Glowforge Pro Exhaust fan Cleaning

[inmind4u]

Hi everyone…been reading for a few days trying to figure out how to clean the exhaust fan on my Pro…I have followed the steps outlined from Glowforge several times…my blades and the surrounding area still remain gummed up…there is so much sticky, gummy debris build up and using the electronic degreaser recommended only seems to be making it worse. My fan is so loud it sounds like an airplane taking off the entire time I run it. I looked into removing the fan for a deep deep cleaning but I don’t have access to it because of the cooling plates…I think those are what they are called.
Any help would be appreciated…
Thank you kindly!

[sqw]

I don’t know how effective this is because you can’t see the fan clearly, but this is now my technique.

1. Clean from the back as much as you can.
2. Get a 1/2 inch house painting brush
3. Fire up the “clean you fan” routine and get the fan spinning, but DON’T SPRAY IT
4. Now very gently push the brush into the fan past the cooling fins.

Also you can sort of clean from the back by pushing pipe cleaners or tube brushes in through the grill.

I stopped using the degreaser method a while ago - I’m convinced that once your fan is a bit mucky this provides no help at all and in fact makes it worse by making it sticky.

If someone has a better scheme I’d love to hear it.

[inmind4u]

Thank you for the reply…yes, I feel like the degreaser only makes it worse. I haven’t tried cleaning it from the inside, only the outside using a straw cleaning brush. I will try doing it from inside now as well…again, thank you so much!

[swmisher]

I have a Plus! How do I access the fan cleaning program?

[dklgood]

https://app.glowforge.com/maintenance/fan

[deirdrebeth]

If the instructions aren’t working for you, try this one - it’s from before there were instructions

Caution: Dirty Pictures....or...How I Cleaned the Exhaust Fan

Update: 12/14/2018: Happily, the Glowforge crew has released an “easier to implement” cleaning regimen for the exhaust fan now…instructions for how to do it involve purchase of a special non-flammable degreasing spray cleanser and use of a special cleaning mode of the software…instructions here: Written up below is the old way that I was doing it…it’s a fairly labor intensive alternative that has worked very well if you are willing to keep up with it as you go along and not let it get …

[inmind4u]

Wow! Guess I need to take a day off to do this! lol
I wish it wasn’t so difficult to clean this thing.

Thank you for sharing this!

[deirdrebeth]

Not so much a day off, but a good hour - I do it this way because the official way involves taking it outside and that isn’t an option for me!

[Ray.V]

Hello! @inmind4u I’m sorry to hear you had a bit of trouble cleaning your exhaust fan. I can only recommend using the cleaning instructions per our directions here: https://support.glowforge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033633614-Cleaning#things-that-need-wiping. Either way, let me know how it goes and I will be more than happy to help! Thank you for reaching out!