I mounted a JTech 34w laser on my Shapeoko 5 Pro with GRBL 1.1h. I was able to do some small engravings without any problems. Then I tried some larger engravings and at different points in the engraving process there was some sort of glitch that caused the design to shift to the right but keep engraving. When I try to jog the machine it will sometimes stop in a random place and sometimes only jog forward and left no matter which buttons i press. I read one post in the forum that recommended $RST=* to reset default settings and now it won’t home or move at all, even if I use Carbide Motion.
I have had this Shapeoko for about a year and a half now with no issues running the spindle with Carbide Motion. Otherwise I have no experience with CNC or lasers. Can someone please help?
Are you using your PC for other things while the engraving is running?
This sounds like a USB comms drop or lost-motion error. I have seen instances where performing a load-heavy task while LightBurn is streaming in the background causes USB comms to stutter, resulting in an error as you have described.
Could you send a photo of what the results looked like?
If you Save the gcode, then run it from Carbide Motion, do you experience the same issue?
The above answers can help us determine if the fault is Axis-linked (like a faulty motion system component on one axis) or otherwise.
If you are able to send the gcode successfully without issues on subsequent runs with Carbide Motion, that could point to a comms issue with LightBurn. If the issue persists, that would point to a failing USB cable/connection issue/bad USB hub. Anything in the connection path from PC > Shapeoko would be suspect.
I believe it only happened on the x axis because it kept engraving, just offset to the right.
Unfortunately I threw away the failed pieces.
I tried running it on carbide motion when I first installed the laser but it seemed to just be burning randomly.
I am just using the usb cable that came with the machine but I ordered a better quality cable to see if that would help.
At the moment I need to figure out what needs to be done in order to get the axis moving again since I commanded $RST=* and it just makes a faint noise but no movement.
Would the usb connection cause it to only move forward and left regardless of which button I press? This is what was happening before I tried to reset it.
No, that is caused by incorrect coordinate settings.
What they fail to tell you is that you should not do this on some machines. And you should always make a backup of the GRBL settings before you change anything.
The only valid source of the parameters is from Shapeoko. In the meantime, enter $$ in the Console window, then enter $#, and copy/paste everything after the $$ in your reply. Somebody might be able to help.
You also probably need to change $32=0 to $32=1 for the horthog controller to recognize the laser.
Also an FYI, Carbide Motion has a very difficult time reading gcode set up for a laser. Try something like G-Sender from Sienci Labs. It works well with a Jtech laser attached to a Shapeoko.
I got the machine reset through Carbide Motion. Ran a test peice and worked fine. Ran another one and glitched about 75% through the burn, offset to the right and kept burning. Waiting on new USB cable before I try again.
Here is what it’s reading now.
$0=10
The console output in LightBurn when this happened would give us valuable clues as to what might be going on.
Try sending us a screenshot the next time it stalls.
I turned off the USB selective suspend and was able to run about 3 hours worth of engraving without upgrading my cable. I believe that was the solution. Thanks for all your help.
