Apologies from Maker Faire

I am so sorry for those who visited us this morning! Somehow last night, after we left, every plug got moved to one power strip. As a result, the printers on display were having mysterious errors that were cancelling prints when the cut started (the highest-power draw). It was also causing the booth wifi to fail so we thought that was the problem, and it took even longer to sort out. It took us nearly an hour to diagnose, so we had people waiting up to two hours (for the fix + through the line) for their print.

It’s a good reminder that you’ll need a regular household circuit for your Glowforge + air filter with nothing else on it, as both of them combined draw about 1600 watts combined during the absolute peak operation.

It’s a good learning we’ll explore further back in the office so your Glowforge will be even better - but it made things really pokey this morning and wasted people’s time. I apologize.

–dan

24 Likes

Eek! I’d hate to think it was intentional sabotage from a competitor.

5 Likes

I can’t imagine the horror of trying to make something like this work at a maker fair. Glad you got it sorted out.

4 Likes

I hate that it happened to you. Kind of sucks to have a problem when so much is riding on a great demonstration. Glad you got it figured out quickly.

2 Likes

Worst place in the world to try to demo something.

…I need to find the wiring diagram for the house, I hope there are two circuits in here.

(whew! clear!)

6 Likes

Interesting. So that combo will need a 25A circuit. Well 13.91A to be exact. 15A breaker would not give you enough ‘head room’. 15A @ 110V = 1650W. But for safety you should only use 80% of the advertized max rating. So 15A is about 1320W. And a 25A would leave you about 2200W.

5 Likes

I can’t imagine the frustration of that time. Nothing worse than pixie flow problems.

3 Likes

If 1600W is the peak draw, I think it should be fine, since that’s what the head room is for, right?

Also, 25A are not common, but 20A is (although only in kitchens and bathrooms, which are unlikely places to use a Glowforge… but to each their own!)

4 Likes

Right. But peak draw is nothing that is end user controllable. You upload a vector/bitmap to the cloud. Magic happens. Cloud uploads motion plan to Glowforge. Breaker trips on the second floor of the house.

The key word in Dan’s statement is ‘circuit for your Glowforge + air filter with nothing else on it…’ Which is somewhat out of the end users control also.

At anyrate. I am sure it nothing to worry about. Just a interesting how much power the GF pulls at full tilt.

1 Like

Yeah having the circuit clear is problematic as most office rooms only have one, and you’ll probably at least want to have a light on, if not a computer etc. plugged in.

Yet another reason I’m choosing to vent out the window rather than use the air filter :slight_smile:

3 Likes

Only 6A in Europe, so not a problem in the UK where we have 13A sockets on a 30A ring.

2 Likes

This incident leaves me wondering if I should have a dedicated plug dropped. Where mine is slated to live the plug already has quite a bit on it. Computer, laser printer (paper), monitors…

3 Likes

And to be clear. A single Glowforge or Glowforge + Filter will not require anywhere near that much. Guessing there is not a breaker in any public convention space as small as 15A. Mostly residential lighting. Booths were probably sharing circuits.

6 Likes

I’m normally a diy guy, but that sounds like a prof job. Thanks for the info.

1 Like

Multiple booths including one with multiple Glowforges …
I’m not that concerned.

4 Likes

That’s what I was concerned about as well - mine’s even more heinously overloaded. (Computer, TV, couple of 3D printers, couple of ink printers, massive monitor, couple of digital cutters, space heater, couple of fans…I forget and plug in the vacuum to the wrong spot and the whole thing blows.)

Just talked to hubs though, (quicker than finding the wiring diagram)… the outlet where the laser will live is on an upstairs bedroom circuit, which isn’t going to have anything on while it’s running, so we’re good. :slight_smile:

5 Likes

I’m pretty lucky: other than major appliances, all the house circuits are 20A. Even so I wouldn’t want additional pulls on that circuit. I think the peak draw was mentioned pretty early on, which is why I decided to put my unit in the laundry/furnace room. Only potential competing items are the washing machine and the cat’s motorized litter box. Hmmmmm, run laser vs do laundry vs let cat use box in auto mode. I know which one I’m gonna choose!

2 Likes

I am sorry for that. Probably more frustrating for the Glowfolk than many in line. It is hard for littles to have patience when there isn’t a Roller Coaster at the end; but I’m a bit sorry that I couldn’t be there to wait a couple hours and see it in action.

The power discussion makes me happy that I made the mess required to achieve my office… From earlier power discussion

3 Likes

So… what about without the air filter? I’m in a rental and I don’t think I can go adding circuits or wiring!

1 Like

Easy piece of mind test for those that think they may have a problem.
The simple thing to do is check you breakers most of them should be 20amp, if they are 15 amp, you still will probably be ok as long as you have nothing else running on that circuit.
Easy test go get your hair drier, most are 1500watt the one I have is 1800watt and plug it in to the outlet where you want to use your Glowforge run it for say 15 minutes if it doesn’t trip you should be good to go.

3 Likes