Call me crazy, but my glowforge seems to have diminished in strength

I have cleaned my GF Pro , checked the air flow, and found no issues but seems that the ability to cut has diminished. I use a non PG wood, which I buy from a supplier online to make wooden plaques for customers. The wood is approx. .240 " thick and over the last month or two have noticed it does not cut through it like it use to. Maybe there is something I am not checking? I have slowed it down to speed of 105 , which use to be about 120, and still it doesn’t cut through like it use to. Please help me understand what else I can check. As you can imagine it takes sometime an hour, sometimes more to complete a job and when it finishes by scorching the edges and not actually cutting it I get very frustrated.

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What exactly have you cleaned?

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I have a theory that some wood can absorb moisture to the point that it inhibits the lasers ability to cut. I have not run any tests on that theory but I’ve had batches of wood that seem to do the same thing and the a new batch comes along and it seems to be fine again.
I’d be curious to know what you find out.

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The best way to narrow down the cause is to cut a Gift of Good Measure on PG material with PG settings, and see how it performs there. If it cuts through, then maybe your material supplier has changed sources or something. If it doesn’t, then something’s going on with your machine.

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Oh no! I’m sorry to hear you’ve hit a snag

To investigate further, could you include photos of the most recent prints that didn’t cut through?

For our next steps, I’d like to have you perform a standardized test for us to review. At your earliest convenience, please perform the following test print.

  • Print the Gift of Good Measure on Proofgrade material, using Proofgrade settings.

  • When the print finishes, leave the lid closed and wait until the fans stop and the picture updates.

  • If the Gift of Good Measure fails to cut through, take a photo of the front and back of the print and attach these photos to your reply.

what i have found is the lens is not staying seated…not sure thats what has caused the problem, but it would seem that lens should stay seated all the way when placed there with tool. It is dropping down about 1/4" or so which I feel may be causing the issue. This is just a guess…but I cut the Gift of Good Measure thing with PG wood and it didnt cut through.

second thought…it looks like what the lens mounts to actually moves…i did not know that. is the part the lens seats on suppose to move freely up and down ? it moves about 1/4" …just a guess on amount

The lens moves up and down in the head for focusing. It moves quite a bit. Don’t push it up when installing it. It’s not necessary and pushing against the motor may not be harmful but not helpful.

Just let the magnet capture the lens when re-installing it and let it be. It won’t be in the same place you put it the next time you check after applying power.

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Hi @bryan6 - thanks for sharing those details around the lens. As others have said this could just be the lens moving while focusing, but a loose lens could certainly be problematic so we should double check.

If possible, would you also be able to share a photo of the front and back of that Gift of Good Measure print that didn’t cut through all the way?

For your lens concern I have a simple test we can use to see how well the lens is staying in place

Could you please do the following for me?

  1. Turn off your Glowforge.

  2. Grasp the printer head as shown, and pull gently up and back to disengage the magnets and remove it.

  1. Hold your hand directly beneath the bottom of the printer head, and give it a moderate, up-and-down shake.

Does the focusing lens stay inside of the Printer Head, or fall into your hand?

Let me know how it goes.

And if it falls out in to your hand, be aware there’s a front and back side to the lens, you have to get it right when you put it back in.

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.