Hi! My Glowforge basic was working just fine and just finished a print. The solid amber LED came on when I sent another print with the error, “Head not found”. I powered the laser off , confirmed the gantry and head moved freely. I powered it back on and when the gantry moved, it moved slowly and the head did not move towards center. When the gantry stopped, the head moved towards center a few a couple of inches, stopped, moved a little more, stopped until it reached the center, then hung at centering before getting the amber led again. I powered it off, cleaned everything, reseated the ribbon cables and tired again, same result. I powered it off and moved the gantry and head to the center of the bed and powered the laser on. It seemed to center but when the gantry moved back to home, it moved maybe 2 inches, made a bump sound and all motion stopped. The amber LED came back on. I confirmed that nothing was in the gantry or heads path and no unusual sounds were heard when I moved everything. Could I have a bad stepper motor?
Most likely the cable that connects the head to the rest of the laser has come loose or been damaged. With everything off, disconnect the cable and make sure that the tiny gold pins are all there, centered, and bounce back when you push them. If that’s a yes - plug your cable back in, push everything to the back/left, and start it up again.
Fingers crossed!
Welcome to the community, there’s so much good info here 
Hi Deirdrebeth,
Thanks! I’ll check that cable. Hopefully that’s it.
Ok, so update. I reseated the ribbon cable and what I see is happening. When the gantry moves to the centering position, the printhead is not moving towards the center at the same time, and a quick grinding sound can be heard. After the gantry stops in the center, the printhead will move a couple of inches towards the center, pause 15 seconds, move another couple of inches, pause 15 secs,…etc. until it reached the center. It will go through the centering motions the 1 of 2 things will happen.
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The printhead will move the right along with the gantry for 1 second before a loud bump is heard and the amber led lights.
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The printhead will move back to home with the gantry, but the printhead movement is erratic. When a print is sent, the laser will start to print but the printhead movement will be so erratic that the print fails after a few seconds.
Would the ribbon cable cause this or would this be the stepper motor that drives the prinhead?
That definitely sounds like a lost connection - it makes that noise when it’s lost and the stepper doesn’t know where to go, plus that matches with the error you got.
Check along the length of the cable, sometimes they rub and end up with a break in the plastic. If you find something like that try covering it with tape.
I didn’t see any breaks in the cable, but I’m going to try replacing it and hopefully that will fix the issue.
Any breaks in the cable can easily be invisible and even episodic as the break occasionally touches. However, if you make sure the machine is off and move the head directly under the camera and turn the machine on. If there are other problems they will show up, but finding the head will not be one of them.
Hello! Just an update. I replaced the ribbon cable but unfortunately that did not resolve the problem of the printhead not moving to center position. I also ordered a replacement print head motor. To check the print head motor movement, I disconnected the belt for the print head plate and put a piece of tape on the print head motor. After the GF initializes, the print head motor does not turn, but just shakes really quick. I removed the 3 screws that connect the print head motor to the gantry, but am having trouble removing the motor from the gantry. The hole the is large enough for the wheel on the motor to pass through, but if feels like something is blocking it from being pulled out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Although there are some people here in the forum that have taken their Glowforge apart and done major repairs, the actual discussions of that activity are sparse. I suggest you contact the company that Glowforge announced could/would do repairs in this recent announcement.
Unfortunately, sending my GF in for repair is well outside my budget. I’ve replaced the black, print head, and camera cables but to no avail. The printhead struggles to move to the center when I first power it on. I’ve gone though all the troubleshooting steps suggested, but I’m still encountering the same issue. Only once, after moving the printhead to the center of the GF then powering it on, did it ‘seem’ to fix the issue. But then I sent a simple circle to be printed, the print head never moved from the right side of the gantry. It just shook. If there’s another cable that needs to be replaced, I’d like to know.
That is the way to get around a troubled start-up. That central camera needs to be clean as well as the top of the printer head. Some folks have had trouble when the sun or other bright light is shining directly into the Glowforge.
When I have had a lot of pieces of scrap on the bed, that will also confuse the camera. In those cases, I will turn the machine off and move the gantry and head directly under the camera, and then turn the machine on.
If the head goes in front of the camera it will run it to the right till it hits and then keep banging the head on the right perhaps damaging something. If you are not there watching and immediately lift the lid it could cause real damage. If in putting the head in the center it was just a bit too far forward it would certainly go bang its head on the right.
The crumb board is completely empty and the area my GF is setup at is dark with no light reflecting into it. After moving the print head to dead center under the camera and powering the GF on, it will either move with the gantry back to the home position, or it will begin to move back home but suddenly stop and the yellow LED comes on. But even if it returns home, the print head will not move any more that a fraction of an inch, burning holes though the material, before it errors out with a yellow LED and the “Head Not Found” message on the computer screen. The print head and gantry move smoothly and freely, all belts are good…I’m out of ideas. I’m hoping I don’t have a $4,000 paper weight at this point, after only 2 years.
Considering that, the problem will very likely be that you cannot do the repair yourself and have to contact support Monday - Friday 8am - 3pm PST at +1-855-338-2122 .
The good news is that you might be able to get a refurbished Plus for a lot less than any $4k.
They’re open weekends too now, per the last announcement. Still 8am-3pm Pacific
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