Help, 1st prints are terrible

2021-01-01T06:00:00Z
My brand new Glowforge pro is finally setup, Im experiencing terrible prints. The machine is level and on a sturdy surface. The crumb tray is installed correctly and sitting in the dimples. I even cleaned all the lenses just in case I touched them when installing. I will upload some pics. I do have years of experience 3d printing and what seems to be going on is a calibration issue??? X shift possibly?? Do i need to calibrate ??? Circles cut out oval, the cut doesn’t go all the way through in some areas… Im using the right material and everything is FLAT!

Check for a broken wheel, but it is probably your belt tension.


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Hello @bgaal212,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I’m sorry to see that your new Glowforge is having some print trouble.

@dklgood is completely right, the first things to check are the belt tension on the laser arm and the v-wheels on the carriage plate.

Start by checking the carriage plate v-wheels following the steps below:

  1. Turn off your Glowforge
  2. Remove the carriage plate from the laser arm
  3. Closely inspect the carriage plate wheels from the top for any cracks or other damage
  4. Closely inspect the sides of the wheels for any cracks or other damage
  5. If you notice anything damaged or out of place, please take a photo and attach it to your reply.

If the v-wheels look good, reinstall the carriage plate and then check the belt tension under the laser arm. When checking this belt it is helpful to lay a mirror down in the print bed. That will give you better visibility to the belt.

When pressing lightly on one side of the belt, the other side should not move.

Like this:

(You should see an animated image above)

If a belt is loose, you can follow this link for instructions to adjust the tension of the carriage plate belt.

Please let us know how it goes. Thank you!

Checked everything and the belt tensions and pulley wheels were acceptable. I did loosen the side belts and re tightened them to make sure they had even tension. So i reloaded, re imported the key chain and here is the result.

Loosened the side belts and re tightened them 1 more time then rotated the print.

I tried my own file after doing a tutorial on Youtube

There is definitely something up with the belts or wheels.

On a brandy new machine??? I can move it around by hand really easy, very little resistance. No jerkiness. The wheels upon close inspection are flawless imo… I see no defects anywhere.
Maybe the belts are too tight??? Can that be an issue??

Im thinking the motors are the issue. sync problem.

I am assuming you are only moving it all around when it is turned off. Don’t move it when turned on. Anyway, the Suport pics above show the proper belt tension.

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Only when it was off. I know I have the proper tension, I re did all 3 and same results. crap!!
How discouraging.

Support will be along to help, I hope.

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I see you already emailed us about this and we’re working on it there, so I’m going to close this topic.