Buildup in honeycomb cells is causing unusual flares- how can I clean it better?

Is there a risk of the honeycomb bed developing rust if I clean it with water- or is there a really good way to get the cells clean?

The cells have developed so much crud, especially in the areas where they are right above those little supports, that I’m getting flames from cuts on material that has never flared at all in a year of use. It seems like the flares are only happening when I have vertical cuts that follow the honeycomb supports. I tried clearing those out as best I could, but still got a flare on the next vertical cut that followed the support. The flames are small, but are leaving me with a sooty lens after every job.

I usually vacuum the bed, and use a dry pipe cleaner and pick to remove the little pieces of material that get stuck in the cells, but that doesn’t seem to be enough now.

I initially thought this problem was due to leftover dust from cutting a thin piece of laser rubber over the weekend, but I’ve vacuumed the bed twice since then.

Do you have access to a air compressor? I havent had to do it yet but that would clean the honeycomb

What material are you getting flames with? I’d be pretty surprised if you are getting flames reaching up through the top of the material, resulting in a sooty lens, with a material more than paper thin.

I would check your air assist fan to make sure it’s functioning properly.

If you run a cut along the front of the machine, you might be able to peer over the machine to see if it’s spinning fast/at all. If your machine isn’t in a position to do that, you can use your phone camera, with the camera on portrait mode - place it on the lid at an angle, and you should be able to see what the air assist fan is doing.

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Search is your friend.

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I’ll try checking that fan. I just ran the same job again but kept vertical cuts away from the honeycomb supports. There was no flame this time, and the lens looks clear, but the amount of smoke was still abnormal.

I’m cutting 1/8" baltic birch that’s finished with water based stain and polycrylic. I’ve been cutting that for a long time with no issues like this.

simple green.

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The little fan on the back of the gantry is running during jobs, as is the main fan at the back of the unit. Maybe the tiny fan right by the lens isn’t running? I ran an engrave just now and saw soot on the lens afterwards (maybe built up from the last job too but I didn’t notice it).

I see you already emailed us about this and we’re working on it there, so I’m going to close this topic.