I have been using an Opt Laser mounted on an Xcarve for over a year. Just updated GRBL (to 1.1g) and firmware, and seem to have problems with the laser. I can control the gantry and xcarve, but when I hit the fire button, I do not get anything from the laser. Also, when I start a laser etch, I get nothing from the laser. I know the laser is working because I can hold down test button the laser controller (PLH3D-CNC) and the laser fires up no problem. Any suggestions on what I can start looking at next to diagnose the issue? Here are my current settings and what I get on Lightburn start up:
I can confirm I do not get anything from the PWM port and ground. Ironically, I turned up the fire percentage to 20%, and everytime I hit fire, the router starts up. I can confirm that the two pins for the router IOT device is getting power, and consequently the router turns on. But for some reason, switching the $32 from 0 (for router) to 1 for laser) does not change the ports that are getting power. Iâm suspecting something is wrong with the xcontroller. Any other ideas?
Good news (some good news). I reinstalled the firmware and GRBL (the Inventable fork of GRBL intended for my CNC). Everything continues to work for the router inside Easel (the software provided by Inventables for the CNC machine). The good newsâŚI am now seeing power at the PWM ports exactly as you show on your picture. I have the IOT device which drives the router in ports 1 and 2, and the laser plugged into ports 3 and 4. BUTâŚthe bad news, the laser still does nothing when I attempt the fire button. Here is the text during my testing:
Waiting for connectionâŚ
Grbl 1.1g [â$â for help]
[MSG:â$Hâ|â$Xâ to unlock]
error:9
G-code locked out during alarm or jog state.
[MSG:Caution: Unlocked]
ok
[VER:1.1g.20170629-Inventables:]
[OPT:VMP+,15,128]
Target buffer size found
ok
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:00
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:00
Starting stream
Stream completed in 0:00
ok
ok
S0
G0
M5
ok
ok
ok
M3
G1 F100 S10
ok
ok
S0
G0
M5
ok
ok
ok
M3
G1 F100 S50
ok
ok
S0
G0
M5
ok
ok
ok
$$
$0=10
$1=255
$2=0
$3=3
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=115
$11=0.020
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=0
$22=1
$23=3
$24=25.000
$25=750.000
$26=250
$27=1.000
$30=255
$31=0
$32=1
$100=40.000
$101=40.000
$102=188.976
$110=8000.000
$111=8000.000
$112=500.000
$120=500.000
$121=500.000
$122=50.000
$130=750.000
$131=750.000
$132=100.000
ok
M3
G1 F100 S50
ok
ok
S0
G0
M5
ok
ok
ok
M3
G1 F100 S50
ok
ok
S0
G0
M5
ok
ok
ok
M3
G1 F100 S100
ok
ok
S0
G0
M5
ok
ok
ok
I wish I could tell you that reflash resolved it. But I am not 100%. I have rechecked all wiring, rebooted everything, then reflashed. The good newsâŚI saw voltage on the PWM and ground. Here is the device settings:
Set 30 to 1000, no change. When I hit the fire button, the router starts to turn on after anything above 10%. Everything about the laser appears to be working fine. Start up the controller (PLH3D) and the power LED comes on, then I hit the button and Armed LED lights up and the fan starts. When I hold down the red button, the laser will engage for a second or two. So everything about the laser appears normal, except the ability to affect it with Lightburn.
I assume this didnât happen before? Can you test both the router pins and the laser PWM pins on the controller again? Are you getting proper PWM voltages on both sets of pins?
I suggest you also test the PWM signal on the cable leading to PLH3D adapter. Make sure youâre getting PWM voltages there as well. From what I can tell PWM/TTL should be pin 2 and ground should be pin 4 on the adapter.
Then confirm whether you get the LED status indicator for Laser on the PLH3D adapter when attempting to fire?
Finally, what âEnable Optionâ status lights do you get when you turn the key on the adapter?
Not sure the right number for voltage. I am getting 3.92v on the router pins, and 1.96v on the PWM pins when I have the machine set to 10% in Lightburn.
I also test PWM at the other end of the cable (at PLH3D controller) and found it to be 1.96v.
The LED on the controller never shows a light on the laser light (except when I hold the red button down for a few seconds). It never goes on and off like it did before when the laser is being activated.
The enable option I think I have is the middle LED comes on for a second then back off (the armed LED). Is that what you were asking?
Not sure about router but 1.96V for laser PWM seems high for 10%. Can you confirm that $30 was changed to 1000? For some reason it may not have taken. Also, confirm value of S Value Max in Edit->Device Settings hasnât changed. 1.96V would be exactly what would be expected if S Value Max was set to 1000 and $30 was still 255.
Okay, this is a good indication that it doesnât know what to do with the PWM signal. I think the main controller will be close to working once you set $30. So just a matter of sorting out the PLH3D.
Yes. This is what I was looking for but I suspect your adapter was sold before July 20th, 2020. Apparently how you check the enable options is different for those.
First itemâŚyes the $30 had been changed back to 255. I made the change back to 1000, and now the voltage is .52. S value had not changed in Device Settings. Now reading the rest of your post.
Do you know what posts I could check to see if the controller is sending voltage to the laser and maybe the laser is broken somehow? (even though it works when I hold down the button and check to make sure it works)
