Random lines not being etched into acrylic

[a.robertson (Alex Robertson)]

I’ve been using my K90 laser for engraving and cutting acrylic.

I copy and paste diagrams into lightburn and bingo we’re done!

Recently the program has been randomly dropping small bits of the image, the finished product is missing a line here and there seemingly at random.

I’ve checked and the program is up to date with no updates available?

Any thoughts?

[Dominic (here to help.)]

Hi @a.robertson
It is very unlikely to be a change in how LightBurn is working. Consider attaching some project files and source artwork (is this bitmap images or vector graphics?).
This is so image-specific that you’d need to share examples for anyone to make anything but a guess at a cause. My first suggestion would be always to check the output in Preview

Preview - LightBurn Documentation

[ednisley]

@a.robertson

randomly dropping small bits of the image

I immediately suspect USB communications problems that chop out random chunks of the data. It’s entirely possible this happened earlier, but the dropouts were small enough to be overlooked, or that the cable connectors have worn enough to become (more)intermittent.

Some previous discussions will be informative:

Unusual laser/galvo problem?

Problem solved I checked virtually every connection. I cleaned the entire inside of the laser. I added additional ventilation. I tested two other good quality USB cables. None of the above helped — the laser was still stopping randomly. In a moment of desperation, I remembered an absurdly expensive USB cable that I use for data transfer from my camera. Using that cable solved all the problems. Most likely some kind of interference was occurring and causing signal iss…

My Cherokee Beast

WOO HOO !!! I got everything working right , FINELY !!! What was the problem? It turns out to be the USB to Controller board cable was faulty. That was the only thing I failed to check and that was it. I have a bad habit of buying one to use and one to loose. When I thought about the cable being bad, I got the cable out the spare controller kit and that one worked. I feel really stupid sitting here thinking how I spent 4 to 6 weeks crying and trying to fix this thing and never though…

In particular, a USB cable longer than about a meter probably won’t work:

USB Cable Issue

I have just purchased a Gweike Cloud RF laser, using with Lightburn. The supplied USB cable works fine but it’s very short. So I bought a nice long one, 5 metres length. USB C to USB A, I use Macs. It’s a good quality cable, but I don’t seem to be able to make a connection when I plug in to the laser and to my Mac? Any suggestions/fixes most welcomed. I came across a really useful post by @BillieRuben who seems to have knowledge of these machines and setting up, any idea Billie ? tia

Light Burn will not run the layered drawing I have Created in LightBurn - HELP

Hello, I’m a nub to lasers and LightBurn but I have been a CAD operator for 40+ years so I the LightBurn program is not a foreign software to me. I have created a LightBurn drawing that i want to use to test my new laser and figure out power and speed for my laser. When i test my drawing by starting the PREVIEW command, the preview runs perfectly. But, when i send the send the START command to the laser, the laser starts by moving to the first object (a 1/2" diameter circle) to engrave/cut (li…