After every cut (and I never have issues with the cuts themselves), the glowforge cut head returns to home, but then gets stuck on ‘focusing’. I then have to turn it off and back on. When I turn it back on it always goes through the centering process, and then is ready to cut again. Then I make the cut and process starts over again. I’ve looked at other people’s issues but they don’t seem to be the same as mine. This problem is extremely consistent - it does it every time, and after turning it off and on I am always able to do another cut…but then it tries to focus again afterwards and gets stuck. The consistency of the issue and the fact that I am able to successfully do one cut is what confuses me compared to other people’s issues.
Have you gone through the lens cleaning–don’t forget the camera on the lid, too!
The GF always go through focusing and centering for every job after you tell it to “print” on the GFUI, and before the button glows/job can be started.
But bright light can affect the camera and this step, as can material left on the crumb tray–especially if where the head goes to focus is seeing an edge of the material and the crumb tray together. This should be easy to test by preventing the sun or lamp shining directly on the unit, and removing all material off the crumb tray when the job is finished.
All the trouble shooting steps listed (in other threads) may not identify your problem, but they can help confirm what it is not.
I went through being stuck on focus/centering due to a small magnet getting on the support just behind the head (cable runs over this).
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I feel a little dumb but yes it was in fact the lens that was super dirty. I didn’t think it would be because I just recently cleaned it, so I’m a little concerned it got so dirty so fast. But that seemed to have done it. Thanks!
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Glad it was an easy fix! Welcome to the club–we learn the most from “mistakes”! And different materials will require cleaning more often than others–like draft board that creates A LOT of dust & debris needs a much higher frequency than maple ply, for example. Acrylic may not create dust, but it can leave deposits on the lens. All in all, I’ve never waited 40 hours run time to clean… Be sure to check the exhaust fan & duct too to ensure gunk is not accumulating there, as gunked up fan or blockage if the exhaust will affect operation, too.
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