. What is a good ‘age’ rule for changing belts?

1 Like

I just realized when I upgraded to the LU2-10W module I never hooked up my ground wire. There was no mention of that in the instructions. I had seen a video about the module and when they installed it they also said there was no mention about the ground wire or where to connect it.

Also, is there an upgrade to the firmware for this module? Maybe Gill will see this and answer that question.

1 Like

OK, I was researching online and found a post from this forum. In that post about the LU2-10w module was an entry about these modules only lasting 10 to 20 hours. I got mine in August so I guess if I want to cut 2.77mm basswood ‘cleanly’ I’m due for a new module now.

I can’t justify almost $300 every three to four months. I guess that’s great for Ortur but not me. Maybe they forgot to put the ‘K’ after those hours.

I think I’ll put in a support ticket and see if they can give me an answer on life spans.

1 Like

This is typically done on one of the corner screws on the module.

That’s definitely not the case. The modules I believe are warrantied for one year irrespective of hours. One of the primary manufacturers of the types of diodes used in these machines specify lifetimes in the 10K hours range when used within spec. We know that these types of laser modules are typically overdriving the laser modules or providing inadequate cooling so 10K hours is likely not going to be achieved.

Anecdotally I think 1 year of heavy use is what I’d count on. But moderate use at lower power levels could get you a couple years of life. It’s definitely best to consider these as a consumable and plan accordingly.

1 Like

Thank you for the input. I’ve been running mine at 375 @ 95/96% to cut basswood. That gives a fairly ‘clean’ edge. I’ll try slowing it down and reducing the power and see if I can get the same results.

Now I just have to see if the firmware needs to be updated.

1 Like

Run this command in Console:

$I

If this is for the original Ortur Laser Master 2 then latest firmware is 1.42 which you probably do want to be on.

There are a couple of schools of thoughts on power level. In the conservative school this definitely puts you above the power threshold to avoid. 90% is the often stated high threshold mark. I avoided going over 80% after experiencing a prematurely failed module. I’d consider that anecdotal but it does leave an impression.

From what I understand Ortur expects a year of life even at 100% of regular usage. So I’d consider that baseline with any extended life from more conservative use a bonus.

1 Like

Yes, it’s the original Ortur Laser Master 2 but I have updated the module to the LU2-10w. My firmware version shows 1.40 when I put in the $$ in the console. I’ll try $I today and see if that matches.

I’m going to do some tests to see if I can get down around 80% without looking like I cut the basswood with a blow torch. Thank you for your input.

1 Like

My firmware is 1.40 so I downloaded the 1.42 and will update that later today.

Does it make any difference that I have an upgraded module? Or, does this just update the motherboard?
Thanks.

1 Like

Laser module is irrelevant. The firmware upgrade is, as you say, just for the motherboard. The motherboard communicates to the laser module with PWM in the same way it did with the previous module and has no idea that you even have a different module.

1 Like

Thank you for letting me know.

Ernie, while searching the ortur.tech website for firmware fo ray LM3, I saw the main webpage has a list of problem/fixes listed for various models.
Many of these relate to the LM2, including some known bugs with hardware and they mention a grounding kit that they will send to LM2 users.

Brewster, Thanks I’ll go take a look. I put in a support ticket and Gil said it sounds like mechanical issue. He has me zip tying everything solid to see what happens. I’m giving that a try this afternoon. Also updating the firmware after Gil gives me the OK.

I guess the issue was a loose connection. Gil had me send pictures and then told me to ‘tighten’ everything up. I couldn’t find any connection that was loose but maybe during running the laser it was pulling somewhere. I did update my firmware with no issues.