For some reason I am getting a constant power supply fed to my laser even through the whitespace of my burns. In the picture shown below, the “h” and “n” from top to bottom are set at 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, and 20%. The “h” speed is set at 3000mm/m and the “n” speed is set at 1500mm/m
as you can see the problem is more prominent the slower my laser moves. PWM seems to be working fine because Im getting a variation in burns. I have “constant Power Mode” deselected in my cuts and layers tab, my $32 laser mode is on, and my $31 Min power is set to 0. Im not sure what else to do. Is there a min power setting in lightburn that im just missing?
here’s what im running
Waiting for connection…
ok
[AUTHOR: ORTUR]
[MODEL: Ortur Laser Master 2]
[OLF: 142]
[DATE:18:41:30 - Dec 15 2021]
[VER:1.1h.210324:]
[OPT:VNZHI,99,512]
Target buffer size found
ok
Homing
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=0
$21=1
$22=1
$23=7
$24=600.000
$25=3000.000
$26=100
$27=3.000
$30=1000
$31=0
$32=1
$33=500.000
$50=0
$51=0.000
$52=0.000
$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
S-value Max and $30 are both set to the same value (1000) and the laser doesnt turn on when homing or manually moving the gantry around with the lightburn controlls. It comes on right after I hit play, and stays on through all whitespace traversing. even the initial G0 move to get into position before the burn even starts the laser comes on.
Can you save the gcode for an example burn? Can check to see if the commands to the laser are correct. If they are, then likely a hardware issue.
I think @jkwilborn’s pwm voltage check would be good. This will additionally isolate if the issue is the controller sending the wrong voltage or the laser module not shutting off even with the right voltage.
Also, what’s the history of the laser? Is this new or had this previously been working correctly?
I can see the the G-code is telling the laser to output the correct power. i did put a Multimeter on the PWM like @jkwilborn suggested and it’s not a constant power like i thought it was, but its also not turning all the way off either.
also a new issue has come up. now even when i’m jogging to a position the laser will fire throughout the whole movement and then turn back off when stationary.
As for the history of the laser. It’s about 2 years old and Ive done a bit with it. If i had to guess id say about 150-200 hours of burning. im not a professional running it constantly or anything just a hobby guy making things with spare time. we just moved about a 2 months ago and before the move I had just finished an 8 hour burn Cornhole Board and it worked perfectly. so after 2 months of being packed up I finally get around to unpacking my laser and it starts with this mess.
What is the measured voltage at 0% (S0)? Typically anything under 0.8V should register as off for TTL.
I’m going to assume it measure okay and the that fault is in the laser module which is typical for these type of failures. Failure at 200 hours is not at all uncommon although I suspect in this case the issue is not with the diode itself but rather then laser control board.
at S0 the voltage is reading about 8v. at S1000 it reads 11.5v. I also just found and did a secondary PWM test, with the laser completely unplugged from 12v source, and only plugged into the USB on my computer, the PWM should read 0.0v but it reads 2v. I think its now safe to say that my motherboard is not working properly. Thank you for your help.
sorry i was taking the voltage reading from the wrong spot. S0 is 1.4v and S1000 is 3v. still telling me my motherboard is sending the wrong duty cycle to the laser even tho G-code states otherwise.
Hmm… this range is close enough to thresholds where I don’t feel super solid about the diagnosis. I don’t suppose you have a scope to be able to measure this more closely?
Also, does your 100% seem less intense than before?
Or do you have an alternative way you could test the laser module independently to confirm? Also, while you have your meter out you may want to test the power supply to make sure it’s functioning correctly.
I suspect your conclusion is correct that the controller is outputting a bad signal but not certain. @jkwilborn may have a stronger opinion of it so let’s see.
