I recently started having an issue where the laser is not cutting letters correctly when I try to cut multiple letters at the same time, but it works fine if I cut each letter one at a time. The attached image shows three separate jobs that I sent to my laser machine (OMTech 60W):
Job 1 - Cut each letter one at a time with no issues
Job 2 - Engrave with no issues
Job 3 - Cut issues with both Rs and the I. It does not consistently cut with errors on the R and I. The affected letter or letters varies with each job.
The only thing I’ve done recently is update Lightburn to the latest version 2.0.02. What could be causing this?
A couple things can cause issues with a Ruida. One of them is a full memory. You can only save these files to a memory stick, but I think it’s worth while to just delete the bunch.
The other, as @JimNM suggested but not quite as clear, is that USB really is terrible. If there is any possibility of changing over to Ethernet, it would behoove you to do so.
I’ve seen virtually the exact type of problematic operation from using USB, having limited amount of memory and a failing power supply.
I do not save anything on the laser machine. All jobs are going from computer to the machine via Lightburn.
My machine does not have WiFi. It does have an Ethernet port, but my machine is not close to my router. I am also on a MacBook that does not have an Ethernet port so I cannot do a direct connect setup like I just saw in a YouTube video.
Let’s say this is a memory issue, why doesn’t it affect every job? Right after I started this post I engraved images on 20 circles (12 x 1.5in and 8 x 1.25in) and cut them all out in one job with now issues.
Prior to this issue, my machine was aligned properly as far as I can tell. I’ve been using it for about two years now. Is it possible for the alignment to go out of whack on its own?
I sent an email to Omtech’s tech support to see what they think about this. Depending on what they say, I may try to rollback to a previous Lightburn update to see if that fixes it.
I really do not want to spend money on a bridge, but maybe I will if I can’t resolve this issue.
Sending the file to the Ruida and running the job from there does work. This is something else I tried earlier, but this is an absolute last resort option. I would much rather spend the money on a bridge and try that before I commit to running jobs from the machine.
No one really does. Once you get it working, you’ll think people dealing with usb are nuts. I put mine over Ethernet over 5 years ago and still works fine.
Any bridge should work for this if it has an Ethernet connection.
If you’re technically intact, pick one up anywhere, including a yard sale. One user on Reddit found one in the trash he’s using.
The problem here is the software version. I reverted back to version 1.7.08 and the problem went away. I ran a few test to make sure and all jobs were successful. I did try version 2.0.00 and same issue. I did not try version 2.0.01. If version 2.0.00 and 2.0.02 have the issue then I am pretty sure version 2.0.01 has the same problem.
I did get a response back from Omtech and the tech recommended resetting Ruida motherboard back to default and revising the PWM rising edge setting for the X and Y axis in the machine settings. I tried both and neither one worked. The tech also wanted me to try the RDWorks software which I do not have. So the next best thing was to rollback the Lightburn update.
I am assuming most people are using a Windows computer to run Lightburn and this is an issue for Mac users since I could not find any other complaints about this issue.
I will keep the idea of a bridge in my back pocket for now. Version 1.7.08 and the USB connection works just fine for me.
Don’t do this… there could be a bug in the version you downloaded.
I’d use a working version until I heard from the Lightburn support people. Maybe @Rick or one of his cohorts [in crime] can suggest a proper course of action to get this handled.
Well I thought all my problems were solved but they are just getting worse. I am now having issues with fill engraving and shifting x-axis. I did switch from the USB connection to WiFi using a bridge and no change.
Two new sets of images below:
First image using version 1.7.08:
Job 1, Madison 1 - the M is messed up
Job 2, Madison 2 - converted it to path, tried engraving one letter at a time, and same results as Madison 1
Job 3, ABC… 3 - no issues with line engraving
Job 4, Version - no issues with fill engraving
All four lines, when viewed on Lightburn, are on the same x-axis but jobs 2, 3, and 4 are shifted to the left.
Second image going back to version 2.0.02:
Results are similar to version 1.7.08 but the x-axis shift problem is not as bad. I forgot to turn off the line engraving from job 3 prior to running the job to fill engrave the version number and the line engraving did not go directly on top of the first engraving. If I did not make this mistake, I would not have notice the x-axis shift. Also, the word Madison from jobs 1 and 2 are the same length when viewed on Lightburn. Madison 2 is slightly longer than Madison 1 when engraved.
The original line engraving / cutting problem that I had with version 2.0.02 went away with the latest round of tests. So what the actual flux is happening here?? I am going to send all this to omtech again to see if they have any second thoughts on this issue.
FYI: I am on a MacBook Pro, M4 chip, with Sequoia 15.6.1.
Update: I am now running version 2.0.03 and engravings seem to be back to normal, so far. However, the x-axis PWM Rising Edge Valid setting for my omtech 60W machine must be set to false now.
