2 years for the tube?

Everything Else
#1

I have to say I am very disappointed that my tube is only rated for 2 years at 3,200 dollars. This machine is not worth 1,500 a year average and I am very upset that you would pull one over on us. The worst thing a company can do is overprice their goods and repairs.

“The Glowforge tube is rated by the manufacturer for 2 years. We’re doing lifetime testing now to dial that in a little more closely.

The tube is covered under the warranty. Out of warranty, we’ll replace it and realign it for you for $499, including roundtrip shipping in the US. We’ll also have a replacement tube part available for purchase.”

#2

I’ve had to replace my tires too. How can the car company do that to me? Laser tubes wear out. The cost to replace it is $499. My tires cost more than that. Sorry, but this really isn’t a solid complaint IMHO.

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#3

A little confused. The 2 year expected life is not at all unusual for a CO2 laser. Actually, since you can’t operate it hot or overdrive it the expected life is longer than cheaper alternatives. And since it can be replaced for $499 or less the cost per year is $250.

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#4

The company didn’t deceive you, I guess you didn’t realize the laser tube is a consumable, like a lightbulb.

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#5

All the above, plus it’s been said ROUGHLY 2 years with heavy use, probably much more with light use. I’d consider myself a VERY HEAVY use person, running mine ~7hrs a day, 6 days a week, and mine is going strong after nearly a year. If it costs me $250 a year to run, plus electricity, I’ll consider myself pretty well off.

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#6

So on this note, is there anyone who has had to get a new tube yet? Not sure if anyone who’s had a :glowforge: since the early days has had the same machine this whole time or not, but if they have and are still getting heavy use out of it, it wouldn’t be long until it’s time.

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#7

all of the prerelease machines were returned. i think the oldest release machine out there is about 16 months old. i doubt you’ll see tubes wearing out until next year, and more likely middle of next year.

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#8

No one that I know of has had to replace the tube from wear yet, and it’s coming up on a year and three months since the first production units shipped. There have been a couple of bad tubes that popped. (Like any other light bulb.) Those were replaced under warranty. :slightly_smiling_face:

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#9

If you’re using it has part of your business then the replacement is considered a normal business expense. Also, if your prices include the use of the laser plus the rest of your overhead it should pay for it self before the time needs replaced. You can depreciate the cost of the GF on your business taxes.

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#10

In addition, what’s typically seen is not sudden death at the end of X hours of operation but rather a falloff in power. The lifetime number is the point where that falloff gets big enough to be a serious pain (at least as I understand it)

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#11

Is replacing the tube a user-level maintenance item, or something that will have to be done at GFHQ?

#12

They will do it for us for $499 as I recall.

Or they will sell you a replacement tube for you to replace. There was a fair amount of uproar last year when they suggested maybe only allowing factory replacement.

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#13

I have to say I am very disappointed that my tube is only rated for 2 years at 3,200 dollars. This machine is not worth 1,500 a year average and I am very upset that you would pull one over on us. The worst thing a company can do is overprice their goods and repairs.

One correction: the entire machine doesn’t need to be replaced, just the laser tube. So the cost isn’t $1,500/year, it’d be just the $499 tube cost every two years, or $250/year if the tube failed every two years. Tubes wear out based largely on usage, so if you’re a very heavy user the 2 years might apply, but hopefully that’s worth $250/year. And if you’re an occasional user, the tube should (on average) last much longer. Glowforge hasn’t had production tubes in the field for two years yet, so I don’t think there is any tube replacement data yet, so the two year lifetime is estimated (and is typical for other similar lasers), not measured, but we’ll see what happens over the next year. I’ve not heard of any tubes needing to replaced yet, and if the average lifetime is 2 years, you’d think a few would have needed to get replaced already.

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#15

Some of the things you can do to keep lengthen your tube life are:

  • keep its temperature as stable as possible, and dont let it run hot (not as much of an issue with GF)
  • use it often. Leaving a tube sitting kills it faster than regular use
  • keep it on clean power. If you have crappy power lines, try to make them less noisy
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#16

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