Top 10 laser issues and solutions

In this episode we cover a lot of common issues such why will my laser not turn on, why am I getting poor engravings.

FoxAlien 40w Laser

FoxAlien 40W 4040XE Bundle

FoxAlien 20W laser

Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:05 lines across your work, laser not shutting off and how to enable laser mode.
04:43 no $32 setting, old version of GRBL and updating your GRBL firmware
06:29 missing steps, things not aligning and how to fix it
20:15 how to stop dark edges or burnt edges on your engravings
27:49 laser is losing power, laser is not as strong as it used to be
32:42 making engravings darker, engravings not dark enough
36:17 soft laser lines, fat laser lines, soft edges on my shapers, laser not focused correctly.
40:50 lack of detail in my engraving, lack of detail in my photo, image comes out blurry
45:26 laser will not start, laser constantly on, laser will not turn off, laser will not come on
50:20 struggling to cut with my laser, laser will not cut

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[lordace]

Just picked up a 3018 and watched MANY of your previous videos, thanks for sharing your journey and making my journey start easier 🐐👍

[rondoring]

Excellent information, James! In my case, I am an artwork editing freak. And I have found in my short career as a laser hobbyist, that an important key to getting good quality engravings, or burns, is, learning what types of images transfer well through the laser, to the wood, or whatever the material is you are using, and what doesn't. So, I spend a lot of time, manipulating my photos, and artwork, so it looks crisp, and like I want it to, on after running it on my machine.
And I think this is a very important aspect of getting good results, which isn't really discussed very much. But, you touched on a good topic, and a very important one, because it does basically boil down to is image quality.
So the old adage, "garbage in, equals garbage out", is a good thing for all of us to keep in mind.

[robertdickson]

Hi James good video once again I bought the xtool s1 it’s engraving fine was cutting now not cutting 3m plywood only had it a week thanks

[SusanHoneycutt-nr]

M1 laser has quit coming on at all. My machine moves as if it is cutting, but no cuts. Do you have a video for this? I had the scoring and I appreciate your easy to follow videos.

[Dcscockpit]

Thank you so much. I couldn’t get my laser to fire so I tried swapping pwm and ground, and just like you said, on my controller board they are swapped from how they are on laser. Up and running now!!

[DavidDunster]

Dang it man "spanner??". Just like lorry, boot, bonnet and torch. My grandparents were from Kent. Thank you for the video. Very nicely done. Saved for future reference. 🙌

[YasiekYasiek]

James great video as always!
Just want to mention there is a bit easier way to determine the hight of the laser if you have manual z axis. Just put the piece of the wood angled to the bed so the slope rises with the x axis (let say for clarity, left side of the board on the bed right side lifted up ), so the burned line should get thinner to the right, than just measure the distance from the thinnest part of the line to the laser module.

[lorigilroy]

Your videos have been very helpful. I have the Atzer p5, my engravings have improved thanks to your videos. New problem is my laser beam will not turn on. Everything is working correctly and lined up but won't burn or engrave.

[PineView]

Fantastic video. I started here before going into anything else Laser related, this really showed me what to even look for when deciding on how to approach the subject as a whole. Glad I watched it, thank you.

[FlyBy]

very instructive!
For cutting, you can also manually lower the laser at each pass and therefore the focus (force a pause between each pass)

[rodzmas]

Thanks James, excellent video. So clear and thoroughly explained!!!

[doen.]

Very informative, with a beautiful presentation. Calm and to the point. Well done. Now I have to check out everything else you do.👍🏼

[rc]

Thanks James I found the problem it is the gantry, the rails the bearings run on are not true straight which makes the head unit wobble so slightly. Brand new unit it May something for you to discuss on your channel, I actually have the video of this happening.
Good channel thanks 👍

[transientaardvark]

Nice video, as always. A couple of slightly off-topic but related comments:
Firstly, it is worth stressing that $32 (like all the $ settings) is stored in non-volatile memory, so for CNCs that get switched between milling and lasering it is important to remember to keep this setting in sync with the tooling. A slightly more subtle thing here is that the behaviour of LaserGRBL slightly changes depending on the value of $32 that it sees in the controller it is talking to (it changes some options that it offers). That little thing once had me pulling my hair out for about an hour.
Secondly - and there is no limit to how many times safety nags can be repeated - unless you have good reason to think that your material is fine to cut with a laser, always assume the smoke and gas given off when you laser it is both poisonous (will damage you) and corrosive (will damage your machine). As I understand it, both plywood and MDF are particularly problematic in this respect due to the synthetic binders. If in doubt, lots of ventilation.

[icwilliamhartmann]

Very good instructional video. I took some notes and will return to watch it again if needed.

[stevenA]

This may help me with my laser. Seen a few things that I seem to remember, likes the lines at the beginning. Gave you a like.

[afiqzainal]

Hi sir. I have a problem using fibre laser. After laser it will produce black dot on zinc alloy nickel plated surface. Please help me. Also want to ask if is there any different between vertical vs horizontal laser marking pattern? Thanksss..

[guynotes]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. Being new to this, the information you have provided will make my learning curve much easier!

[ct]

Thanks for the info. I have a ComMarker B4 20w light engraving on stainless steel but if I have the same settings on and engrave, and then try to engrave again on the same piece, it will give a different output. Why do you think that happens? Do you think it's defective? I use LightBurn

[allabouthim]

I have the exact same LE-1620 you showed in the video, I may have used it 20 times in tiny projects. I've been doing dog tags lately with it and have only done about 12. Speed and power setting is 2000/95. Went to do a test print today and it hardly printed anything on the anodized aluminum. I've been playing with it a couple hours now and can't get it to do a decent job unless I do multiple passes and it still doesn't look right. I've checked the s-value settings with the firmware, it matches. I don't know what to do next, I definitely don't want to buy a new laser head. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.