I did send a message to support, but I thought I would seek input from the incredible knowledge base here, too. I’m busy preparing for a vending booth at the upcoming 2nd Star Festival in Oregon in a week and a half, wand suddenly my machine started making a new strange sound.
Attached is a video of the sound that my GF pro just started making and it has me concerned. Everything seems to be working, but it started making this rather high pitched whining sound (seeming to come from the right side of the GF pro as I face it but I can’t be sure) in the middle of a job, and it seems it could have a problem. Thanks for any insights anyone can offer.
I can’t really tell from the video, but the intake is on the bottom of the right side of the machine. It creates a good amount of suction and likes to pull stuff under the machine - loose bits of paper, masking, etc. you might take a look under there and see if you can spot anything.
Wasn’t going to bring this up until you had tested the other, but I ran into a similar high-pitched whine in the middle of an engrave, and the cause was a build-up of crap on the front of the exhaust fan. Can’t be reached with a vacuum. You need to lean over the gantry with a good flashlight to check for any buildup. Be careful when you are checking it to not move the gantry too far forward. (And make sure the machine is off.)
It had to be cleaned by hand, using barely damp (not wet) long stemmed Q-tips or gun-cleaning swabs (better), and you have to be super careful not to push the gantry all the way to the front when you do it. Make sure that you do not move the gantry any further towards the front of the machine than it normally can reach for printing. Tape it in place if you have to, to keep it from moving any farther. I’m not kidding.
You can, by leaning over without resting on the gantry, just reach in to gently swab one blade at a time, the one farthest to the right side, then turn it gently with your finger and another will rotate into place for cleaning. Take your time, it took me a couple of days because I was dealing with adhesive as well as soot. Then make sure it sits open for a day to dry completely.
Or that might not be it…but it’s something to check. Good luck!
Yes – that is most definitely it. Cleaned a bit off a blade back there and then tried the machine again – sound is even louder LOL. Going to have to work at this and clean those blades as best I can… sheesh. There has to be a better way…
I did contact them about it when it first occurred, can’t remember what the suggestion was, but it was along the lines of vacuuming the exhaust. Problem was for me, I didn’t have a really good brush attachment for the vac at the time this happened (I’ve since acquired one) and the buildup was on the front of the fan, and sticky, so it wasn’t budging with what I was using.
I haven’t really seen anyone else report the issue. I know what caused it in my case and figured it was a one-off thing.
I am looking at the same thing you talk about – I vacuumed the hose side and did my best with the machine side of things – but it is sticky and caked on there so that didn’t do a lot of good on the inside. I worked at it a bit as you suggested with the Q-tips (and that is really challenging given the location and the size of my hands, etc.), and while still a ways to go, the sound already has abated from what it was. Your method (which I really appreciate) may be the only answer for this, but I think it is something GF should be aware of and think about. The machine side of the fan blades definitely get a residue build-up of which I was completely unaware.
