Air filter deliveries

[rhgrafix]

Is anyone receiving the air filter that we’ve been waiting for? The wait time barely reduces and this month it actually got longer for me, it seems like this means that they are not making any. I’m curious how long the other GF owners are waiting. I ordered my GF Pro in; I think it was Oct 2017 and received it mid Feb this year (2018), the filter wait ranges between 5 months and 3 months, month after month. Please post your wait time, I want to know if this is normal. Has anyone ordered and received a filter for a Plus or Basic version?
Thanks,
R.L. Hamm

[drelleum]

As far as I know nobody, not even the original backers have gotten an air filter yet

[jeffarazzi]

I ordered on day 19 of the initial backer campaign and mine will supposedly ship the end of October. Last I heard, they didn’t have a prototype that was up to the filtration quality they wanted, so I’d guess they aren’t going to start shipping until 2019.

[rpegg]

It seems like a believable argument but wouldn’t put a lot of faith in forum speculations. As far as I can remember there has been no official or unofficial discussion by the company as to the performance of any prototype or pre-production filter unit.

@dan

we’ve uncovered additional schedule challenges

Of course it is always possible that there have been off the books discussions with company employees at Maker Faires that has not been reported here.

[rbtdanforth]

Yikes! Mine went from August to September over a year but just jumped to the end of November!

[jeffarazzi]

The last mention of a working prototype was when Dan said their prototype wasn’t working as well as they had hoped and brought in an industry expert to redesign it. I feel that post was sometime between Nov 2017 and Jan 2018, (at that time, my filter ship date moved to April 2018).

I’m still on the fence if I’m going to take the filter or take store credit instead. I keep thinking that if I take the GF to an event, I’ll need it, but am I really going to take the GF to an event? Sure I could buy it later, but it will be more expensive.

[rhgrafix]

Thanks everyone, I do want it to work well so I guess we just wait…

[blgp]

S*** my date changed to the end of November (before it was July)!
Same Game every year, I really hoped not to experience the delivery-delais again!

[rpegg]

Thanks. Remember a Dec 16 post about working with an environmental expert but maybe I missed a comment saying the filter wasn’t working to their standards. I accept your comment as truth but if anyone remembers the specific post would like to check it out for exact wording. I don’t want to mangle the intent in my future posts.

[AhnoldZ]

I remember the post that said the performance wasn’t up to their expectation. I’ve been searching for it, but haven’t found it yet.

[public2]

I also pretty clearly remember a post saying that the delay was due to the performance of the filter being below expectation. Part of the reason I remember it is because it was frustratingly vague as to whether it was the prototype design that was not performing to spec or production units were not performing like the prototype. I cannot find this post either, but interestingly, I did find a reference to a post by Dan from October 10, 2017 – which is around the right time – called “Air Filter Update”. As far as I can tell, that post no longer exists.

I can’t say for sure if Dan deleted a post because it actually gave some information, but it would surprise me not at all.

In search of this, I came across some other information-like morsels from Dan in the forums, which I collect for you here so you don’t have to hunt for them the same way I did:

November 2016:

Air samples from our early Air Filter units are testing even cleaner than commercial units we’ve been testing that cost five times as much.

March 2017:

Pro and Air filter continue to move forward as well. We have the first factory-produced Pro units in the office, [emphasis mine] and air filter builds are scheduled to start at the factory soon. Expect these to take a while to get more public exposure, though - our safety and user experience teams need to finalize their manuals before we show them being used.

This would seem to indicate that the problems were with production units – so why wouldn’t Dan say so in response to direct questioning many times?

April 2017:

Air filter

Whether you went for Basic or Pro, the vast majority of you ordered an air filter with your main Glowforge unit. You can see the first factory-built air filters here, from the front (first picture) and back (second picture). You can see the exhaust on the right hand side, and a small air intake on the back. The rear picture does not show the exhaust input on the far right, because as you’ve gathered from this update so far, I’m a pretty hit-or-miss photographer.

image.jpg796x340 83.6 KB

June 2017:

We’re now shipping production units. We’re incredibly proud of how they turned out. Some of you have yours already. Some of you will get yours ahead of our latest schedule - and, I’m so frustrated to say, some of you will receive yours up to three months later. Our updated schedule for final, production units is:

Now: Glowforge Basic deliveries underway.

June 30: Glowforge Pro shipments start.

September 30: Air Filter shipments start.

October 31: All Basic and Pro orders placed by 10/26/2015 shipped.

November 30: All Basic and Pro orders shipped.

December 29: All Air Filters shipped.

I’m excited to tell you we’re shipping, but pained to tell you about the schedule change because I know you’re counting on receiving your Glowforge. I apologize.

…

Air Filter

As you can imagine, a device responsible for removing smoke and odors from the air needs to be meticulously tested, and we’ve spared no expense in testing our Air Filter exhaustively. Unfortunately, that’s taken longer than originally slated, and our Air Filter production is running behind schedule.

While our Air Filters have been in development, we’ve been using these enormous, $3,000 industrial ventilators made of folded sheet metal in the office. I can’t tell you how excited we are to be getting rid of them. They take up floor space, make a ton of noise, and they stay on constantly. And if you do turn them off and then forget to turn them on before you print, your print will fail when the Glowforge detects that something’s wrong. We’re so happy to be making you something that just works.

And it’s not like it’s complicated to use, either. Your Glowforge has only one button, but the Air Filter doesn’t have any. It talks to your Glowforge to know the perfect fan speeds, runtimes, filter status, and more. It automatically powers itself down when it’s not needed. If you use Proofgrade material, the Air Filter can measure its airflow precisely to match the needs of your print. In fact, if your filter should ever be accidentally disconnected or unplugged, it coordinates with your Glowforge to pause the print while you set it right.

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Also June 2017:

The filter combines a HEPA particulate filter with activated carbon.

October 2017:

Air filter development has been delayed, and will not complete shipping in December. Our production schedule is that air filter units will start the shipping process in January.

Also October 2017, in response to a request for more information about the reasons for the filter delay:

Unfortunately no - we’re not able to share technical and production matters in any detail before we’re shipping production units. That’s because as interesting as it is to our customers, it’s even more interesting to the companies out there who admire what we do and wish to be more like us. Many of you will remember that our explanations got a lot more concrete after shipments started for the Basic, and then again for the Pro - it’s the same for the Air Filter.

Feb 2018:

We’re confident we can deliver [the filter], but unfortunately I don’t have any more detail to share with you about our production process. There’s a lot of complexity to building a great air filter, and as we did with the Glowforge Pro and Basic, we’re opting to take more time to do it right rather than rushing it out as soon as we can. I think ultimately that will make more customers happier than if we hurried, but I apologize for making you wait so long for your delivery.

Note that, as with all dates, this is the latest forecast we have for your unit, and others may have a different forecast.

May 2018:

(In response to a question about whether any filters showed up at Maker Faire, given that the lack of any at World Maker Faire the previous year was one of the early indicators that the filters were not on track:)

We’re not going to show our filter until it arrives on customers’ doorsteps… as you point out, our customers are not the only ones interested in laser air filter technology.

Given that photos of units were shared more than a year earlier, with the exhaust and air intakes helpfully pointed out, this explanation falls rather flat.

June 2018:

Unfortunately, we’ve uncovered additional schedule challenges for both air filter & international shipping. We don’t have updated ship dates yet, but will by next week. At that time, they’ll be updated at glowforge.com/account/ , where we keep the most up-to-date shipping forecast information we have available. Of course, should you decide you can’t wait any further, you can email support@glowforge.com to get a refund (on either your air filter or on your international Glowforge delivery).

[jbmanning5]

@public2

I did find a reference to a post by Dan from October 10, 2017 – which is around the right time – called “Air Filter Update”. As far as I can tell, that post no longer exists.

I can’t say for sure if Dan deleted a post because it actually gave some information, but it would surprise me not at all.

It’s not a conspiracy.

Air filter date

I just updated the October announcement - we’re expecting to start the shipping process for air filters (meaning first emails go out saying they’re ready) in January. We’re working on the first batch of email schedule updates that will reflect that, but it affects lots of people so I wanted to be sure it was posted here.

[rpegg]

Turns out we were both right. The information about the filter performance issue was in an email to filter customers. As far as I can tell it wasn’t in an official forum post, though it was posted by a forum member. I didn’t order a filter so did not get that email.

[jeffarazzi]

I know I saw it somewhere! I was at the point thinking that maybe it was a live video chat or something else outside the site since it wasn’t showing up in search. The search feature in the forum can be hit or miss, but it was bothering me that I couldn’t find it. I starting to think it was the Mandela Effect (or whatever it was called in the last season of the X-Files).

I would assume once they get a working prototype filter unit, they will beta test with select users (either public or private beta). Maybe someone who does nothing but leather to get an idea of how well and how long the filter lasts. (The last time I tried to do leather I have a great idea what wet, burnt dog hair probably smells like. Yes it was PG and made me turn down a paid project involving wool in the GF).

I know there was a couple of questions asked several times about the heat the filter produced. Would the filter increase the temp of air being sucked into the GF by a degree or two? or would back pressure running through the filter be an issue in high heat situations?

[rpegg]

Remember a post from dan about the air filter having it"s own exhaust fan(s). If the design is working correctly I wouldn’t think any back pressure is created.

[jeffarazzi]

I don’t know. I just remember that being one of the questions that wasn’t answered.

[public2]

@rpegg

The information about the filter performance issue was in an email to filter customers.

What was the date of that email? I can’t find it.

[rpegg]

I received an email specific to my Pro Glowforge delivery status on Oct 12th 2017. In my version it did not mention the filter because I did not order a filter. Assume those that ordered a filter received a modified email with text similar to that below. The date of the email may have been the same, or not.

@markwkruse

My official “delivery update” email states:
“I do have one piece of bad news. Production on the Glowforge Air Filter you ordered has been delayed, and is estimated to ship to you on 04/18/18. The design is not performing as well as you deserve, and we don’t want to take it to production until it’s every bit as good as your Glowforge printer. This is still a rough date, and we’ll be working to refine it. You’ll have the choice of receiving your Glowforge printer immediately and using a window or dryer vent for the exhaust until your Air Filter arrives, or holding delivery until it is ready.”

[public2]

That’s weird. I did not get my email until October 25, and it stated:

We now have a new, estimated shipping date for the Air Filter you ordered. The Air Filter is running behind schedule and has not started production, so the date provided is a more rough estimate, and we’ll be working to refine it.

You can now find the shipping estimate for your Air Filter on your Account Page on Glowforge.com.

I am a filter customer; I ordered on Day Two.

Thanks for the helpful response.

[markwkruse]

I received the updated email on shipment on 10/10/17. Everyone has a different date for scheduled delivery. See below from DAN replying directly to my post via e-mail to me:

Dan replied to my post with the following:
dan glowforge@discoursemail.com Unsubscribe
10/11/17
to me

dan Staff
October 11

markwkruse:
Production on the Glowforge Air Filter you ordered has been delayed, and is estimated to ship to you on 04/18/18.

That’s the date your filter is scheduled for delivery - others have different dates, starting in January.