Hi, newbie alert. My first laser,

CAD & CAM Tool Chain LaserWeb/CNCWeb
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1

Hi, newbie alert. My first laser, it is having the problem of not firing at full power.I get the low intensity light cycling on and off but no burning, It is the Gearbest 2.5. It burns when connected to the 12v fan connector. I am using GRBL 1.1 and LW3. I switched the board jumper over as per instructions and I changed $100 and $101 so the movement is to proper scale. My settings are:
$0=10
$1=25
$2=0
$3=0
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=1
$11=0.010
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=0
$22=0
$23=0
$24=25.000
$25=500.000
$26=250
$27=1.000
$30=1000
$31=0
$32=0
$100=83.00
$101=83.00
$102=250.00
$110=500.00
$111=500.00
$112=500.00
$120=10.000
$121=10.000
$122=10.000
$130=200.000
$131=200.000
$132=200.000

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim

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671841a1371ad27a9fbb1c46bacd1e62.jpeg3264×2448 780 KB

2

I’m no expert but $32 needs to be set to a value of 1 to enable laser mode in GRBL 1.1e

3

Can I assume you have set the proper grbl power range in LW3 config? 0 - 255

4

Also $30 should be 255 for max laser power and $31 should be 0 for min laser power.

5

This fixed it for me

6

I have same laser and Elks Maker board. Same issue.
I have changed $32 to 1 changed $30 to 255 then to 1000
I’ve also then changed PWM max S value to 1000 in the LW3 gcode settings. laser does indeed light up brighter on the change to 1000 for PWM but still doesnt burn.

Next test is to reset back to 255 and plus laser cable into 12V fan slot on board…

7

Okay… tried the 12v fan slot and laser powers up and starts burning immediately… not a good idea. Rather unsafe. At least I know the laser works… just need to power it properly.
FYI … I too have flipped the board jumper as per Jim original post and as per Jords YT vid.

$0=10
$1=25
$2=0
$3=0
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=1
$11=0.010
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=0
$22=0
$23=0
$24=25.000
$25=500.000
$26=250
$27=1.000
$30=255
$31=0
$32=1
$100=83.000
$101=83.000
$102=250.000
$110=500.000
$111=500.000
$112=500.000
$120=10.000
$121=10.000
$122=10.000
$130=200.000
$131=200.000
$132=200.000

8

Okay… tried another file type. Not a .png or .jpg but got LW3 to convert a .jpg to a vector file (.svg) … viola … laser now powering.
Will try with a straight up .svg file that not vector converted to see if that works

9

@Mark_Dutton Where do I make these $ changes?

10

Nevermind - quick youtube video did the trick. Still not getting full power on the laser :frowning:

11

Changing these 3 GRBL settings values worked for me.

$30=255
$31=0
$32=1

12

I had the same problem, weak laser. after changing $30, $31, and $32 everything worked great.
Thanks!

13

I did the gradient test and I cannot get grays to print. It’s either on or off. I did have good prints using the dither technique. Basically prints the grays using tiny dots of black. Anyone have any different experience?

14

2.5W diode from gearbest. I didn’t know how cheap Co2 was at the time. Missed the boat since I wanted to do etching on metal. You’re saying I CAN do grayscale with my diode?