Laser function in a LongMill

@bhale Iā€™ll keep that in mind, Brad. It may be throwing good money after bad, though. I can use it as is. I just cannot do anything that is not a continuous burn.

100mm/min at 100% power and 4 passes. I am still working on optimization and have some new lenses to try, so I hope to improve on that.

Have you added air to it?

Yes, I have air, although Iā€™m still trying to figure out the right amount.

It does not have a button to my knowledge. I use LB to ā€œfireā€ the laser.

I donā€™t know if there is an issue of too much air, but I couldnā€™t believe how much that helped. What I have noticed on the bb plywood is that there seems to be strands that just wonā€™t burn completely through no matter how slow or how many times you burn it. Basswood seems to be more consistent for me but it is harder for me to find.

I have the same issue with some areas not cutting or burning (i.e. getting darker) more. I was thinking it might be due to variations in the glue.

@Heyward43; @stevendq
I strongly recommend that, when you get your lasers, before you begin to lengthen wires, test the ā€œweakā€ light button on it. I did not do that, and am paying the price.
There is a small button the driver board that, when pressed, is supposed to reduce the power to the laser so that you can get your piece set where you want it. When you press the button, a small red led flashes. When you are satisfied that you have the piece where you want it, you press the button again to return to full power. Lightburn has a similar function built into it.
On my laser, I press the button, the led flashes, but the laser does not reduce power. Similarly, the function does not work in LB.
(I still have the other PWM issues, too.)
I have been back and forth with Banggood. They reply very quickly. First, they asked for a video showing the problem. They asked that I put it online somewhere and send a link. I did that. Now, they want me to send the video as an email attachment. I cannot do that. The video is 68Mb in size. They say that they want to forward the email to their vendor. I think this is just stalling. They can send the link to the vendor, who can then watch it online.
Clearly, I am in a weak position, having lengthened the wires. You may want to try yours before lengthening the wires so that you are in a stronger position to return than I am.

Absolutely. My laser showed up yesterday and my goggles are showing up today. Next week hopefully, I will be checking it out to make sure it works as it is supposed to. I feel your pain.

Thanks Grant for the heads up. Since mine wonā€™t be here for another 3 weeks Iā€™m hoping all will be resolved before it get here.

IF they are located in China they may not be able to access certain sites(like google, or videos hosted on google?)

@justinbouchardw You could be right, Justin. I pointed them to my dropbox site. At any rate, it seems that, even though Banggood accepts that the unit is defective they will not replace it. Their latest excuse if that they have none ā€œin the warehouseā€. They still advertise them on their site, but they have none. They have advised me to write to China, but did not provide any contact information.
Iā€™ve pretty much spent all the time on this that I intend to. Iā€™m going to contact Paypal to see what they will do. They have much more clout than I do, Iā€™m sure.

Well dangā€¦I just ordered the ā€œlastā€ one. Hopefully itā€™s actually in stock. Otherwise I was looking to get this one.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07VHJ7JNW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_wDerFbSSV94VD

About $90 moreā€¦but I trust Amazon a bit moreā€¦

@justinbouchardw I think that you will find that they have it in stock, Justin. This guy has been jerking me around from the start. He does reply quickly, but always to say something different. This is my first order from Banggood. I guess this is the price of trying to go cheap. I paid less than $100 for mine and Iā€™ve seen it on sale since then for $60, so the Amazon one is much pricier.

I paid $150 for mine!

@justinbouchardw I expect that you got a more powerful unit than mine.

Itā€™s a miracle! When I refused to start communicating with a province in China, Banggood miraculously re-stocked my laser in their warehouse. What an incredible, fortunate coincidence for me. Of course, I have no assurance that they will ship me one, only that they have them to ship.
My first and last experience with Banggood.

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Anyone know if theys a limit on how long you can run the laser ? Light so it doesnt over heat or anything ?

I am having the same problem as @gwilki. I have now tried 2 different lasers. One the same as Andy had and an endurance laser. I have also reflashed the longmill control board to ensure it was up to date. The laser is either fully on or not on at all. I have tested both lasers with another board (old works laser board) and own works for both lasers.

@chrismakesstuff I am wondering if there is something wrong with the longmill control board. Is there a way to test if the longmill board is actually passing the signals? The most I have is a multimeter to test with. Any help would be appreciated.

@Kyfe Thatā€™s good to know, Kyle. I tested my laser with two different Long Mill controllers and the results were the same. I figured - maybe wrongly - that the chances of two LM controllers being bad were less than the chance that the laser driver was bad.

Also, others here are getting correct results with their lasers and the LM controller, so I know that it is possible to make this work.

Like you, I only have a multimeter to test output. From reading, ideally we need an oscilloscope.

@chrismakesstuff Any thoughts, Chris?