Misalignment-one good cut the next completely misaligbed

Hi,
I’m running out of ideas of how to fix my issue and have serval orders due Monday. There seems to be a disconnect between my software and my laser (Omtech 60W)
I get one perfect cut then the very next (only moving my design over a little bit) comes out completely misaligned. Please help!!
I have aligned my mirrors, greased my X and Y axis’s, cleaned my laser lens.




What’s the history of your laser? Is this something that used to work? Or is this a new laser for you?

My first guess would be that your X belt is skipping since it looks like the misalignment is only along the X. Check belt tension and make sure there’s no opportunity for the belt to slip.

I’ve been using it about a month, this hasn’t been an issue before then all of a sudden it started to misalign. It’s just so weird that one run will be spot on then the next it’s off

If this is a new issue then that would reinforce the notion that the problem is something mechanical.

Do check belt tension as that seems likely.

Separately, can you confirm that the image on the control panel after job completion looks correct? Or does it reflect the misaligned result?

Do the pictures show different runs of the same file, or are there multiple house images in a single file? Or, did the file get edited between runs?

I can see differences between the houses while looking for a slip, but I can’t tell if that’s because they’re different data or different outcomes from the same data.

Other than that, I can’t see an obvious mechanical slip.

On a side note, you may get more consistent results if you put your cut layer last. That’s not the problem here, though, unless there’s a lot of workflow not obvious through the photos.

Another thought, and again related to the cut layer being first, how close to the workpiece is your laser head? Is there any chance that, once the cut layer is complete, the house shape might fall on an angle and be touched by the head while it’s travelling to start the fill layer?

I will check the belt tension to see if that helps any. The image on the laser is showing correctly after it is cut with an occasional exception that one of the two houses will have a line that appears to move over one space halfway through creating an angle on the side of the house. I checked my art and this does not appear in Lightburn

I focus my laser manually and it has enough room to maneuver (about an inch of clearance, the wood I’m using is 1/8” birch). I also noticed that my work was falling through and moved the cut layer to last but it didn’t help. Sorry I should have taken the picture after I moved it.

It’s the same file, the only edit that I do is move it over in Lightburn and rotate it so that I get the most cuts out of my wood and also so that I don’t have to adjust my wood in the laser.
I forgot to take an updated picture that I moved my cut later after trying everything I cuyos think of… I didn’t think it world cause such a misalignment but I just Coronel think of anything else to try.
It’s so weird because Thursday everything cut fine and aligned great, I literally turned it off the same as I do every day and Friday boom nothing wants to work right.

Hard to tell based on your description. But if the image on the panel reflects the misaligned cut then it’s possible this is being caused by a communication error although this symptom is not typical of those.

If you cut the same job from the control panel does the same issue repeat? Or in the case of a good one, does it work properly? If so, that’s pointing at a communication issue. If that’s the case, try transferring the job using USB flash drive to see if the issue goes away.

If it does then need to explore alternate connection remedies.

I was wondering if I uninstall lightburn then reinstall it will I lose all my files?

Unless you have a damaged install there’s almost never value in reinstalling.

And for your specific question, no, you won’t lose your files if you reinstall assuming you’re referring to your design files.

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Hi Judith, do you have the project on your screen set all as you want it to look or are you placing the parts separately and moving each part individually and sending to laser?
If they are all placed as a single picture, do you right click and ‘select all’ or do you select each piece separately?
Only asking as I have done this myself and while selecting using ‘click and select’ I have noticed I had slightly move parts, now i right click, ‘select all’ and send all at once.
Hoping this could be your problem :crossed_fingers:

Judith, because all your burns look good I’m assuming the problem is when your head is moving between burns. For example, I notice there’s no space between “for” and “the” in the third picture, so I assume each letter is being engraved individually.

That makes me think the head is trying to accelerate too fast during transits and skipping steps. It makes sense that the first time this happens is in the morning as an unlucky spider becomes a permanent part of a linear bearing, for example.

As far as I know the transit speed is set in the controller, but Berain is going to give you better advice here than I can. I suspect that if you slow the transit speed down to the same as the cut speed your jobs will be right again.

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all your help and insight, I am starting to see that I have so much to learn with lightburn!
The issue was my PWM rising edge was on for one axis and off for the other :woman_facepalming:t2:
I’m not sure how that happened since I’ve been using the software and laser for a month with no issues. Anyway I appreciate you all! Happy holidays!

I had considered this a possible problem but your symptoms didn’t seem to match the typical symptoms seen with that issue so hadn’t proposed it. Curious it manifested that way.

Anyway, glad you’re up and running.

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