Laser Isn't Firing
Have you recently updated your Nighthawk firmware?
There have been some changes to how the laser operates with Nighthawk firmware version 2.3.
You can tell which version of the Nighthawk firmware you have by looking at the bar at the very top of Commander, after connecting to your controller.
In older versions of the firmware, the laser will turn on the instant it receives a command to turn on.
With version 2.3 and any future releases, the laser will only turn on if it has received an M3 or M4 (on) command, AND the machine has received a movement command.
The way the laser works in version 2.3 and onward is:
If in Laser control mode
If you click the “On” button in Commander, the command will be sent, but the laser will not fire.
If you click the “On” button in Commander, then jog the machine, the laser will turn on and fire at the requested power level.
This is a safety feature that is implemented at a firmware level and cannot be circumvented. It is to prevent the laser from being turned on and staying focused on one point, which has a high potential of starting a fire.
If you are setting up your job and need to power the laser to get it into focus you will need to follow the step above on how to fire it on v2.3. If you are simply running the job you will not need to do anything special as the laser will receive the required commands already without your input.
Please note: you may want to run a test of any laser job you have already saved on your Nighthawk as the new Laser control mode optimisations will change how your finished engraving looks from how it looked with older firmware versions
If in Spindle control mode
If your Nighthawk controller is set to Spindle control mode, the laser will operate the same as it has always worked on previous firmware versions, and you will not be able to use the new optimisations which are available to v2.3 users.
Check Power and Firing Mode
The first thing to check is that the laser is powered up and is ready to fire. If using one of our 15w/5.5w/2.5w or 1.5w lasers, you will need to press the button on top so that the light goes blue.If you have a green light, the laser is powered but it is in "safe" or "low power" mode, which means it will not fire at full power, it will only light enough so you can see a blue dot to get the laser into focus.
If you have the 30w laser, there is no "low power" mode, the laser is either Ready To Fire or Off.
Check your Job
If the machine is moving, but the laser isn't firing then it may be your job. This is the most common question we get regarding lasers.
Have a look at this image of our logo.
This is a simple black and white image within a white square. Depending on the settings you chose when making the job, the laser will start in one corner and move in a zig-zag pattern over the entire image however the laser will only fire when it needs to.
Below is an exaggerated image where the red line is the path the laser takes over the image and the blue is where the laser actually fires.
So from this you can see that the laser head will be moving across the image but will not fire until it reaches a spot that needs to be burned. If you give your job a little extra time you may find that it is actually doing exactly what it is supposed to, it just may not have reached the point where it needs to fire by the time you stop it.
Another option is that your minimum/maximum laser outputs are set incorrectly. For example, in Step 3 below we set the max power to 1000. If your laser job is set to the max being 255, then you will only be getting 25.5% power from your laser.
Check Laser Power in Commander
You may be trying to fire the laser at a power that is below the minimum needed to trigger the laser to fire.Head to the "Operations" tab in Commander and check to see that you are in Laser Mode. You can switch between Laser and Spindle by selecting the correct one in the drop-down menu box.
The Maximum Speed/Power is simply a scale reference and is not related to actual power. For lasers a good number to put here is usually 1000 or 255, though 1000 makes things a lot easier. Whichever program you are using to create your laser job will also need to reflect this number!
In the "Run Job" tab in Commander you will now see "Laser Control" with a few options. M3 is an ON command and the number will set the power. This is where having an easy number like 1000 will come in handy.If you choose M3 and 1000, then click ON, the laser will fire at full power. If you select M3 and 500, the laser will fire at 50% power. M3 and 100 is 10% power etc.
Through testing, we have determined that the minimum percentage for the laser to fire from a Nighthawk is around the 6-10% range, so if you are unable to get your laser to fire at a low number, try M3 and 70 for a low power laser beam.