I changed out my acrylic board and then everything just stopped working. Tried powering on and off the device several times.
Now my calibration mode is causing my laser head to move back and forth between two points that are about 2 inches apart near the center.
Dont know what to do now …
If it’s moving, it’s getting instructions from the cloud.
This behavior (the head hunting around during calibration) is often a result of a dirty lid camera or from the logo on top of the head being dirty/not readable. Clean both of those and see if that gives some clarity to the situation.
thank you, the cleaning did the trick
New info:
Now it’s over heated before i start every cut again
I think i’ll do a deeper clean up before trying again
Not sure if you’re a basic or a Pro unit. Or what the temps are.
But, it’s important for the unit to exhaust effectively so heat doesn’t build up during operations (I know it’s not so much the issue right now because you haven’t been cutting).
Making sure to remove the vent hose and vacuum the fan area seems to help with that.
seems like the full deep clean made a difference.
And/or that i had it off while i cleaned to cool down LOL
Crap, that only helped part way. Half way through my cut it stopped for a cool down period again.
!!!
Looking through the forums, it’s simply the summer heat causing my overheating issues. Ugh … the forums’ suggestion are just to wait until the evening…
Is it Basic or a pro? And what are your room temps?
It’s a Pro. The room temp was probably high 70s or low 80s which seems to be on the tip of their scale for suitable temps
Make sure the air intake underneath the right side of the machine is not blocked. It can help to direct a fan at that side to blow cool air underneath the machine to the intake. (Also can help to set the machine up off of the table a little on risers of some sort. It increases the air inflow and cools the machine.)
I wish they would print the temperature in the web UI.
I agree but don’t know that it would work with the current approach of using ambient temps as the guideline, when the cooldown is based on coolant temps. Using coolant temps as the spec buyers see doesn’t do a whole lot of good because it’s an unknown as to how the temps change with usage and machine condition.
In other words, potentially, your 80 degrees isn’t the same necessarily as my 80 degrees, due to machine conditions and job parameters. It might be 78 in my room, but my fan isn’t exhausting very well, and I’m running a full power cutting operation. And it might be 81 in your room, but your fan is exhausting great and you’re running a low power engrave.
Well, I think they should actually show us both values.
First, they could show an ambient range for your model, with marker for your current temperature. That would at least give users an idea if they were out of bounds or not–another question we see daily here.
Glowforge Pro (70F)
60F >>>>>>>>>------------81F
They could add another pip or another thermometer bar that represented coolant. The temperature values for the coolant are probably not meaningful to us, but they could find simple graphical way a way to show us if the cooling was keeping up or not, and how long a cool-off requires, once initiated.
I understand their desire to make the device easy to operate but I think they hide way, way too much information from us.
Numbers matter.
Thanks for the help in this thread, everyone. I’m glad to hear your Glowforge calibrated successfully and you were able to start printing. Regarding your Glowforge pausing to cool, I have some additional information which should help.
Your Glowforge Pro features a closed-loop liquid cooling system that uses the air from the room to remove heat. It’s boosted by a solid-state thermoelectric cooler that allows for heavier use at higher ambient temperatures than the Basic. It is designed to be used when the temperature next to your Glowforge is 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 Celsius) and 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius). To check, put a room thermometer next to the right hand side of the Glowforge; it draws in air from underneath, on the right.
You can try any of these things to improve warm-weather performance:
Try printing with no material on the bed (so as not to generate smoke and fumes) and no exhaust hose attached. If this works, then the problem may be that your exhaust hose is constricting the flow of air out of the unit, preventing cooling.
Examine the bottom-right side of your Glowforge, and ensure that there is no fabric or other flexible material underneath it, like a tablecloth. There are air intake vents, and if they become obstructed, it makes cooling less effective.
Try pointing a fan at the right side of your Glowforge. If there is warm air around the intake, this could help it cool off.
Power off your Glowforge when you are not using it. When your Glowforge sits idle, the fans are off, so heat can build up
Just wait. Your print may take a little longer when it’s warm, but your Glowforge will protect itself and make sure it cools enough to prevent any loss of power or damage. It’s clever enough to pick up from exactly where it left off, even if it needs to pause to cool down during the print!
Ensure that the sun isn’t shining on the lid. This could cause the inside of your Glowforge to heat up.
If you are venting outdoors, ensure that extreme temperatures or humidity do not enter the Glowforge unit through the exhaust hose. Disconnect the hose from the outside air when the Glowforge is not in use.
Turn your Glowforge off and open the lid for a few minutes before trying again. It’s possible for the air in your Glowforge to heat up, just like a car in the sun on a hot day, opening the lid will help that warm air to escape and your Glowforge to cool down.
If you are still running into trouble, please let us know the following so that we can investigate further:
A description of the things you tried and what happened
If possible, place a thermometer next to your Glowforge on the right hand side and measure the temperature there; if not, estimate the room temperature
The date and time (including time zone) when you had the problem
Take a picture of the exhaust hose behind your Glowforge that includes the part where it connects to your Glowforge, and the part where it exits the room
I hope this helps!
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.