I’ve been using LightBurn for a week or so now (Trail) with no issues. Now all of a sudden everything i print will come out all wavy and misaligned. See image. What would all of a sudden cause this? No, my laser is installed correctly, it is not lose, nothing is moving while I’m printing, etc.
If anyone comes across an issue similar to mine first thing to check are the belts. See if there is any slack in them and if there is, just tighten them up. This was my issue, my X-Axis belt had slack.
If the wave is going side to side like in my image this will be with the X-Axis belt, start there, check the belt and all the screws.
If the wave is going up and down this would then probably be with the Y-Axis belts, do that same thing.
For this same project, can you push “Save gcode” in Laser window and then save to a file with a .txt extension? Then upload here please. I’ll review to see if there’s anything in the code that might be contributing.
I know you’re confident in the setup of the machine but be aware that these sorts of things are almost always mechanical.
That looks very much like the setscrew securing the pulley to the X-axis motor has come loose, allowing the pulley to rotate on the shaft.
It’ll be worthwhile to check the entire mechanical setup, because if one thing has worked loose, others will follow. This guide (for a Sculpfun, but your FoxAlien is close enough) should give you the general idea:
I did a rehoming (i think?) and i reset the program and when i ran the file again, it was a lot less waving but still was wavy.
I’m trying to look for loose screws, so far i haven’t found any. I’m going to watch some videos on my particular machine and see where i should be looking etc. QrCode.gcode.txt (158.8 KB)
Don’t see anything in the gcode to indicate that would be the issue.
I think @ednisley’s suggestion is sound. What you’re looking for are the grub screws that secure the pinion gear to the stepper shaft. I’d focus on the X-axis stepper motor since that’s where it seems you’re having issues but probably good to do an overall mechanical review.
I think i found it, none of the screws are loose but the X-Axis belt was slacking. I tightened it up and it looks like it fixed it for the most part. But it still seems a bit loose so I will also tightened from the other side as well. But ill do all that tomorrow, I’m think of getting some threadlocker to put on the screws as well.
Looks like this is the issue, I tightened up the X-Axis belt and it fixed the waving by about 99%, I could have tightened it more but just did this quick to see if it would help. I’m going to get some threadlocker tomorrow and tightened up the belt again.
I CAN’T EDIT ANYMORE BECAUSE IT WAS SOLVED BUT THERE WERE MORE ISSUES.
So after I fixed the tension on the x-axis belt I noticed that after one or two more prints, it was printing wavy again. And this is the next thing you will need to look at if you are having this issue.
It turns out that somehow the belt itself became “bent” or “stretched”. and the stretch was right in the middle of the belt so it was mostly / usually hidden by being in the mechanics of the X-Axis motor. I only noticed it when i moved the motor all the way to one side to look at the belt more carefully.
