Laser Performance - variable power mode

LightBurn Hardware Compatibility Ortur Lasers
1

Hello,

I am a new user of the LightBurn software, and registered on this forum “emergencyly” because I did not understand the origin of my problem, and did not find a solution.

First of all, congratulations for the quality of the software and too bad you are abandoning Linux (the .AppImage solution seems to be a good choice…). I am a bit lost in the menus, but that is because I am a beginner and am French-speaking while the Linux version of today is only in English…

I am an MDF “cutter” more than an “engraver” and have had this Ortur OLM3 machine for about 6 months. Everything was fine in the OLM3 relationship and the hardware worked on while I was using the “LaserGRBL” software (LGrbl). I laboriously built myself a table of [passes-speed-power], for about ten products and everything was fine on the execution side. The “CAM” component of the CAD software I use is deplorable and I have to optimize objects and movements myself, which is not very complicated when there are few objects, but above all very tiring, without forgetting that there are many small actions to be carried out, forgetting one of which can ruin everything else. I found that LightBurn did this optimization work that costs so many hours and attention. I have been using Linux 100% for twenty years and, oh miracle, there is a Linux version of LightBurn!

Taking advantage of this possibility of “layers”, and currently needing to engrave and cut 5.5mm thick MDF, I embarked on a first creation in LightBurn. An engraving then a cutting of the same 5.5mm MDF board. My dream crumbled during engraving, when the LGrbl settings were [P-V-P] = [1, 200mm/min, 7%], and for this setting, LightBurn only gave me a bit of a line of 1 or 2 mm and then nothing! I got a satisfactory engraving with [1, 200, 20]! As for cutting, I saw that the setting at [4, 200, 60] had not cut: four additional passes… and still nothing. I tried [4, 200, 100]: still nothing! a second time… but while trying to check, I clumsily moved the laser head: the work was thus ruined! After breaking the MDF plate, I see that the cut is about 4mm deep, instead of 5.5mm. And here I am on the forum.

The “LightBurn performance declining” topic on the forum puzzled me. I read that Mike Finley had a similar problem, but that this change was not due to switching from another software to LightBurn, but to a change in LightBurn version. Haaaa. Oz Owner also says that you just need to check the “Constant Power Mode” box in the “Cut Setting Editor” window: I have my solution! Unfortunately, after searching AND abandoning beginner mode, I did not find this “Constant Power Mode” checkbox (I remind you that I am running Linux version 1.6.04).

For me, this point risks making LightBurn unusable (at least for cutting), and I only have 20 days of trial left!

What should I do to get LightBurn to switch to constant power mode for me to be able to adopt it?

2

I found something in the menu “Help”, last item of this menu is “Convert to cut (debug)”. Could it be that, please ?

4

You’re working with a different device. I have moved your post to a different thread.

This summary misses an important point.

In the Machine Settings there are maximum speeds assigned to the X-Axis and Y-Axis for engraving. These are $110 and $111. If the speed units change from the expected mm per minute to the less often used mm per second (or worse Inches per second) and these speeds in mm/minute are exceeded the controller reduces the power output to ‘put down the same amount of light’ because the engraver can’t travel fast enough.

Variable power output is intended to change the power level when engraving a line with a change of direction in it. When the engraver moves along both axes, it’s travelling faster on it’s path than it is on either axis.

Generally, you want the variable power settings and you want to slow the engrave speed down to the point where the power isn’t reduced due to an ‘overspeed’ error.

The fastest way to do this is to engrave one simple shape (like a square) on a scrap board. If you are still concerned with low power output, in LightBurn click File, click Save GCode and save the file somewhere convenient. Upload the file here. With that file in hand, it’s not too much work to confirm that the engrave speeds selected are reasonable.

If the engrave speeds are fine, the reduced power is not caused by the controller. We next look at S Value Max and the machine setting under $30.

More about GRBL Settings here:

5

Yes, that’s where that setting is. I doubt that setting will cure what is wrong here and I’d prefer to follow a more linear troubleshooting path. I’ll restore your post as soon as we know what’s happening here.

1 Like
6

The OLM3 is a GRBL-based diode, so you should have constant power mode in the Cut Setting Editor if you are not in Beginner Mode. It’s also worth checking that you are in mm/minute mode, not mm/sec.

image

If you are in mm/sec, that would explain a lot - your machine would be trying to run much faster than it likely can.

1 Like
7

LB_my_Cut-Settings-Editor_window
Hello Hoz,
Thank you for the response. This is the top of a snapshot of my “Cut Setting Editor”…

8

Part one

LGrbl_vs_LB
LGrbl_vs_LB820×433 40.6 KB

Here is the compare of the LB.grbl and the LGrbl.nc code related to the “S” command : the espected 60.0% is for LGrbl et only 15.3 % for LB.

9

I didn’t do the suggested part 2. Because I added a diagonal to the rectangle, hoping I could see another “S” command in the code for the diagonal, but nooo.

; LightBurn 1.6.04
; GRBL-M3 (1.1e or earlier) device profile, user origin
; Bounds: X1 Y2 to X32 Y36
G00 G17 G40 G21 G54
G90
G0 X0 Y0
G91
; Cut @ 200 mm/min, 60% power
M8
M5
G0 X0Y0
; Layer C01
M3
G1 X31Y34**S153**F200
M5
G0 X0Y-34
M3
G1 X-31
G1 Y34
G1 X8.578
M5
G0 X0.5
M3
G1 X21.922
G1 Y-34
M5
M9
G1 **S0**
G90
; return to user-defined finish pos
G0 X0Y0
M2
10

Sorry for jumping in but I notice that you’re set up in Lightburn as GRBL-M3. I don’t think that 's the device profile you should be using. I believe you want just plain GRBL. If I understand correctly M3 is for old technology.

2 Likes
11

Hello,
Thank you. But LB decided alone once the machine was contacted. It could be for Master 3 (comercial name is Ortur Laser Master 3)

12

You will already be using constant power mode if you are using the GRBL-M3 profile, edit your device so it uses ‘GRBL’, then you’ll get that “Constant Power Mode” checkbox option for the times you might need it.

13

Going back to your original issue though, as @JohnJohn mentioned the reduced power is likely an S Value Max mismatch.

Your test of the 60% power resulted in a GCode command from LightBurn of ‘S153’, which is probably because 60% of 255 is 153.

This would be fine if the $30 setting at your machine was set to the same power scale of 255, but it will be set to 1000, which is why you only get 15.3% power.

To fix this, change your S Value Max in LightBurn (Edit > Device Settings) to 1000.

While you are in device settings, enabling ‘GCode Clustering’ will take advantage of that feature which can make engravings run smoother - which your laser supports.

14

Using GRBL-M3 will cause a number of headaches for you, including the lack of constant/variable setting, and using the wrong S-value.

Switch to just plain GRBL, and change that S-value max setting to 1000, and everything should behave as expected.

15

Thanks for the answers.
@NicholasL, @LightBurn : I did what is suggested, i.e. set the “S-value max” setting field to 1000 in the Edit > Device Settings window. I am quite confident that this is the definitive solution. I understand that there are such small errors in your huge database.
Unfortunately, I cannot verify because my system has been modified and updated, and now LightBurn does not connect to the OLM3! The console says “Waiting for connection…
Port failed to open - already in use?”. I need help to solve this very frustrating problem. Can anyone tell me where I should post?
Thanks.

16

If you grab the latest release candidate for version 1.7 that “port open / in use” bug should be fixed.

17

OK. Doing it now…
But this version is not inline (Download / Trial – LightBurn Software)…
Fund (Index of /LightBurn/RC/LightBurn-v1.7.00-RC-14/)

)-: This attempt failed: LightBurn-v1.7.00-RC-14 @ 85a996f cannot find my machine.

Laserweb says :
Serial ports detected: [{“comName”:“/dev/ttyACM0”,“manufacturer”:“Ortur”,“serialNumber”:“Ortur_Ortur_Laser_Master_3_ACF1D59E”,“pnpId”:“usb-Ortur_Ortur_Laser_Master_3_ACF1D59E-if00”,“vendorId”:“0x303a”,“productId”:“0x4003”},{…

18

What do you mean by “find”? If you clicked the “find my laser” button and you still have the device configured from before, it will have already connected to it, so you won’t be able to “find” it again.

19

This is why I don’t understand why neither version 1.6 from this morning nor version 1.7 RC finds the machine.

20

If LaserWeb is open or connected it can prevent access to the same USB port from LightBurn.

I also found that some other Laser engraver software doesn’t fully close the USB port on exit.

With LaserWeb closed, if LightBurn still doesn’t detect your engraver, unplug the power cord and the USB cable from the engraver, wait 10 seconds or so, then plug both cables back in to fully reset the controller for testing.

Occasionally the USB cable can power the controller enough to hold unanticipated communication settings.

Please let us know what you find.

21

Thanks John. I don’t know what tipped me off, but after reading your message, I guessed the reason. I told you that I had modified the system…

Context: during the tests of these last few days, I also installed the virtualization tools. It didn’t work so well, but the installation of these tools caused the installation of 175 software modules, libraries for the most part !. A day or two later, I tried unsuccessfully to retrieve my email, and my mail client KMail informed me that the process handling the POP3 protocol had mysteriously crashed. I tried a little to understand, and these unsuccesfull tries made me re-install a backup of my system, dated of before my tests with LB and wine. What had changed so much during these tests? My user was no longer part of the “dialout” group (nor the “tty” group).

For your many future Linux users (as well as the old ones, 7 with me), tell them to add the “dialout” group to their home groups, then reboot the system (maybe “# init 3 ; init 5” in a tty console would be enough). I had to do an “ls -l /dev/tty*” to see whos groups owne these devices. The addgroup command does not exist on OpenSUSE, so I used Yast.

Thanks.

(-: For the data base de LightBurn : )

Paramètres_OLM3_fr
Paramètres_OLM3_fr800×581 87.2 KB

Luckily, version 1.7 does not destroy the old “.image” executable. I was able to relaunch the old version. I did this because the optimization in version 1.7 did not match what I saw in version 1.6. But I have manipulated so much that I have doubts. Anyway, I am warning you. Now I’m going to launch the jobs…
Note that I thought I saw somewhere (the Windows version, probably) that it was possible to send a message to the screen at the end of a “layer”. The idea imagined from what I saw pleased me, but it was really not time to look further more. The actual job is so : “Layer” 1 is an engraving and “layer” 2 is the cutting. I noted that the focus placed 3mm higher gives more fat to the engraving, so I would like to be able to stop the work at the end of “layer” 1 and specify text saying that the focus must be adjusted, with “ok” to continue with “layer” 2. Tell me if it is possible in Linux | version 1.7, please.