How do I clean this?

Community Support
1

The 45° mirror inside my print head has a scorch mark on it. I suspect this may be the cause of my problems with cuts not making it through proofgrade materials. Can I clean this myself?

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2

Here are the official cleaning instructions:
https://shop.glowforge.com/support/topic/cleaning-service-and-moving/cleaning

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3

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide instructions for cleaning the internal 45° mirror

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4

You won’t find me making a recommendation either. Hopefully one of the support folks see this pretty soon.

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5

If that’s a scorch mark on the mirror then I suspect it is way beyond cleaning. The mirror is a first surface coated mirror. Cleaning dust, smoke or even finger prints would be possible with care but the coating looks burned.

Fortunately the mirror is a user replaceable part. No suggestions from me. Wait for Support.

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6

Here are some direct photos of the mirror:

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Looks like I need a replacement mirror:
https://shop.glowforge.com/products/laser-head-mirror?taxon_id=57

What could have caused this after only a week of moderate use?

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7

Of this is due to proofgrade, I would argue this as a warrenty part replacement.

8

The material could not have caused this. However I imagine it’s still a warranty replacement. (Unless there is some abuse that could have caused this.)

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9

I assure you that I’ve been kind to Hephaestus. He has only been tasked with fairly straightforward endeavors since he was unboxed :slight_smile:

10

I have no doubt.

11

That could definitely be a cause for the cutting problem.
The only thing I can imagine is debris of some sort on the mirror that caused the energy to be deposited instead of reflected.
8 months of moderate to heavy use and nothing like that ever happened with the PRU.

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12

Perhaps @Rita could respond with a suggestion on how to handle the replacement.

13

@vee responded and provided a credit to cover the cost of a replacement 45º mirror. I’ll try to close this thread now.

14

Thanks for your patience, @CharlesDarwin. I can close the thread for you since we’ve followed up by email.

If you run into any other problems, please go ahead and start a new thread. And thanks for the information in this thread, everyone!