No software can see my laser. Please help!

I made a post a little while ago about my G Weike laser Storm 600 not being seen in K40 Whisperer. A few folks suggested downloading and trying Lightburn and RD Works. I’ve tried both of these but the auto detection can’t see my machine in either program when connected with USB.

Does anyone have any idea what the issue may be or what else to try? I’m at a bit of a loss!

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Prior post:

I think you posted before your uploads finished uploading. You might want to try again.

Did you ever get in contact with Gweike?

The ones I’ve seen are grbl based machines…

The K40 Whisperer will not operate with grbl, I don’t believe… @mcdanlj can probably confirm or deny this …

Lightburn should work, however RDWorks will not as it’s for a Ruida (dsp) type controller…

In Lightburn you might have to set up your laser in ‘manual’ mode … the type of machine will be GRBL… it might not find it automagically.

Shouldn’t be taken lightly… :crazy_face:

Good luck

:smiley_cat:

Hey!

So sorry I’ve been so bad with replies. In the end the problem was that the soldering between the usb connection on the machine and the mother board had come away. It’s working now when I make contact with the circuitry and is being read and controlled by lightburn!

I’ve aligned my mirrors but the laser doesn’t seem to be cutting powerfully enough. I’m using brand new mirrors, but maybe I need a new bulb? I’m cutting PETG plastic sheeting with it.

I’ve also been in direct contact with Gweike engineers. They’ve been very helpful

Have you done a first mirror pattern test?

Put paper between the laser and the first mirror, and do a short test fire. Take a picture of the pattern on the paper and post it here.

(Make sure you wait until your picture has finished uploading before clicking “Reply”, otherwise you’ll have the same problem as in the top post.)

I did the test like you said and this was the result i got. What am i looking for in the pattern?

Hopefully you can see the images!


There’s something wrong with the tube.

It may be resonating in TEM01 (the mode with two dots) but I’d expect the two dots to be more similar. Others more expert here might have seen more patterns. Maybe it’s actually TEM10 and part of the outer ring is attenuated by something?

This kind of damage makes me wonder whether the machine suffered some sharp mechanical shock that also affected the tube.

You want a dot that looks like “00” in this image from Transverse mode - Wikipedia

Any mode other than TEM00 is a failing tube that can’t be repaired.

That’s super helpful, thanks.

So, basically regardless of what the pattern that is firing is, the fact that it isn’t a single dot means i should replace the tube?

Let’s make double sure…

Last time I saw a pattern posted that looked to me like this, my recollection is that it was after at least the first mirror and was due to misalignment. But as it’s between the laser and first mirror, yes, I think it needs replacement.

I’m not the most expert person here. Anyone else here have an alternative reading of the burn pattern? Detritus stuck to the business end of the laser?

Assuming this is the beam from the tube, before m1…

I know if it isn’t TEM0 resonance then the tube is history.

I’d suspect there are an infinite number of patterns that could be produced. None of the ones that I’ve seen were perfectly balanced like the supplied photos.

But in all cases, it wasn’t TEM0 and the tube was bad. :face_with_spiral_eyes:

:smiley_cat:

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This test is before M1, so seems like I need a new bulb!

Thanks for the help!

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