Hey guys, new guy here trying to get better results out my K40 with

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

Hey guys, new guy here trying to get better results out my K40 with Smoothieboard and LW3. So after scouring and reading through old forum posts as well as watching some YouTube videos, I decided to try calibrating grayscale to help me learn more about the settings and get some better engraving results. The attached pic shows that there is not much variation in grays and it seems as though the laser is firing sporadically in the lighter grays.

I purchased this K40 used with the Smoothieboard upgrade already completed so I have slowly started learn about Smoothieboard and LW over the past month. Additionally, I am on the most current LW3 update and Smoothie firmware as of today, and I have not touched my config file.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you guys for your time.

This is a second hand unit that was purchased as is. I’ll add some pictures from under the hood as well as some close ups of the boards.

[Todd_Fleming]

My k40 also behaves like this, but I get 3 levels instead of 2. It seems like some power supplies can’t handle PWM.

[Alex_Krause]

What material are you testing on?

[Alex_Krause]

[Alex_Krause]

For wood I typically set my potentiometer power ceiling to 7-9 milliamps (varies based on ambient temp of the room and water tank)

[Alex_Krause]

Can you make a copy of your config file and upload it to Google drive or drop box I can go thru it and suggest some changes that may change your results…

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

@Alex_Krause I am testing on birch ply.

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

@Alex_Krause that’s the result of love to end up with…

[Alex_Krause]

@Florentino_Villalpan ​ send me a hangouts message might be quicker to help you troubleshoot

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

@Alex_Krause I sure can, let me pull it and upload it.

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

@Alex_Krause I’m trying to add you on hangouts but I’m only seeing all the other folks by the same name. Any suggestions?

[Alex_Krause]

@Florentino_Villalpan ​ sent you a message check hangouts

[Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty]

I’ve had better results with 300-400 and about 7 to 10 mA

[K1111 (K)]

Are you using the original K40 PSU? I have a different one on my machine, and this is the same kind of result I get when I try to use Input for PWM instead of L.

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]

[Alex_Krause]

Alright folks after talking in hangouts it may be a bit of a wiring issue this is a common psu but the unit was purchased post upgrade so please don’t be condecending of the wiring

[Florentino_Villalpan (Florentino Villalpando)]