horizontal lines when lasering.

[JoAnne Nicholls]

Hello all.

I have a 25 watt versalaser (VL200) that likes to make horizontal lines on the work that I'm engraving.

I bought the unit used and didn't get a lot of training on it...I just found out that I had access to the versaLaser Advanced drivers that would allow me to adjust the power and speed levels :o. I was so excited!!!

I've been working on a project to laser a large image on 9-12 x 12 black granite tiles and have been having nothing but trouble with it. Before using the advanced driver everything I lasered on granite turner out really white--too much power??? So yesterday, with the advanced options, I tried adjusting the power level. I started with a 40% power setting and speed of 50 and got better results (less white) but now I can see horizontal lines across the entire tile.

I am at my wits end with this job. I need to have it done by next weekend and don't know how to solve the problem. Help, please!!!!!

[Clark Pace]

How long have you had it. Often times the rubber wheel (bearing) wear out and you start to get banding.

[Samuel Espy]

I have not done a lot of granite, but on my 30W machine, I have used settings in the range of 40-45 power and 100 speed. This is with a 250 DPI image with laser settings of 250 LPI and 500 PPI. So compared to my results, you may still be a bit high in total brought to the surface since your speed is 50. Your mileage may vary though. What about your other settings? Notice Clark brought up the word "banding". That is a term you should search for on this forum (via advanced search and only search the engraving forum). You will find numerous discussions on banding as it can be a real (and recurring) pain when engraving photos. It would help the experts on the forum to give better advice if you attach an image showing the "lines" in your engraved results. Looking at the actual pattern of lines can help people around here who have a lot of experience (not me) guess at likely causes. Banding unfortunately can arise from numerous causes--mechanical problems alluded to by Clarke (including worn motion system and even loose optics), inconsistent laser power output, etc. Good luck.

[Ron Gosnell]

Search for banding on this forum. There are a couple of really good posts.
Mostly talk about resolutions I believe. I think that will help you out.
OOps. Just what Samuel said above :rolleyes:

Gozzie

[Scott Shepherd]

Welcome to the forum JoAnne! Can you let us know what resolution was the photo when you sent it, and what Image Density you ran it at?

[Larry Robinson]

I don't know anything about Versa Lasers. However, I occasionally have that problem when the cone underneath my lens is on crooked and it deflects laser to give me that same problem as you mentioned.

[Junior hall]

Try to move your piece of material in a different location on the table and see if that stops it also.. I had a similar problem and i moved my material little to the center away from the edges and this stopped . I found out that when the laser moved to the left or right it would bump the side and make this happen of the skipping or the lines

[JoAnne Nicholls]

How would one check for this problem?

[JoAnne Nicholls]

The original colour image was 36" x 36" (42 mg @ 300 dpi). In corel, I split the image into 9 12 x 12 images that were 37 mg each at 300 dpi. I then used the software to create a b & w image that ended up being 1.55 mg @ 300 dpi. I sent the photo to the laser at 40% power and 50 speed. I didn't change the image density (that I know of)

[JoAnne Nicholls]

Will give it a try. Hopefully an easy fix!!

[JoAnne Nicholls]

321851Here's a pic of what is happening to my image when lasering.

[Scott Shepherd]

You need to contact Universal's tech support about that. Something is wrong (to me). I've never seen any horizontal lines like that. That's not banding, that's something completely different. Maybe someone here knows what it is, but a call to ULS and an email to them and they will get you going in the right direction. Either the driver is corrupt or you have a mechanical issue, is my initial long distance guess.

[JoAnne Nicholls]

Thanks. Will contact them tomorrow.

[Kev Williams]

That's not at all good--

I think your 'advanced driver' did more harm than good. You should have had power and speed adjustments with the old driver. The new driver seems to be "confusing" the machine.

I have a corrupt board in my LS900 because I tried up upload firmware to it from my Gravo7 software. Problem is, my machine's too old for that firmware, and it caused a problem that wasn't undone by reloading the old firmware.

Note that my machine can run from Gravostyle or Corel. As of now, if I ever run an engraving job of ANY kind from Gravostyle 5.3, it kills off the ability to do any vector work from either Gravo or Corel afterward. To fix it I have to delete then reload the driver, and all is well again, but only when using Corel. My rep tells me nothing can be done short of a several hundred $$$ rework of my main board. Phooey on that, Corel works just fine...

So, I AM familiar with what happens when a machine doesn't like a bad driver or firmware...

speaking of which, maybe you need a firmware update so the updated drivers work...

So yes, contact them as suggested! Hopefully it's an easy fix!

[Mike Null]

Just a wild guess but I would check the bearings. Since you didn't mention that this happens on other work that's probably not the problem but a general maintenance effort would still be worthwhile.