Lets try to identify the lower operating temperature limit. The official operating range goes down to 60F but that’s not when the “Too Cold” error and pause occurs.
Last year, before the “Too Cold” warning was enabled, I received an amber light somewhere around 50F. Don’t know if it was because of the temperature or another issue. It did not reoccur the rest of the winter, but I also never again operated that low.
It’s currently windy and below freezing outside. There are two wireless temperature sensors inside my GF both reading 57F. I was able to perform a cold power up and immediately do a short engrave with no errors. So 57F seems to be OK.
Edit: Works fine at 50F, though I did get a quick amber light during calibration. First time I had seen that color light in a year. No warning yet.
Feel free to add your data. Keep in mind that a GF that has been on for a while will have a significantly different coolant temperature than the actual room temperature. A cold start and quick cut or engrave will probably be the most valid test.
Got a quick amber light during initial calibration at 50F. It went away and the unit is engraving. Not sure if the light was because of the temperature or not since the computer was off. But that’s the first amber light I have seen in a year.
Perhaps. But pretty sure it’s based off of coolant temp not ambient and there is no indicator of coolant temp anywhere. If your workshop was 38 degrees and cooled the fluid to that level, but you started working when it was 55 degrees and the fluid hadn’t warmed to ambient, an ambient temp threshold does little to help. Same goes for too hot.
Yet the threshold is as close an answer as we can get. I understand that we’re up against a lot of environmental conditions. On top of that, electronic thermometers tend to have a +/- 1 or 2 C, so it’s really a rough idea no matter the conditions.
My point is that it seems that anything GF support tells us should be at least as clean as our experimental data, given all the analog interference sources that we have.
GF might give us the limits. But history has shown me that they won’t. Have asked before at different times, both when it was warm and when it was cold. Only thing they seem to parrot back is the range in the manual.
I fully expected that there would be errors in the electronic sensor. I used two sensors to hopefully reduce the chance that one sensor was an outlier. Both sensors seem to report the same value. Still might be off, but less likely.
The unit will heat up quickly after it is in use. The numbers I am reporting are immediately after power up and without any room heating. The Glowforge laser had been off for at least 8 hours for all tests. Two sensors inside the unit, though not laboratory grade sensors.
At some point when actually cutting/engraving intake air temperature will win out. It might require a comically low temperature to do so, but there’s a break point. Someone ship a GF to McMurdo and we’ll see.
It’s complicated… I mean that’s why it’s an official guideline. Looking for the true edge seems like an unnecessary risk? Just stay in the guidelines and get to cuttin’?
I assume that the company has set the Too Cold limit to keep the unit safe and not affect tube life. At least that is what they claim for the Too Warm limit.
The only reason I am searching for the limit is because my 1000 sqft basement is unheated and usually stays in the 45F to 55F range for the entire winter. Even when the wind is howling and temp falls below zero Fahrenheit. Rather not waste an hour or more every day waiting for a space heater to get the fluid up to temp if it is already above the limit. The upper floors of my home are heated by a wood stove. Electricity is not free, wood just takes my sweat and time. I’m old, so cutting trees and splitting wood is good for me.
