BEYOND FRUSTRATED! I set up my new Glowforge Pro today. I’ve made 1 successful cut and 3 engravings. Now it’s stuck on saying: “Focusing the head of your Glowforge”. I’ve read all the feedback and company replies. I’ve cleaned every mirror, cycled the setup, reconnected the wifi – all multiple time. NO LUCK!
The machine arm and head never move after turning the machine on. Nothing. They just stay dead where they are. There’s no clicking sounds. The app just shows it forever as “Focusing”.
I wish I heard clicking! At least that would be something. My machine just sits there doing nothing. Believe me; I’ve followed all the cleaning and set-up steps multiple times. I’ve left the lid open to see if it’s downloading a software update, and rebooted everything – including my router.
No luck yet. Nothing has worked. I was able to make 1 cut and 3 engravings – in total. Since then everything stopped.
I’m so sorry you ran into trouble. I extracted the logs from your Glowforge to investigate, and it looks like the printer head may have a loose connection, causing calibration trouble. Could you please try the following for me?
Turn off your Glowforge.
Holding only the finished black surfaces, grasp the printer head as shown. Pull gently up and back to disengage the magnets and remove the head.
There is a small tab in the center of the wire ribbon. Push down fully on the tab to release it, and gently pull the wire ribbon plug from the printer head.
Pick up the printer head and wire ribbon. Make sure the tab on the wire ribbon is facing up. Slide the ribbon back into the head until it clicks.
As shown, lower the printer head over the metal plate so that it rests next to the two round posts. Then push it gently away from you – you’ll feel a “click” as magnets pull the printer head until it sits snugly atop the metal plate.
It will be. She’s having you check the connection and make sure the ribbon was clicked into place and seated correctly. If it was, and the picture that you sent to her doesn’t indicate a problem with the pins, there might be a problem with the ribbon cable. In that case they might choose to repair or replace it.
Just try to get the information they ask for to them as quickly as you can, so they can diagnose the issue and get the process started to get you back up and running.
Thanks Jules. Yeah, I already got the information back to them. The ribbon cable is seated corrected and all the pins are perfect: nothing bent, nothing broken.
Just FYI: I’m a software, electrical, and mechanical engineer. I mention this just to let you know I’m no stranger to electronics.
I’m hoping it’s something like just replacing the ribbon cable… or the electronics board. The last thing I want to do is to have to send the whole thing back for repairs. yikes!
You understand the issues then…there are a lot of things that can go wrong with something this complicated.
It’s a weekend and I don’t think they have the full team working all weekend, so you should hear back fairly quickly. Hang in there. They work problem free most of the time, you might have just gotten a janky cable or something. They will make it right.
Unfortunately, it looks like your unit is experiencing an issue that we can’t resolve remotely. I want you to have a reliable unit, so I’m recommending we replace this one. I’ll be in touch via email to sort out the details. I’m so sorry about the bad news.
