PWM
It's my understanding that once the PWM is connected to the MG3, the digital display on the k40 (those with digital displays) will no longer function and it's the laser software (Lightburn) that controls the laser intensity. What if I don't connect the PWM? Can I use the MG3 and manually set the intensity in the same manner as I used the M2Nano board with K40 Whisperer? This would also allow the laser test fire button to work on the display as opposed to test firing in Lightburn. Is this possible?
Hi Mark,
yes, that sounds possible. Just don't connect the MG3 PWM output to anything, and leave the original PWM connection in place.
I'm really surprised you'd want to do that though. Perhaps for future enhancements, you could tell me what is it about the old process that you like?
- Do you like manually turning a dial?
- Do you like having a physical test fire button?
Thanks
Dan
Dan,
I actually do not want to do this. I was just curious if the board would work this way. The only benefit would be using the machine test fire button when aligning mirrors. My computer is a good 6-7 feet away from my laser. Thankfully, I do not have to align mirrors often.
By the way, I have the digital k40 laser with an analog amp meter installed. 28% on the display equals about 18ma on my machine. I never take it above that. I engrave at 7% and cut at 15% like 98% of the time for my projects (mostly 1/8" acrylic). I can't imagine what would happen if I took the laser to 100% on the display. I imagine it would be similar to a nuclear reactor meltdown. 🙂
ok, no worries Mark.
Regarding the analog amp meter, the different laser firing of the MG3 (relative to the original controller) means that the previous rules such as '28% on the display equals 18mA...' don't hold true anymore, although they may be approximate. Happy to go into details (which are somewhat technical) if you're interested. If you have a previous engraving on a particular material that was done at say 14% on the analog meter, you can try setting different burn strengths in Lightburn until you get the same burning effect, noting that the same burning effect may no longer show 14% on the analog meter.
Regards,
Dan