Broken Carriage Wheels - Customer Support I need pieces!

Problems and Support
#1

Okay I am having trouble with my engraving not coming out clear -
Checklist
Lens are clean
Carriage rollers have been cleaned
prints are not new- they are old and it has done it dozens of time before to perfection
material is the same- 1/4 clear plexi
no variables are different
program runs great on my other newer glowforge-

Having issues since the 8th and customer service /support does not get back to me and has closed my previous tickets with no emails or response- I am at my wits end- most of on here have shops or etsy shops and this is the holidays- I cannot afford to be down a laser let alone not be able get help or contact with customer service regarding it- this machine is is from July 2020 so it is still covered by warrantee- I don’t know what the issue is - HELP!

#2

Would help if you had pictures so we know exactly what you mean by not coming out clear.

Also, generally the engraved part won’t be clear…

#3

non jagged
non jagged3024Ă—4032 791 KB
jagged
jagged3024Ă—4032 817 KB

#4

as you can see the shoe on the bottom photo is off!

#5

Ok, have you zoomed in on that line to ensure its straight. I have had the issue in the past and had to zoom in to see and make the corrections. I would say it’s the file since the issue is on both sides the shoe…

#6

it isn’t the file- the same file of the correct one was done on my newer glowforge that is only a month old- like I said the files are perfect the machine has done it dozens of time before-

I just have no idea what to do and I have orders that need to go out

1 Like
#7

If it’s not the file and you have cleaned all the wheels, the gantry and the sides to include the belts cause the belts can get gummed up, then support will need to look at the logs and see if they can see what happening

#8

I absolutely agree!!! However I can’t get support to contact me in any way- they even shut down my ticket yesterday saying they would help me by email and then never did- I even when as far as to contact the rep through message and tell them maybe they were using the wrong email address - nothing - crickets- I would gladly PAY to talk to to someone at this point -

#9

at this point it isn’t the machine I’m having an issue with - it is customer support not helping

#10

I would be surprised if the customer ever noticed, but If I wanted the edge to be tighter I would run a score instead of engrave as a second pass and the edge should be stronger,

As you have two machines and you say only one has this issue I would assign the work by need and not have such worries.
I would not expect the two machines to be identical at that level. A difference in tightness or wear of the belt could cause what you are talking about.

1 Like
#11

i now think it is the belts! how do you clean them- can I use WD 40 on the wheels closest to the door?

#12

I would not use WD-40 inside the Glowforge for anything as you could make things worse, and even start a fire, the need is to remove and investigate the belts and make sure they are properly tightened.

1 Like
#13

okay- good to know-

but I do think I found the problem- the two wheels that hold the black carriage (laserhead) one is broken! how do i get a new one- again no one from support is getting back to me-

#14

I use the WD40 Water Resistant Silicone spray and not much, I then let it soak in an while then wipe the excess off and let dry for about 15 minutes, cause it is flammable. As for the belts themselves, I use a microfiber cloth and carefully wipe then then blow them off with canned air.

#15

They are the only source of those wheels as they have things in the design special to Glowforge, They did have an issue as their contractor cut some corners in procuring the rubber( is my guess) and covid made travel randomly impossible so it was not caught in time, as it might have been a year or two ago.

#16

I cannot think of a situation in a Glowforge that would be positive for that use, Where special grease is needed the Wd40 will wash it away, it even has that warning on the can I think. Elsewhere it will simply gather extra crud from the smoke of production.

1 Like
#17

If you Google “Glowforge wheels” there are people selling temporary fixes for some of the wheels. I have no experience with these suppliers. If you post or email photos of your cracked/broken wheel Support will supply the replacement.

#18

is there a phone number to call to get the parts needed- again I have been waiting since the 8th and this could have been solved already but thankfully this forum has helped me even realize that the wheels were broken- I need glowforge to contact me- any ideas?

#19

They will respond, close this thread, and email you. Just make sure they do not get labeled as spam.

#20

they did contact me yesterday on my open forum request- then closed the ticket and said they would email me- never did- checked my spam over and over- even went so far as to contact by message the actual support guy that reached out and got nothing-I am beyond frustrated at this point!