I’m getting an amber light within just a few minutes of starting my machine. It was in the middle of a cut when the amber light first appeared. I have turned off, unplugged, cleaned, checked the ribbon, and still the light shows up. it is about 70 degrees in my room, with the window open. No sun is coming directly onto the room. I’ve got orders and a craft show to work on… I’m stressing out…
Hello @rodriguez,
Thank you for reaching out to us. I’m so sorry to hear your Glowforge is stuck with an amber button.
I extracted the logs from your Glowforge to investigate, and it looks like the amber button is appearing because the Glowforge is having trouble communicating with the printer head. There are two key connections I’d like you to check for me.
Could you please do the following?
- Turn off your Glowforge.
- Holding only the finished black surfaces, grasp the printer head as shown. Pull gently up and back to disengage the magnets and remove the head.
- There is a small tab in the center of the wire ribbon. Push down fully on the tab to release it, and gently pull the wire ribbon plug from the printer head.
- Take a clear photo of the gold pins inside the printer head where you just unplugged the wire ribbon. It should look like this.
- Pick up the printer head and wire ribbon. Make sure the tab on the wire ribbon is facing up. Slide the ribbon back into the head until it clicks.
- As shown, lower the printer head over the metal plate so that it rests next to the two round posts. Then push it gently away from you – you’ll feel a “click” as magnets pull the printer head until it sits snugly atop the metal plate.
- Pull the laser arm all the way forward.
- Reach over the laser arm, and to the left of the inside of the unit and you’ll see this circuit board:
- Take a photo of the circuit board, please use flash in the photo. If the cable I’ve indicated above with the red arrow appears to be loose, please reconnect it and try printing again. This cable should ‘click’ back into place.
- Turn your Glowforge back on. Let me know if the amber button goes away.
- Send me the photos you took in step 4 and step 9.
Once I have the photos, I’ll follow up with next steps. Thank you!
I went through the steps and the light is still on… I’ve attached some pictures as requested. Please let me know if I need to send more. Thank you.
Thank you for working through the instructions my colleague Morgan provided, and for sending over these images.
Based on the photos, I noticed that one of the cables on your circuit board may not be connected properly. When you have a moment, could you please reconnect the cable outlined below, and let us know if the same behavior occurs?:
@rodriguez, Thank for reseating that cable connection. Since you’re still getting the amber button, I’d like to take a look at a few more areas to help with our investigation.
Assuming you’re using a smartphone, try these tips for great photos:
- Use flash
- Zoom in using the digital zoom
- Hold the camera/phone far enough back to get good focus.
Here are the photos we need:
Motor on the laser arm (and surrounding):
Inside, left of machine:
Left side of front door:
Once the photos are posted, we’ll take a look and follow up with next steps. Thank you!
@rodriguez, Thank you for posting those additional photos. Unfortunately it looks like your Glowforge has an issue we won’t be able to solve remotely, and we’ll need to look at replacing your unit.
I’m going to send you a separate email with next steps. You should receive my email in a few minutes, but if you don’t receive it in the next 30 minutes please check your spam / junk mail folder. Once I know you’ve received my email, I’ll close this thread. Thank you.