Ortur 10w laser wiring without adapter board

Any ground pin on your board will work. You don’t need to use a specific ground pin. If it is not taken, I’d probable use the ground pin two pins to the left of PC9.

Sorry I wasn’t able to answer sooner. Looks like some stuff has gotten covered already. As noted, I am pulling the PWM signal from PC9. I have 24 volts coming from a separate power supply, and the power supply and SKR Pro board are sharing a ground.

I chose not to cut the cable that goes to the laser. Instead, I 3d printed a housing that holds 6 dupont connectors in the correct configuration and plugged the cable into that. Like so:

I can provide the stl if you want to print one, but of course you can just tape them or cut the cable or do it however you want.

You have to wire 24v into two of the pins, ground into two, and then one for the pwm. If you need help figuring out the pins, let me know and I’ll see if I can dig up what I did.

I don’t currently run the air through the cable chain, but mainly because I haven’t taken the time to do it - you might be right that there could be some restriction. I just haven’t thought about it. I got everything working and then just started making stuff lol.

The 4 pin xlr has beefy pins. I think they were rated at 125v5a. I think that’s enough for the router. These are the ones I bought: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B015K3Z6CS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Oh, I almost forgot - you don’t need the board at all! It’s just an adapter to make it easier to connect to different pre-made laser machines. If you’re adapting to an MPCNC, just wire direct.

I just got done making these cool cups for our upcoming Alpaca Llama Show Association Grand Nationals. I’m making some others that will be actual awards given out.

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One more thing - you will need a 24v power supply that can provide at least 5 amps. I bought this one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B018RE4CWW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The power supply that came with the laser is NOT enough to power it by itself. It is meant to augment the power supply that would already be on an Ortur or other laser machine.

Wow - I’m smacking my forehead. Noob mistake. I just finished my control box and shoehorned the little thing that came with that laser into the setup… all without actually checking the output. :man_facepalming:

So - new questions for the braintrust. I have a beefy 12V Meanwell I stripped out of an old delta printer that I’m currently using as my main power supply. 12V at 29.7 amps. I see there is a 12V input on the laser board. I could jump 12V and GND to two pins on input 1 and bring the PWM from PC9. Does this board step the 12V from input 1 up? (Clearly not an electrical engineer, so I’m sure I’m using the wrong term. Happy to learn. I’m coachable.) Seems like I have power to spare, I just need to convert it.

I’m assuming I could hook this up and check the current across each of the 24V pins? If I’m getting at least 2.5A on each I’m good?

Alternative would be to get a 24V big enough for everything? (The throw money at it solution.) Looks like I could run the SKR Pro board, steppers and drivers at 24V (at least preliminary examination)?

Thanks for the link. If I get to the point I’m running 24V separately, I’ll probably cut and solder, but that small round connector makes me nervous that its proprietary.

I think that 12v on the laser adapter board is for lasers that take 12v, since that board is used for all their different sized lasers. It wouldn’t step up the voltage. According to Ortur support - the board is only to make hooking up to existing production machines easier and the only circuitry on it is to check for correct voltage and reverse connections. Most step-up and step-down converters I’ve seen (i.e., cheap ones) can’t handle the kind of current we’re talking about. A 24v 5A brick (i.e. laptop style) is $20 on amazon. The Meanwell I’m using is $25. There are probably cheaper ones than those. Most computer power supplies have a 24v rail with plenty of power.

I don’t know the pros and cons of powering everything off the same power supply. I do like having the laser power separate. The laser is noisy (screaming fans), so I like to have it off until I’m ready to burn. I have everything on an individually-switched power strip.

I guess you could have a switch somewhere in the circuit going to the laser to just turn off its 24v, but I’m happy with my way.

I think I came up with my dupont connector hack before I learned I didn’t need the adapter board, so I didn’t want to cut off the JST connector if I might end up needing it. By the time I learned I didn’t, I had already gotten it all hooked up to the xlr.

I’ll be interested to hear what direction you go with everything. Let me know if there are any questions I might be able to answer.

I’ve never seen a laser module that takes multiple voltages, and I doubt the laser adapter board modifies the voltage, so you should feed your laser whatever voltage it says on the board or specifications.
It sounds like you have a laser powered by 12V. Assuming voltages match, you can hookup your laser to the same power supply as your control board as long as you can provide enough current…and 29.7A is more than enough.

Based on @karltinsly posts in this topic, I recently hooked up a laser module completely bypassing the adapter board, and had no issues. This may not be true for all modules. Mine is a NEJE laser module.

If your laser and control board do not share a power supply, you will need to provide a ground connection between the laser and the control board. If you share a power supply, a separate ground connection should not be necessary.

The Ortur 10w does have two voltage inputs - one for each diode - but they each have to be 24v and capable of at least 2.5 amps. They can both be powered off of one power supply as long as it has at least 5 amps.

As someone once said: “Post Pictures.” (Maybe more than once.)

Here’s my new control box v0.1. I needed to get everything covered and protected from dust. I don’t have a dust shoe yet. If the 24v Power supply would eliminate the need for the board, then I may be able to shoehorn the supplemental 24V into that spot. I have a 70mm and a 50 mm fan pushing air through the enclosure from the positions I thought least likely to allow dust ingress.


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It looks like the supplemental power supply is the way to go. I want the laser switched separately so I can completely exclude anything involving the laser when using router, pen, or drag knife.

Thanks all.

BTW - Awesome work on the mugs. Looks like you have a nice 4th axis setup. Are you “happy” with your laser setup at this point? (Loaded question I know.)

Nice control box! You might consider some sort of shield or shroud to protect from the worst of the dust - it’s definitely going to get a lot of it in that location (mine is in a similar location so I know). You might also want to print some shrouds to go over your fans and point their intakes completely away from the router. I’d suggest straight down. Here’s one of mine - the fans are on the back side of the LCD mount, pointed right at the source of all things dusty, so I created a shroud that redirects the intake to over the LCD.

The Meanwell power supply I linked is pretty small and should fit in place of the adapter board - if not laying down, it could go on its side, as well.

My 4th axis is one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5DF88VB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It turned out to be pretty limited in capability so now it’s a heavily modified one of those.

I’ve only only had the rotary for about a month but have gotten some decent results. I bought a miniature lathe chuck to design a chuck style rotary, but so far have not found anything I couldn’t do with this roller (with my mods) so the chuck is in a drawer for now. FWIW I don’t recommend this rotary axis - there are better designs for similar price.

I am pretty satisfied with my setup at the moment but I’m already planning the next steps. I plan to build a dedicated corexy laser machine out of old parts I have laying around. Advantages would be higher speed, easier to store when not in use (if that ever happens), and I wouldn’t have to tie up my MPCNC with laser duty. I might make a couple, since a machine dedicated to rotary work could be the size of a shoeshine box. I could just swap the laser between them. Or run my old 3.7 watt on one and the 10w on the other.

The main thing is I like the more durable items I can produce with the laser, and the ease of use. There are a ton of possiblilities for media - wood, stone, glass, metal - and a lot of it is relatively inexpensive. I like carving stuff too, but I still have a lot to learn and I find carving trickier to set up and do well. I’ve only had the laser for 6 weeks and already cranking out stuff worthy of gifting or selling.

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Thanks for all the info and tips. Great idea on that fan deflector. And those mugs are amazing.
Is The ortur laser a decent one to start with ?

I can’t claim to be an expert in all things laser. I have had a 3.7w laser for several years, but hadn’t used it much recently. I just got the 10w, but really like it so far.

I’ll tell you what @vicious1 mentioned the other day in another laser discussion - he said that for grayscale etching, you’re better off with a lower powered laser, because it will have more precision between barely etching and burning right through, which would give a wider range of grays. I’m sure this is probably true. However, I don’t plan on doing a lot of etching grayscale pics. Maybe at some point, but not now. I’m more interested in cutting and burning black and white images at the moment.

Because those are the things I’m interested in, I LOVE the 10w laser. It’s a lot of cutting power for less than I paid for the 3.7w years ago. So yes, I recommend getting the Ortur LU2-10 laser. BTW I got it for $20 less than on the Ortur site from these folks: 10W LU2-10A Laser Module for Ortur & Aufero Laser Engraver

Another thing - besides the laser - that has been making this latest foray into light amplification is Lightburn. Seriously, if you buy the 10w or ANY laser, get Lightburn. So simple and yet sooooo powerful. I’m doing all my design work right in Lightburn. I have a camera set up so I can put material on the table, take a picture - which appears in Lightburn - and then just arrange my design exactly where I want it. Also has built in tools for managing artwork, burn settings for different materials, rotary settings - it’s amazing, and I would not be enjoying myself half as much if I didn’t have it.

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Thank you so much for your time and info it’s greatly appreciated.
I have learned so much in the forum. What a great group.

Hello, please tell me what is the voltage of the PWM signal on the laser module LU2-10A?

How does the rotary tie into the system? Replace the Y axis? Then calibrate steps in lightburn

I just got my Neje E40 mounted and figure I might as well know how to throw a 4axis on it, since it opens up project options.

Thanks

1 Pin to the left?

I assume this won’t be sufficient to ‘tie the grounds together’ and I should add a
Jumper from the negative board power supply terminal to the negative of the laser power supply too?

I’m just a hobbyist with electronics, but this is my understanding and experience: no, you don’t need to also tie the power supplies negative terminals together. A single wire between your laser ground and any ground pin on the SKR Pro board is sufficient. And that ground wire can be small since there is no significant current being pulled. I run separate power supplies for my laser, and all I have is a single, small wire connecting the laser ground to my Rambo board.

On the other hand, if you directly tied the negative of both power supplies together, you would not require another ground wire, so you would only have a single wire from the laser to the control board.

By ‘laser ground’, you mean the negative PWM wire from the laser to PC9 negative?

Thanks for the info and clarification!

Yes and no. If a laser does not have a separate control board, there are usually only three connections: power, ground, and signal. Ground is not a “negative PWM wire” since it also is the ground for the power supply. If your laser comes with a control board, the plug for the PWM wire is usually 2-pin and is paired with a ground connection for convenience, but it is just wired to the ground of your laser. There is nothing that sets it apart as a special PWM ground.

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Got it, thanks!

Yes, it just replaces the Y axis. I have a dual endstop setup, so both Y motors need to be disconnected, and one of those cables connected to the rotary axis. I use two 4pdt switches to accomplish this without having the plug/unplug the cables each time.

In Lightburn, there is a setting called Enable Rotary, and in the Rotary Setup you enter the diameter of the rollers, and the mm per rotation - you would think that would just be the circumference of the rollers, but I think it turned out to be different. I calibrated the mm per rotation using the technique described by the Louisiana Hobby Guy in a video on setting up the rotary. Once everything is set up and dialed in, switching between rotary operation is as simple as turning off the power to the control board, flipping the switches, powering back on, and toggling the Enable Rotary switch in Lightburn. My rotary stays connected and sits off to the side when I’m not using it - though if I put my router back on, I will probably disconnect the rotary and put it somewhere away from all the dust and chips.

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