Does anyone have one or more extra Front Carriage Plate V-Wheel(s) I can buy? Or know what they’re called so I can obtain from the “outside” market?
On 07 October I noticed wowies in my cuts, and decided to clean my mirrors and lenses thinking that was the issue. I found a crack in one of the front carriage wheels. Although c/s was quick to reply, and get an order set up, (I paid for two additional front carriage v-wheels, and an extra X-axis belt) the parts never were sent out (they were supposed to arrive 15Oct, but FedEx never picked up the package ). I contacted the same rep again (Maile), and she did up another order, but it’s been 3 days, and there’s been nothing more than an order confirmation done. No tracking number, nothing. I think I have about maybe 50 - 70 hours on my GF, and now it’s been down 2 weeks now, I’m missing out on Holiday orders, and since I have a Basic,. my warranty is about to expire in about 3 weeks. All communications with anyone from GF has stopped, and there is no movement on my original order, nor the new one. I’m beyond frustrated. $3-4K may not be alot of money to some people, but it’s a HUGE expenditure for me… right now, this machine is a VERY EXPENSIVE paperweight, and if my warranty is not extended because of no fault of my own, I’m definitely not going to be a happy camper. If GF is not going to send my parts, I at least want my money refunded, and I’ll find something that will at least get the carriage to do what it’s supposed to… I’m sick of GF’s ducking and dodging, all of a sudden… I want my parts do I can try to make some money, or I want a refund of what I paid to get this run-around.
They won’t extend your warranty - but this repair is under it.
AFAIK the wheels are not available aftermarket, but a few folks found some parts available aftermarket - you should go read through other threads that mention the wheels to see if anyone talked about it.
In the meantime you should (as a business) always have a back-up plan. See if there is a Tech Shop or equivalent in your area with a laser - or another Glowforge user who might be willing to lend you theirs.
I understand this “repair” is under it, for now… I asked for three wheels, got one under the warranty, paid for the other two plus an X-Axis belt… it doesn’t do me any good if they don’t send the parts. The back-up plan was to buy extra parts to have on hand to mitigate down time… but here’s the trick: you have to get there first, and they have to send the part(s) you pay for. Again, it does no good if GF doesn’t send them. I really have a hard time believing GF has ALL these belts, pulley wheels and such custom made. There has to be something else out there that will work… My next “back up plan” was to buy a second GF, so I have 2… but if the support is this severely lacking, then getting a different laser machine altogether would be the better remedy. All I want are the parts I ordered, and paid for, two weeks ago… but they’re not sending them, and all I’m getting are crickets. Short of traveling from WA to TX to see what the hell is going on, they have me by the short hairs within the 6 mo of me owning this paperweight.
Thanks for your input.
Dawn McKinney
Owner
McK Custom & Vinyl Design, LLC
A Disabled Veteran-Owned Company
Try https://community.openglow.org/ and see what they’ve identified. As you suspect, they have found many alternate sources for the more standardized parts like belts, cables, etc.
That is likely correct. Support has never been consistently great. The response time (publicly at any rate) often fails to support the needs of a commercial enterprise. Other manufacturers may have similar issues, but even if they do, they generally have much clearer options for getting 3rd party parts replacements.
The GF is a great hobby machine and can be a great business machine, but if you hit problems, all bets are off.
Thanks! But what I’ve been able to sift through on those posts is most people are looking for the bottom 4 gantry wheels, and not the top two carriage ones that are 6x19x7mm deep V groove guide pulley or rail ball bearings wheel… it’s absolutely mind-blowing that it is this difficult. I see in the instructions on how to clean or replace parts, the pictures show these carriage wheels as metal. I want to know why we can’t get those. 
Dawn McKinney
Owner
McK Custom & Vinyl Design, LLC
A Disabled Veteran-Owned Company
| jamesdhatch
October 22 |
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mckcustomvinyldesign:
There has to be something else out there that will work…
Try https://community.openglow.org/ and see what they’ve identified. As you suspect, they have found many alternate sources for the more standardized parts like belts, cables, etc.
… but if the support is this severely lacking, then getting a different laser machine altogether would be the better remedy.
That is likely correct. Support has never been consistently great. The response time (publicly at any rate) often fails to support the needs of a commercial enterprise. Other manufacturers may have similar issues, but even if they do, they generally have much clearer options for getting 3rd party parts replacements.
The GF is a great hobby machine and can be a great business machine, but if you hit problems, all bets are off.
If you want Glowforge Support to see this, you need to post over in Problems & Support, which opens a ticket. They don’t monitor the rest of the forum.
Nobody on OpenGlow has posted they found replacement wheels. Only discussion of the 3D printed ones that were shared here.
There are many options on eBay and similar, but nobody has reported trying any. They wouldn’t have to be the exact same as the standard wheels, but you would need to replace in pairs and ensure they kept the carriage plate level.
Yeah, I get that, but even the 3D printed ones would need to allow for the wheel bearing housing… and the “original” size is like 6x11x5mm…
all I know now is that I’m just going to have to stop dedicating so much time to finding the replacement part, and consecrate on trying to make up the business traffic/$$$ deficit with other items/media I have to offer… If I keep going on this, not only am I losing money from the laser being down, I’m also losing money by not using the time for efficiently in making other product to get out there to sell… If GF doesn’t get their crap together by the beginning of next week, I’ll contest the charge on my card, and just wait until after I get all my tax/bookwork closed for 2020 before I to try to figure something out for the laser. It will be off warranty in mid November, so I’m majorly screwed anyway, and I’ll just have to do what I can for the next 3-1/2 years to pay it off. I’m glad I didn’t get the Pro model, and have 2x the money go to hell…
It’s just really disappointing…
Dawn McKinney
Owner
McK Custom & Vinyl Design, LLC
A Disabled Veteran-Owned Company