Glowforge Laser won't work

My experience with my Glowforge bad from the start. First is not a Technical Support Phone Number to talk to a human been to fix problems, very convenience for Glowforge only e-mail. The Camera in my Glowforge PRO came with glue in the lens. Glowforge response go to the cleaning section and clean the camera. Ok that’s what I did. Then the Laser won’t cut all the way through, the next day the laser won’t fire at all. Glowforge automatic response is the only thing I receive in my e-mail. Again Very convenience for Glowforge NO PHONE NUMBER for TECHNICAL SUPPORT. I’m very disappoint with Glowforge and the way they handle their business.

What I’m expect from Glowforge a phone call as soon as possible from technical support to fix their problem with my unit, NOT an automated e-mail.

Glowforge does not provide phone support, they communicate via email or through posts here on the forum.

When you say the laser did not fire at all, did you check the settings to make sure that they didn’t safety default to 1% power? Was the laser arm moving as if it was working, but nothing showed on the material, or did the laser arm not move at all?

Were you cutting on Proofgrade material? (settings are provided automatically for Proofgrade materials)

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The email is to let you know they received it. An instant response from before they had any information would not be less frustrating I think, Nor would a phone call that you could not send photos of your problem or if they rattled off a list of things to look at or lacking the photos to make that information clear. On first thought, I did wonder why they did not do phone assistance, but watching the support area for a while now I have realized how little could be done, even if this were completely normal times. Trying to do everything out of the house trying to not get sick I think everyone might need a little slack.

If you have done a bit of reading and searching here of all the other folks that had issues like yours you should know the basic procedures of things to check and which of the many details and in many cases what the solution likely is or at least things to watch out for to avoid the mistakes of others.

As @Jules points out it is easy to cause the power settings to drop to zero, and while that is aggravating, it is much less aggravating than the results of setting things too hot. The automatic Proofgrade settings are just enough to go through if everything is working perfectly. If the humidity is high or if you are at a high altitude, much less the slightest film on any of the various lenses or mirrors, less power will arrive on the work and it may be short of cutting through. Most of the time just cutting the speed down 5 or ten points will solve that issue.

They may talk of it being magical but it still has to work in the real world and while it has automated an awful lot, the solutions are not infinite, and it is more complicated and fragile than the average toaster.
It is more capable as well than lasers under a thousand dollars, but it is not your average 30-100k laser either.

The more you know about your machine the fewer problems you will have, and reading through all the other cases similar to yours in this forum could help that a lot.

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Most of my questions were solved quickly by @Jules and @rbtdanforth who wrote very detailed responses. Try printing a gift of good measure on proofgrade and see what happens.

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I’m very sorry for the challenging start with your new Glowforge. I’ve responded to your email with additional information and next steps, so I’m going to close this forum thread for now.