So, I unpack my Glowforge carefully and was excited and ready get started. As I am careful removing my laser head I see a huge spot on the side lens. I think certainly they didn’t send me a used lens… and so I carry on with my installation. When I went to do my test cut… it moved around but no laser was firing. Not mention… I can’t speak to anyone about it until tomorrow. Please tell me this experience is going to be better than the one I am having.
Can you take a picture of the side lens and post it here? You will also want to check a few other things in the optical path to make sure nothing else has been impacted. There is a discussion below on how to check and clean all of the optical components…you’ll want to look at all of them. And make sure to re-install the lens in the correct direction when you put it back in. 
Start with the “Things that need Wiping” and check the windows, the lens and the mirror.
I have a picture but… I can’t see how to upload it here.
I want to clean it … but it didn’t come with wipes…
You can just drag and drop the picture from your desktop to a new line in a post and it will upload.
You can also use a soft lens cleaning cloth spritzed with a 50/50 vinegar and water mixture. You want it moist, NOT wet.
the laser wont even fire and isnt the bed supposed to move… it is still pretty far away from the material.
Support might need to take a look at the logs for your machine to see if there is anything wrong. If you want to check the optical components while you are waiting, that is probably something they will ask you to check.
By not moving…does the laser arm move out over the material when you press the flashing white button?
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the laser is moving left and right but the focus doesnt seem to ever happen… unless it’s not a physical focus like it is with other machines ive used.
If you have that there will be no way to have the laser make it through. Here is one that blocked the laser pretty completely.
The light itself does not need to be close to be focused. It has traveled from under the left side through the window to a mirror in the head and down through the lens to get there in the first place. 
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so how do i fix this… it’s supposed to be new machine… are they going to send me a new one or… is it a wipe it off kind of problem.
Hopefully that, You should have received some Zeiss wipes with the machine, but they should be available at any drug store and most grocery stores or at any Walmart
If there was some sort of manufacturing problem the window alone can be replaced. As they are sold here though they would replace it at no cost under warranty easy enough.
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Thanks for the help you too… I’m going to sleep feeling a little better. 
Can you double check your settings as well, just in case? Sometimes the power gets set to 1 when you’re poking around and the head will move, but nothing will happen.
The bed itself does not move. Just the laser head.
No, the focusing happens inside the head with this machine…you won’t see anything go up or down.
Just clean and check all of the optical path from that Cleaning section I linked. While you are in there, check to make sure that nothing looks melted or torched inside the head. (They do test them physically before shipping…if the laser path is out of alignment, that can cause problems in the head that you won’t see from looking at the outside of the laser head. And it can cause spots on the windows.)
Your earlier photo didn’t load for some reason, so you might want to try again. Along with any photos of the interior of the head after you remove the mirror. (If you see damage.)
Be sure to turn off the machine before taking out the lens and mirror.
I have cleaned the lens I checked the settings… and it is not working not to mention I cant get anyone on the phone. I am really frustrated and trying to stay calm… but if this is a broken machine… I have to go through so much just to get this back to them… this was a huge investment for me that isn’t even working.
I just want to make sure you checked the correct lens - you looked at the one inside the head, right? (There is a camera lens in the lid as well…that one isn’t the problem.) You’ll have to turn the machine off and remove the lens from the head using the lens removal tool (little blue tube thing).
If you already checked everything, just wait to hear from support. They don’t have phone support, but they usually respond to the initial email or ticket here within a day or so.
(And these are precision machines - unfortunately they can get damaged in shipping sometimes. Glowforge has a process worked out to get replacements out to customers pretty quickly if they get one that gets damaged. Nothing to panic over. It’s just a pain.)
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Support runs about 1 business day at the moment, which is perfectly acceptable for a hobby-grade machine. The machine is incredibly cheap for the features it provides, which is why it is so popular.
Business-class machines cost significantly more, and can afford to offer phone support. That’s the trade-off for the fantastic savings you get buying a Glowforge.
I disagree. I have the pro which is supposed to be really great for small businesses. I feel that they should have better and swifter customer service for any product over $2,000 dollars. Although I appreciate the community support during this time. If I am paying 6 grand for a machine… I need to know I can get in touch with the people who make it. There are plenty other brands… I chose this one because it is said to be an excellent machine and I believe it is. But if something goes wrong… less than 24 hours after purchasing, I want to get someone on the phone and feel that they are there to take care of it. Because of the help of people on this thread I was able to fix the problem… but it still doesn’t change the fact that I was sent a machine with black guk all over the lens and mirror.
This issue might have been resolved - just got a PM that it’s now working. Yay!
(Ticket can probably be closed.)
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