Not burning dark enough... Nothing seems to work

[jamessearcy (James)]

I am having a rough time today…

Jtech 2.8w
GRBL 1.1f X-carve
Lightburn 0.09.06

Machine has been running great up until last night. All of a sudden the values we have been using religiously are not returning the expected results.
have tried switching between $30=1000(our usual setting) and $30=255 . also ensured that the S value in LB matched this setting.

When turning the laser on manually it fires.
Able to make the laser test fire at low percentage and focus
If I set the power to 100 and speed to 1 I get a nice black line (picture attached) but it seems any other setting isn’t delivering what is expected (usually 15mm/s and 80% power)
Tried changing the LB setting from C02 to Diode (mm/s to mm/min) no difference

checked all the wiring and connections last night and no issues

Normally I am able to get the answers I need from the forums but I am stumped!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[berainlb (PY)]

I think @anon88048707’s likely on target with this. Likely a tired diode.

Run a test pattern to be sure, preferably a known test pattern on known material to verify.

Other things you might want to try:

1. check the lens for any debris or residue, clean appropriately
2. do a focus check. possibly something has shifted mechanically?

[jamessearcy (James)]

yeah shes been around a while. likely in the hundreds.

[jamessearcy (James)]

checked the lens and it was fairly dirty. cleaned it up but it wasn’t the issue. Also did a focus check as well. appreciate the suggestions!

[berainlb (PY)]

That’s too bad. Probably got hopeful when you found the lens dirty. Probably a good tim to talk with the JTech guys. Heard they’re pretty good about support at least.