I turned on my GF today for a print. When I hit the print button, the exhaust fan does not start up. I cancelled the print and ran a test cut of a circle, for about 20 seconds, and fan still does not start up. I checked the “air filter attached” button, and it is turned off. The fan is clean, hose is not clogged, and no obstruction venting. What else can I do? What could be wrong?
The fan could have died. Many have.
If you note the time/timezone of your most recent print, support can check the logs to ensure it was being commanded to turn on.
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I really hope it didn’t die. GF isn’t being used every day, and it is practically brand new (baught in February and used maybe 20 hour run time or so). Today of all days I needed it to print for me.
Ok, so here’s what happened… I moved the laser arm again and tried to move the fan blades. They appeared to be a bit stuck, so with little effort I was able to get the blades move again. Now it works
Curious how it was “a bit stuck” if it was clean?
These fans are designed for high-end computer equipment and insanely reliable. In my opinion, it’s really only the contamination from the machine that is causing the issue.
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Not knowing what material you have been working with it’s impossible to say exactly what contamination caused it. I have had my GF since mid April and have had to remove the blowoff fan numerous times. I work with a lot of MDF and while it works up nicely, it’s a bear on the insides of the machine. It creates a fine sticky dust that affects every surface inside your GF.
There is a way to deep clean the exhaust fan, if it has gotten something sticky in it, you might want to look into it.
Instructions are discussed here:
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That fan also needs cleaning. I used hand sanitizer, and a shopvac to keep the blades spinning while it dried.
When I had the exhaust fan die about Christmas I got an external Vivosun Fan that at 190 CFM was barely adequate, but similar fans get up to 800 CFM but have larger connections, They exhaust the air faster and thus less time for the crud to settle and need cleaning.
They are also way more quiet!
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I use an inline fan as well. can’t imagine working without it
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I’m sorry that you ran into trouble with your fan. Thank you for the update that it’s back up and running currently! Has the trouble reoccured since then? A good next step may be to clean your exhaust fan following the steps in the post @jules linked to. Please let us know if you’re still running into trouble and we’ll be happy to help!
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from you so I’m going to close this post.
If you’re still having trouble, let us know. Please start a new post or email us at support@glowforge.com. We’ll be happy to take a look.