Help ! Its 2 weeks before Christmas , i have hundreds of dollars in etsy orders waiting to be filled and my machine is stuck on scanning. no movement from the laser head and the last project is still stuck on the screen. All lid clips are secured. not sure what else to do!
Here’s a list of things to try while you’re waiting for Support to weigh in: Stuck Centering/Focusing: How to Troubleshoot for potential Lid Cable issues before contacting Support 😲
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One you finish the troubleshooting, you may also consider looking into a backup plan. Mechanical systems fail and if you are relying on this unit for a business you should have at the least a plan on how to communicate to your customers when you run into an unexpected problem. Glowforge will provide support, but they are selling a hobby level unit with hobby level support.
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Hi @ben1,
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Asking people whether they have a “backup plan” when they are having problems with their GF, or suggesting that a “hobby level unit” should not be used for a business can be interpreted as hostile and not constructive. In addition, the Glowforge includes a “Pro” model, suggesting that it is a professional and not hobby version.
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@mustangfuzz might be seeing the same problem that a lot of us are recently experiencing. If you look over the requests to Problems and Support, there seems to be a dramatic increase in people reporting “Stuck on centering” and “stuck on scanning”. If multiple people are experiencing this problem, then it’s good for GF support to know about it.
And @geek2nurse is absolutely right to suggest the basic troubleshooting checklist first.
Finally: @mustangfuzz, assuming you’re past the “clean everything” and “ribbon cables look fine” and “triple check the wifi” stage, try this: power on with the lid open, then close the lid when the UI reports “lid open”, and let it sit for an hour. In my case, centering DID complete, but it took nearly an hour. If this is your problem too, then this makes it unusable, but strongly suggests that it isn’t a hardware issue. See: Stuck on Centering, head doesn't move
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You are correct, this is not the first time I have mentioned this. I mention it to every user I see who says they are running a business. I mention it because I learned it the hard way. If I had known when I started my business what I know now, it would have saved me a lot of time and money. I was able to recover and was able to move forward. If I can help someone else keep their business going, it is worth it to me.
You are right, not everyone has my type of business. Some are going to be able to use the Glowforge to go further than I do, and those who choose not to have a backup plan are going to have problems. If you are one of those who chooses not to have a backup plan, fine with me.
I am not providing this information to mislead or to get a reaction from users. I am providing it to be helpful and many users have been appreciative. Your reaction, accusatory and bordering on a personal attack, is much closer to trolling than anything I have posted. I am sorry you chose to take offence to my posts. If they are so onerous to you, I invite you to please click on my profile and in the top right corner change the status from “Normal” to “Ignore”. That way you will be relieved of the burden of reading my posts.
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I appreciate the input from everyone and i will try all of your troubleshooting ideas. I have a regular day job. I justbdo the engraving on the side. I just dont want to disappoint my customers.
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I suggest communicating with your customers earlier rather than later, but wait until you hear from Support. I think you will find that customers who get clear communication early are forgiving of hardware issues. If you can give them an ETA they are more forgiving, which is why I suggest waiting to hear from Support. If you have customers who can’t wait, there may be other users who can help take the load off if you ask.
I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve hit this snag!
It looks like @geek2nurse suggested some great tips for additional troubleshooting. Once you are able to review the clips on your Glowforges lid, and do not see anything out of place, please let me know. Once we can verify that everything is connected properly, we’ll send over the next best steps.
I tried all those steps. It is still not working. What do u think i should
do next?
Thank you for checking that out for us. Since everything is connected properly, it’s likely that the black cable on the lid has a problem. I’d like to send you a replacement for that cable, along with some instructions on how to replace it
I’m going to close this thread. - I will follow up with you via email to go over the next steps we need to take so we can get you back to printing as quickly as possible.