Glowforge Dead/Dying?

Community Support
1

Earlier tonight, started to run a part. Powered on, GF calibrated, loaded the program and began to cut. As the onscreen “cutting” was taking place, the GF was not moving and stayed at the start position.

I cancelled the print. Cancelling did nothing so I powered down the machine to reset.

Powered back up, lid lights came on full brightness, no calibration cycle, exhaust fan kicked into full speed, then cooler fans kicked in full speed and stayed like that until I powered it down. Powered down/unplugged and powered back up a few times same thing. Fans and lights stayed full power even when opening the lid.

Then things really started to go down hill…

Powered up, lights flickered, exhaust fan oscillated in speed, lifted the lid (not sure if that had anything to do with it), then fans kicked on full speed, lights were full brightness, fans still running, nothing else happened. Powered down, unplugged.

Powered up, lights flickered, exhaust fan oscillated in speed, nothing else happened. Powered down/unplugged. Powered up a couple more times to this scenario.

Then, the machine was not powering up at all, nothing.

Left alone for 30-45 minutes or so, powered on, back to full fans and full brightness of lights, lid position does not matter…nothing else, no calibration, nothing…left like this for 15 minutes or so with no avail… Turned off, waited a few then turned on…nothing.

GF app on the computer continued to read “cancelling” throughout this whole endeavor.

I’m at a loss here.

2

Have you tried doing the reset on the machine? This is done by holding the button down for 10 seconds, letting the light change to real, then powering the machine off. I like to unplug the machine after I’ve powered it off, as well as clicking the button back on to use on residual power that may be in the capacitors.

That would be my suggestion. The glowforge team tends to like specific times, this way they can pull the logs from your machine, but I guess if this has been happening all day, they could be able to just see it from their end.

3

Support will be looking at this - it does not sound like normal at all.

Until they get back to you and in the hopeful column, try this.
Software updates were said to cause weird behavior.
I cannot find the link, but opening the lid and powering on had something to do with it ignoring the start up dialogue and being able to focus on the software update.
Details for How Long, When Done, etc, are lost to me, sorry.

Anyone remember where that discussion is in that pile of links behind us?

1 Like
4

I wouldn’t be able to find it either, I’m afraid.

But the steps are:

  1. Log out of the app in all places, on all devices. (Don’t just close it.)
  2. Open the lid.
  3. Turn on the machine and let it sit for 20 minutes or so to load and install any updates without interference.
  4. Close the lid and let it finish the Startup calibration before logging back into the app.

Other than that, it does sound like something Support is going to need to take a look at. If trying the above steps doesn’t fix it, you might want to just unplug and wait.

1 Like
5

(Software guy): sounds like a hardware problem. Fingers crossed.

6

I’m sorry you ran into trouble. I extracted the logs from your Glowforge to investigate your report, and it looks like your unit hasn’t been connected since yesterday evening, around 8:00pm (Pacific time). If possible, could you please follow these steps to pull some current logs from the machine itself?

  1. Turn your Glowforge on and wait about two minutes
  2. Hold down the button on your Glowforge for at least ten seconds, until it glows with a teal color, then release the button
  3. Your Glowforge is now broadcasting a temporary Wi-Fi access point. Connect your computer to “Glowforge XXX-XXX” (from your Wi-Fi Settings)
  4. Visit the following URL in your browser: http://192.168.192.1:3000/logs/zip
  5. A .zip file should download to your computer
  6. Reconnect to your usual Wi-Fi network and email the .zip file to support@glowforge.com

When we receive the file, I’ll take a closer look and reply here with any next steps. I apologize again for the inconvenience.

1 Like
7

Vee:

Turned on the machine (no calibration cycle,full fans and full brightness ensued), left on for a couple minutes.

Depressed the button for 10+ seconds, no teal light.

8

Thanks for letting me know. There’s one more thing I’d like you to check. Could you please do the following?

  1. Turn your Glowforge on, and wait until it has been idle for at least a minute.
  2. Open the lid.
  3. Very gently, push the printer head to the right with one hand and see if you are able to move it. You should feel resistance and the the printer head should not slide freely.
  4. Repeat the previous step, this time pushing the printer head to the left.
  5. Reply to this thread and let me know if you feel resistance in either direction.

Thanks in advance.

9

Powered the machine on, let idle for few minutes.

Moved the print head right then left with no significant resistance. Pretty much the same as when the power was off. Same goes for the carriage.

Lights and fans still full throttle on power up.

10

Thanks for checking that out. 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.