So, I’ve been using my Glowforge a good deal for a while now (I think I started using it early last year), and I juuuuust got the glass hinge detaching issue.
Is this something I can just live with? I am undoubtedly out of warranty by now.
We moved abroad a while back, so, shipping it around for repairs or what have you isn’t really feasible.
Super bummed. I love this thing.
I think the hinge issues ended up being moved to email so I don’t think a solution has been posted to the forum, but if you’re truly out of warranty I’m betting something can be cobbled. Having it loose is gonna put extra pressure on your lid cable and I’m sure you’ve seen all the posts about that!
Why are these issues being moved to email? Is this a design issue with the machine that most of us will eventually encounter?
What happens when we are out of warranty?
Because everyone decides to send an email and also post to Problems and support, creating two tickets. They opt for continuing over email vs forum for whenever that’s done.
Or if there’s any personal information needed for returns, etc they take that offline as well.
I think that if you are willing to take this to Beyond the Manual and set the collective mind to it, we will all assist with the process of seeing what a user can do with this issues.
I agree that this is a problem for out-of-warranty machines and I have been wondering about making it user serviceable. Maybe the hive mind will just say, nope, not possible.
I think for me, I’ve just been using it tonight barely lifting the lid and using only the front door panel to slide pieces in and out.
I think all I can really do is keep doing that and trying to make sure the lid doesn’t get used much.
I would look into either a marine epoxy or the 3M VHB tape used to secure windshields, though you may need to find a thinner model. Many things are held together with double-sided tape in modern life, including your cell phone, and the adhesives have come a long way. It may be a little hard to get exactly what you need but that is where I would start.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking along those lines of “strongest possible adhesive”.
Don’t think something like tape would work since I can’t really get it into the gap that’s forming.
Some type of 2 part marine epoxy sounds like a good starting point.
SCIENCE!
I’m also long out of warranty, received my unit around November, 2017. So, I waited to get my preorder a little longer than I’ve actually had the unit.
I just had a hinge come completely detached. Support’s solution was to send it back for repair. Even though it’s out of warranty, they’re going to cover the costs of the repairs, but I have to pay $200 for shipping.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do. It doesn’t seem that difficult to fix, easier than boxing the thing up, loading it into my hatchback and driving it to Fedex/UPS. I think the hardest part is choosing the right adhesive. Apparently, they didn’t get it right the first time around.
Has anyone heard about anyone else attempting this repair on their own?
Well - I decided to erase the long rant that i had composed, and instead be a little more positive.
I love my glowforge basic. I just hope i don’t have to deal with this issue and regret my short warranty.
That was only part rant. I love my Glowforge, too. I’m just not looking forward to the idea of paying $200 to pack this thing up and ship it back. Especially when I haven’t done anything wrong. I didn’t drop it or mishandle it, the glue just gave out. I’m not mad, just disappointed.
It’s disappointing, sure… I do cut them some slack though for not knowing how this particular adhesive would age. It sounds like it’s more a failure of someone providing them a component that isn’t up to par, rather than their design negligence. But yeah, it’s a bummer.
Researching this more online, I’ve come down to 3 options so far:
A) E6000 Industrial Adhesive - Searches for “best metal to glass adhesives” often mention this. This is fairly gel-like though, and I’m going to need to get creative to try and apply this in the gap without making the detachment worse as I do the repair. (My plan is tape off everything well, apply a bead of this glue along the edge of the gap, then run some string/line through the gap and use that to manipulate the “goo” around into the gap thoroughly. Then clamp it gently for 2-3 days)
B) Some sort of 2 part Epoxy like “Devcon 31345 2 Ton Clear Epoxy, 25 ml” that claims to give 2500PSI of strength (Same sort of application challenges)
C) Some thin CA type superglue like Loctite Professional. The benefit there is that it’s super thin, low viscosity, and should spread through the gap between the glass and metal very easily. Mask everything off well, apply it, then clamp it for a while.
Having moved to Mexico a while back, the idea of trying to ship this around for a repair is just a recipe for not having it again for 6 months. It was a royal pain in the butt to get it here in the first place.
Let us know how it goes. A lot of folks neglect to post solutions and failures. The community might benefit. Of course this post will be closed with a generic support response. Open a new topic in Beyond the Manual when you figure it out,
OK… for anyone who wants to see his this evolves, with me trying to fix the issue myself… here’s another issue in the “Beyond the Manual” area.
I’m sorry to hear about the trouble, and I see you’ve moved this conversation to Beyond the Manual. I am going to close out this thread, but if you need further assistance please reach out at support@glowforge.com.