So following this link to OpenGlow to browse again, I saw the post from Jon with more information and detailed pictures, included was a link to Amazon…
So I am not sure how this fix is supposed to work, I don’t know the voltage of the GF for sure but hear its around 1kV. So looking at the item they are using to insulate this 1kV wire is rated much less the the original “defective” cable from GF…
Specification:
Color: White
Material: Alkali-free Fiberglass
Length: 5 Meter / 16.4 Feet
Inner Diameter: 6mm
Thickness: 0.3mm
Working Temp Range: –30℃～+600℃ Working Voltage: 500V～800V
Flame Resistance: VW-1
The part he’s selling adds additional insulation to what is already on the wire. You’re making it sound like it is a replacement for the wire entirely.
I understand but if 1kV is making it though the current insolation, adding something to protect up to 800V is not going to stop 1kV from hitting a grounded source. Adding an insulator of 2kV+ to protect the 1kV line would be a solution.
Adding a 800V rated insulator to say a XkV one does not yield X.8kV protection.
The accusation in this thread is the insolation on the current wire fails on all newer machines, and the solution to this is to add something that is at a much lower rated voltage. If you want to protect 1kV from hitting a grounded source the protection needs to be rated greater than that not a fraction less.
Unfortunately, wire insulation isn’t additive, as @DaveL pointed out. If the current can get through the current insulation, it will get through the additional insulation as soon as it is through the first layer. The only thing that will reduce the issue is the additional thickness of the sheath between the conductor and the ground point. That may be enough in a marginal situation, but I wouldn’t trust it.
I would argue that his knowledge doesn’t always meet his claims, unfortunately. He has shown this multiple times and has always taken being corrected poorly. More power to him for attempting to increase it and share the knowledge he gains. In this case though it is leading him to a solution that will probably not work as intended.
Well I think the idea is to put the additional insulation on the wire before it starts to burn through thereby giving it some added protection from finding a ground.
Only due to the extra thickness. Added insulation of lower rating on the outside doesn’t increase the total voltage rating of the stacked insulation. The potential between the wire and ground remains the same so you have to add insulation with a higher rating in order to benefit.
If Golwforge dosen’r monitor this forum anymore, how did Jonathan get banned from the site???
I haven’t had the shorting problem, but if it costs $89 from Jonathan verses a minimum of $250 or more to send it in to have the cable worked on, it seems to me $89 ain’t a bad deal, especially when he is willing to show you exactly how to make the repair. I assume, this is for machines that are already out of warranty anyway! If not, Glowforge is on the hook to fix the machine.
He wasn’t banned. He was suspended. May mean the same thing…I don’t know. Pure speculation…perhaps he himself requested it…perhaps he posted something that was flagged and was noticed by staff. Otherwise, support no longer monitors regular day to day activity or requests for official support through the forum.
The issue with the “fix”, regardless of cost, is that it isn’t tested and may not solve the issue. So you may be paying 89.00, taking your Glowforge apart, and then still paying $250 or more if the cable still fails. It is a gamble. And it is a gamble that you are actually going to see the cable fail on your machine. There are a lot of machines out there and not a lot of failures. Plus, by the time you get the machine apart and back together again you have risked other damage.
I wouldn’t buy it, unless there was some evidence that it would actually solve the issue, backed up with testing, or showing the cable with the sleeve installed has a higher insulation value than the cable alone.
There is also the other possibility that this has nothing to do with the insulation at all and is due to repeated flexing of the cable causing the strands to break and start arcing. If this is the case, the cable is burning from the inside out and no amount of insulation or sleeve will help. By adding the sleeve, you will move the stress point to the edges of the sleeve, or if the sleeve isn’t stiff enough, you won’t solve anything and the cable will still fail.
