Flames

Community Support
1

Hello

Ok so I am experiencing actual flames when cutting and in a few cases it didnt even cut all the way thru (proofgrade acrylic and proof grade basswood) . I read a thread where it was said to clean the fans - well I did that and it seemed to help a little but I’m still getting some extreme heat and scorch marks. And it seems the alignment may be off . I did what was supposed to be 2 passes but it made 2 separate lines. I’ve attached pics in case anyone can offer some support. Thanks!

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The fans look pretty dirty but not enough to cause the problem. The official cleaner that is supposed to be used is pretty scary stuff but it is easier to take that part outside than the whole Glowforge. I have used a vacuum cleaner to pull the volume away and used hand sanitizer to completely wash out and dry the fans before letting any power be applied. However if the scorch marks are pointing to the front of the Glowforge the fans are working somewhat, if they are wandering off to the left the fans are not working, In your case the appear to be working but weak or the scorch marks would be longer. Anytime the smoke catches fire the cut will not be as deep.

If the head has been bumped all the cuts after that will be displaced in the same direction and amount, but they will not cut outside of the previous cut in every direction

One common cause of what you are seeing is magnetic fields which makes a mess of all circuits that move through it, so unshielded magnets are a bad thing, and it is amazing how little crud it takes for a window to scatter the beam or make it unfocused so those need special cleaning and the main lens needs to be “cup side up” or that can make a mess like you are seeing as well.

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You’ve either got double lines in your artwork, or your lens is in upside-down. Or maybe both, it’s hard to tell. Check your lens orientation, and then run a Gift of Good Measure on PG medium draftboard and post photos of that (front and back, since you’re also having cut through issues). That’s what Support uses for troubleshooting, so it will save some time if you have it ready for them when they get here. :slight_smile:

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Tagging @septemberfire80 to make sure they see this, since you accidentally responded to me. :wink:

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@geek2nurse I appreciate you catching this! I’ll remove the response, and reply once again.

Thank you!

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I’m so sorry to hear that you’re running into trouble. I’ve extracted the log files from your Glowforge to review your most recent prints, and compare it with the details you’ve provided.

I’d like to see if performing a complete cleaning of the Air Assist Fan helps, as well as I’d like to take a look at your optical components. When you have a moment, could you please follow the instructions here for cleaning the air assist fan. If you have already done so, please let me know.

I would like to check over just a few more things. Could you do the following for me?

Please send photos of all your cleaned optical components, with special attention to any damage you might find:

  • Both windows
    • The printer head window, on the left hand side of the printer head
    • The laser window on the inside left of the Glowforge
  • The printer head lens
    • Both sides of the lens, top and bottom
  • The mirror inside the printer head
  • The bottom of the printer head

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Once we have those pictures, we’ll follow up with next steps.

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I see you emailed us about this and we’re working on it there, so I’m going to close this topic.