Has anyone cleaned the fan under the gantry and if so how?
Air assist or purge fan (head fan)?
Iâve done both using a ârocket blasterâ. Believe support said compressed air from a can is ok.
If doing the purge fan, youâll want to remove the lens so any debris can fall through.
The air assist. The head fan is easy, the other not so easy to get to. I was wanting to wipe it down even a air can wont get it allâŚ
Youâre in luck. @jules posted a very complete step by step recently. You can find it here:
Yeah, I took a shot at it yesterday without removing it from the gantryâŚdonât want to go quite that far yet on that one - if it becomes necessary to do it later to replace that fan, I figure it wonât require a trip back to the mother ship.
I just poked at it from behind with a folded pipe cleaner. Dislodged a little bit of junk, but nothing like that exhaust fan. It didnât look too bad from the back with the camera, and you canât see the front, so Iâll maybe try something else later.
You are talking about the air assist fan. Not able to search easily right now. Search for âspring head user:rpeggâ and the instructions on how to remove the plate and fan will be there.
Agree, i donât want to go the removal route just yet but i would like to clean it. Iâll try the pipe cleaners and air hopefully that will help someâŚ
Oops. I read the OPâs question a little too fast. Now thereâs yet another spot I need to learn to clean.
Thatâs ok I didnât realize there was fan ther either until i was reading other threadsâŚ
Really didnât get much out of itâŚjust a few crumbs. I think if the fan is working properly, the air pushes most of the stuff away from that one.
Mine pushes really good but preventative maintenance is everythingâŚ
Without removing the head carriage canned air is going to be your best bet.
figured as much as that is what i did. Hope i got most of itâŚ
It will be an improvement for sure.
To get it clean, you have the tools, are out of warranty and you are feeling adventurous, you can clean it thoroughly.
This is what I found when I removed the head carriage and pulled the fan from it. All of that is just accumulation of smoke particulate.
This is what it looks like clean. You can see the fanâs ability to move air was significantly reduced.
With the fan in my hands, a pipe cleaner, old toothbrush, and 120 PSI (holding the fan blade so it wonât spin) from my compressor, I made quick work of it.
This access requires removal of the carriage from the gantry. If you are not confident in your ability to accomplish that, I donât recommend it, and certainly not until your glowforge is out of warranty.
Till then stick to canned air.
Thatâs what iâm talking about. Also i noticed while cleaning today the exhaust fan can be removed from the inside if you have a #9 torx bit and your wrist is jointed to feel and get to the bottom right screwâŚ
Yes, it is possible, but stabbing that bottom right screw back in place would be an extreme challenge. I had trouble even with the top left glass off. You can get the screw in the front hole of the fan, but getting it lined up for the rear hole in the fan frame is the problem.
Holy cow DavidâŚhow the heck did you get that much buildup in there?
A bajillion little tokens
I hate to be âthe oneââŚbut, I am getting so confused! Can someone please explain in simple terms where the heck all these fans are located? I know about the big one in back, sending bad stuff out of the house. I know about the teeny tiny one underneath the headâŚand ?
This one is well hiddenâŚitâs behind the head, under the gantry.