Glowforge Cooling Issues

[designer]

Greetings All:

It seems that my glow forge when starting it up, after having not used it for a few days is having cooling issues. The website is taking a great deal of time cooling and I am not sure why this is.

Currently the temperature outside is about 95 degrees but I have air-conditioning inside my home. I have the exhaust tube going directly outside so I am not sure what the reason is. I haven’t been able to print all day.

[jbmanning5]

Pro or basic?

@designer

but I have air-conditioning inside my home.

What’s the temperature where your Glowforge is?

The basic has a temp window up to about 75 degrees, the Pro has a window up to 81 degrees.

[Houdini7]

Does that exhaust have working baffles to prevent outside air from getting in and heating up the GF? Also, what’s the inside room’s temperature?

[emacartoon]

I’m only laughing because I asked the same thing yesterday.

If you have the Basic, it needs to be 75 degrees in and around the laser. If you have the Pro, it apparently needs to be 81 and under. (My a/c doesn’t work so great, so I only get down to about 82.)

If your exhaust is connected to the outside, try blowing the air out for a bit in case the heat was seeping inside. Also, thanks to the loverly @Jules, it turns out that if you raise your Glowforge a bit off the table with a fan directing to the area, then it helps cool down the machine enough for use. There are other posts around that also describe some more elaborate setups:

Stupid but works for ALERT COOLING

While the Northern Hemisphere is freezing, we here Paraguay is hot like an oven, more than 35 degree. My cats spend 80% time sleeping, and my GF spends 80% time on ALERT COOLING. Even the fan blows + air conditioner, doesn’t make better. So I used the carton to make a small room with dedicated air condition for the GF (in the tube there’re 4 computer fans to suck the cool air), thanks God it’s finally happy to start work. Well, I think the commercial should remind the customers, “Latinos, no l…

Btw, you’re definitely not alone:

Over heating problem

Basic and Plus units have an operating temperature range of 60°F - 75°F. And running the machine causes it to heat up a few degrees. So if you can lower the temperature by a few degrees around it, it will probably operate without the pauses for cooling as frequently. You can also direct a fan at the air intake on the right side under the machine to blow the cooler air underneath. Might help.

Lasering in the Desert

Yeah, I’m not a big fan of running my lasers from 10pm until 2am when I still have a 9-5 the next day. But! Your initial link helped us figure out that if we raised the unit off the table with 2x4s, it did allow more of the vented cool air to flow under the unit towards the sensor (Why is it under the unit?? lol Heat rises!) and we were able to run until about 10am this morning. So, thank you! I’m hoping when the air filters finally get shipped that it’ll provide cooling in that area of…

Good luck!

[gmikewilliams]

I found the mileage may vary on operating temp. It runs better in cooler temps. I try to stay around 70 degrees and I don’t get errors. If you are venting out a window it’s better to bring in or close off tight the vent hose when not in use.

[jaz]

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

@designer

I’m so sorry your Glowforge is having trouble staying cool.

Your Glowforge features a closed-loop liquid cooling system that uses the air from the room to remove heat. It is designed to be used between 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 Celsius) and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 Celsius). Learn more about the operating environment here. Printing outside these ranges may cause your unit to pause before starting, or to pause periodically during the print for cooling. This isn’t harmful, but it can make your print take a little longer.

You can try any of these things to improve warm-weather performance:

• Try printing with no material on the bed (so as not to generate smoke and fumes) and no exhaust hose attached. If this works, then the problem may be that your exhaust hose is constricting the flow of air out of the unit, preventing cooling.
• Examine the bottom-right side of your Glowforge. There are air intake vents, and if they become obstructed, it could make cooling less effective.
• Try pointing a fan at the right side of your Glowforge. If there is warm air around the intake, this could help it cool off.
• Power off your Glowforge and allow it to cool, then power it on and print immediately. When it sits idle, the fans are off, so heat can build up.
• Just wait. Your print may take a little longer when it’s warm, but your Glowforge will protect itself and make sure it cools enough to prevent any loss of power or damage. And it’s clever enough to pick up from exactly where it left off, even if it loses Wi-Fi during the print!

I’m going to close this topic, but if these tips don’t help and your operating environment is within the range listed above, please let me know by posting a new topic or emailing us at support@glowforge.com.