The fan cleaning process requires 3M Novec Electronic Degreaser which is available in Amazon and Digikey USA but not on the Canadian versions of either stores from what I can tell.
Where are non-USA folks getting this stuff?
Unfortunately, I don’t have an exact replacement product to recommend you. We chose this product because it is a non-flammable, electronics safe vapor degreaser. You may be able to find something similar, but we haven’t evaluated and approved any other products.
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I have had so many problems with the Novec it is for me unusable. I suspect that the reason it cannot be found in Canada is because of the frightful problems.
I have had to experiment and found that the Alcohol Hand Sanitizer with a minimum of excess colors or perfume is very effective at dissolving the sort of fumes that precipitate everywhere on both work and operational parts such as fans. It is not so different from the alcohol pads recommended for cleaning the lenses and mirrors. The fumes and chemical activity are far less threatening than the very toxic Novec that should not be used where people are breathing it.
I would very much appreciate if Glowforge run such experiments as to determine if it would damage electrical systems, or materials as it does do to MDF adhesive and let us know the results. I would think a small team to just figure and run tests to find what various materials do in a series of tests that included toxicity, electrical, materials and of course the gunk that are found in the Glowforge so everyone can have an easier time of it, us in using it and you folk in having fewer repairs that must be a considerable part of your expenses.
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What problems have you had with Novec? I saw someone say that it built up in corners and caused a gunk to form
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It is highly volatile and my fan had ceased spinning for all the gunk. There is no way I could get the machine outside so I tried to spray it down and push the mess out the exhaust vent. instead what it did was dissolve into a soup and as the Novec was dried out It turned the gooey Gunk into a hard and brittle piece of plastic making the fan like an insect in amber. In trying to break that up I must have damaged a connection so while I did get the fan to spin when pushed it rarely spun on its own. meanwhile the gunk hardened solid, was like broken glass that I was able to remove most of it with a vacuum cleaner.
I think that if you could dissolve the gunk and remove it before the Novec evaporated it could work but it is evil toxic stuff that they recommend only be used out of doors which is not possible in my situation.
Question: did you use the NOVEC while the fan was running? If sprayed without the fan moving the NOVEC will dissolve the material and will quickly turn back into a thick slop.
Haven’t read the label but I’m guessing the NOVEC uses a non-flammable non-conductive propellant. Wouldn’t want to spray something prone to a flash from a fan spark or other electronics.
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Novec was specifically non-flammable but that also helped make it so toxic. The Hand Sanitizer will probably burn but I think that the energy released by burning would be low and not subject to explosive reaction to a spark. In any case I have kept the Glowforge off and used the vacuum cleaner to move the air and evacuate any particles or fumes or liquids,
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