Ok, i need so.e cleaning advice. First let me say if anyone is local or near omaha, nebraska and willing to thoroughly clean my machine i will pay you. Ive had it 3 years, i havent done extensive amount of projexts on it but now its not cutting all the way through proofgrade material. I am terrified to clean this outside of wiping it down. I love my GF but lets face it customer service is not exactly front and center so if i do get in a jam like with my sub printer theres no one to call. I am terrified i will not get it back together
I am NOT TECHY…AT ALL. Im in a so.ewhat technical related sales field, but only faking it. For reference i have a $6000 paperweight (er i mean white toner printer) sownstairs that has never been used, brand new, but i have tried for a year to get it to connect. So any advice on cleaning the GF or know anyone local to me?
First of all…don’t panic. Breathe. Cleaning a GF is really pretty easy…you do not have to be tech savvy to do it.
Easier and better than me trying to tell you, here’s the official link;
Just take a big deep breath and get in there and get it done. You will be proud of yourself!
The thing to understsnd Is that cleaning everything is not necessary, and can hurt the machine. In the laser path itself, there is a window under the left side and its partner on the left side of the head. These are the most frequently dirtied and thus need the most frequentl attention.
It may look like a tiny white dot but that is where the laser goes through. You need the Zeiss lens cleaner as there are coatings that need to be protected.
There is also the fisheye lens under the center of the lid that will need the attention of the Zeiss cleaner. Note that there is a cable coming out to it, and several places along that cable will fry if wet. The top of the head has the Glowforge logo and that is what the fisheye is looking for at startup, so make that easy.
If that solves your problem, and it usually will, I would stop there.
If you remove the head from the machine and unplug the cable, there are two lenses at the bottom needed to set focus that can need cleaning if set focus is having trouble.
There is also a mirror and a main lens inside the head that rarely need cleaning but need more explanation than will fit here.
This is also a good time to wipe the bottom of the lid being careful to avoid wiping that cable.
I suddenly feel more anxious…lol!
Thanks!
First of all, yes there is now a number you can call and speak to a real person: +1-855-338-2122.
And second of all, most likely you won’t have to take anything apart…perhaps with the exception of the main head where the laser lens is. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be golden.You’ll probably wonder why you got so anxious.
My advice is to never remove the connector to the head. I don’t know if the instructions say to, but they used to. I just pop it off the carriage plate and lift it and turn it just enough to put the tool in there to remove the lens. I wipe that first, put it back inside the head, then wipe the side window on the left, and the one on the side of the head, before the two along the bottom of the head before seating it back onto the magnets. Then I wipe the front rail, moving the head to one side when I’ve wiped that side.
It took far longer to type that than to do it!