I’m using an MKS DLC32 V2.1 control board with a LaserTree 30W laser module. I’m also using the P-DA-01 Driver Adapter (VER 1.1) as the laser driver.
My goal is to cut 1mm thick cardboard (paperboard) cleanly and efficiently.
Here is my wiring setup:
From the TTL Output port on the MKS DLC32:
• Yellow → TTL signal
• Black → GND
• Red → 12/24V (power)
These 3 wires go into the Input C terminal on the P-DA-01 adapter (same color and order):
• Yellow → TTL
• Black → GND
• Red → 12/24V
From the Output B terminal of the driver, I connect the same 3 wires to the laser:
• Yellow → TTL
• Black → GND
• Red → 12/24V
The issue I’m facing:
• At slow speeds (around 500 mm/min), the laser is able to cut.
• When I increase the speed, it only engraves the surface – it doesn’t cut.
• When the P-DA-01 driver is connected, the laser begins cutting but shuts off completely after 1–2 seconds.
Test I’ve done:
• I disconnected the 3 wires from the P-DA-01 output and connected the laser directly to the MKS DLC32 TTL Output.
• In this setup, the laser works and stays on.
• It cuts properly at low speeds.
• But still, the cutting performance at higher speeds is not sufficient.
My GRBL settings:
• $30=1000
• $31=0
• $32=1
My questions:
1. Is this wiring sequence and choice of Input C / Output B on the driver correct?
2. Is there a known issue with the P-DA-01 driver causing the laser to shut off like this?
3. Should I be using Output A instead of Output B?
4. Is this system (MKS DLC32 + P-DA-01 + 30W laser) capable of cutting 1mm cardboard cleanly at higher speeds?
According to some experts and user feedback, it should be possible to cut 1mm thick cardboard at speeds around 1500–2000 mm/min in a single pass with a 30W laser. But in my case, anything above 500 mm/min fails to cut.
I’m attaching photos of my setup below. Any help, suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.
All these boards do, is remove the 12/24V line from the DLC32 and replace it with the newer bigger power supply that’s plugged into the board.
If the laser module is running off 24V, you should be able to direct connect it to the dlc32 board. If it’s 12V you need the daughter board to handle the extra current needed.
I first powered the MKS DLC32 V2.1 board with 12V. In this setup, the laser was directly connected to the TTL output of the MKS board.
At 12V, the laser worked but with very low power.
Then I supplied 24V to the MKS board, and the laser was able to cut. However, it could barely cut 1 mm cardboard at 100% power and 500 mm/min feed rate — and sometimes even that wasn’t sufficient.
Because of this, I decided to test the P-DA-01 driver that came with the LaserTree K30 diode.
I connected 24V to the P-DA-01 driver, but this time, the laser shuts off about 1 second after starting the cut, and it doesn’t cut at all.
My question is:
Why does the P-DA-01 driver shut off the laser when I connect 24V?
So you need the daughter board to handle the 10 amps of current consumption.
There is really no active components on the daughter board. The best thing I can suggest is to let it run and when it fails check the daughter board for 24V and a valid pwm signal. These are pretty open so you can just measure the values at the connector.