I finally got tired of repeatedly cleaning the air assist fan in the the course of a day and replaced the entire carriage plate. I know I will need to clean this new one but hopefully not several times in a day.
Here is my question: Is it safe to soak it in alcohol or a solvent (the air assist fan) to clean the old one to use as a spare? I mean, are there electronic parts in there that would get ruined? I’m thinking of trying it, as it is a total loss at this point. Ideas or suggestions?
What are you cutting that clogs it up so fast? I haven’t cleaned mine in 6 years.
wow, that’s crazy. i don’t clean mine all the time, but i do about every 18 months or so.
A few years ago, GF recommended a specific electronics cleaner as being safe for the main exhaust (although decidedly not for humans). You could search the forum for the exact name. Should work on the air assist fan, but I’m with the ones on this one — what on earth are you cutting? 
I’ve cleaned mine once in seven years.
Same here. Well…maybe twice. 
I can’t believe you guys don’t have to clean the air assist that often. When I was cutting MDF, I had to clean the air assist every couple of hours. Though with regular wood and acrylic, maybe I have to clean it a couple of times a month…but once in seven years? Holy cow, that is some clean material.
Sorry, I have no clue on the soaking it in alcohol. The 99% proof alcohol I have has a high evaporation rate, but I’m hesitant to soak anything electrical. I have taken apart the entire fan and cleaned it…but getting that little pin back in was a nightmare (dropped it somewhere on the floor… took forever to find). Since then, I haven’t taken it apart, but I use cotton swabs doused in alcohol to clean it-the problem is, that MDF stickiness never seems to go away…It’d be best to find a dry solution to cleaning it.
Literally never. I don’t do lots of mdf, but I do some.
Maybe it matters how effective your exhaust setup is? The interior of my Glowforge never really gets all that smoky, I can’t imagine how I would get enough residue on my fan to require cleaning on a regular basis.
I’ve also never cleaned mine… I probably should, but at this point the dirt might be structural.
I’m super impressed. The first time i cleaned mine, it was compacted. I had a 6-inch inline fan that vented out the window. It was literally glowforge, fan, then window, no bends, less that 2 feet total distance. But the mdf was awful- and i imagine all the pet hair the machine sucked in gave it extra mesh to cling to. I cleaned my machine sometimes daily, including having to take apart my external fan to clean that…it was so bad.
Since i stopped cutting mdf, i haven’t had these issues- I’m also keeping the pets out of my office… dog doesn’t like climbing 3 flights of stairs, but the cat is fighting to get in daily. 
I have to clean mine periodically. I do have an external fan which does help a great deal, but I get the air assist fan message a few times a year, especially if I’ve been cutting a lot of acrylic, and had to clean mine just last week. I usually use a pipe cleaner to clean mine out (forgot who on here told me about that - it’s been a life saver!). And I do a lot of mdf as well. I haven’t been making a lot of stuff lately though, except for stuff we’ve needed around the house.
Well to be honest I’m a very light user.
To answer your specific questions - yes, with 90% or higher alcohol you can generally successfully clean electronics without breaking them. There’s always a chance, but if the alternative is junking it right away it’s probably worth trying!
I have been using a lot of mdf and plywood with an mdf core. Not buying that again! I would clean it and then a few days later, same message of assist fan not spinning at the correct speed. As @chris1 stated, I think the dirt was structural. It was not possible to get it clean enough to work long term.
@dwardio I do have some of that electronics cleaner but man it is awful stuff. I will take it outside to use it. The instructions from GF say to take the whole GF outside to use it to clean the exhaust fan. That is NOT happening! It is way to heavy for me to move it anywhere.
I also have an external fan just outside the GF, then venting out the window, maybe 12 inches with no bends. I’m wondering if it might be time to replace the external fan.
I’ve never cleaned mine either. Or the tiny fan inside the head. I’ve been thinking I really ought to take that head off sometime and get a good look in there, but I continue to not have trouble (fingers crossed), so I’m not motivated.