Intake Fan

Community Support
1

Hello all,

I keep getting a message about my air intake fan not running to proper speeds when I go to begin a cut/engrave. I have followed the prompt message which is to clean the terminals, but I still cannot get it to run. I have sent GF a message about this but in the meantime, I was wondering if anyone else had had this issue before? If so, how did you fix it? I got the message the past three days I have used my GF, but was able to still use it all day yesterday after simply wiping the terminals.

I will say, I did take the laser head off and used canned air to clear any debris that may have built up in the fan, as well as used contact cleaner (plastic safe) to get all the caked up gunk off. Also, I really cleaned my machine with canned air, contact cleaner, zeizz wipes, and lint-free cloths that had been LIGHTLY dampened with a 1:1 water-vinegar mixture. I then let the machine sit for 24 hours to ensure no moisture had lingered around when I re-used my machine again. None of the electronics were touched with the water mixture, only the external of the machine and the laser tube. All of the cleaning was done Friday evening, I used it all day yesterday, and today I cannot get it to run.

I just opened up my Etsy shop and I have orders that need to go out in the next week or so, so I am kind of freaking out a little. Any advice would be appreciated as always!

2

The intake fan is on the underside of the Glowforge, on the right-hand side. Make sure there’s nothing blocking it. (e.g., a piece of paper)

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3

Ah. Thank you! I didn’t realize that was the intake fan. However, that is looking pretty clear. The fans appear to be spinning when the machine is turned on.

4

There is an intake fan, and air assist fan, head fan, exhaust fan, and if you have a filter unit, the filter fan(s)

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So. Upon further investigation, I discovered this guy. I didn’t even know it was back there. I was basically standing on my head and happened upon it. BUT I would just about guarantee that this is the issue. I supposed a good spray with the contact cleaner will do the trick. I hope so anyway. I can’t believe I didn’t see it while cleaning.

6

This will walk you through all the different parts to clean - what you’re looking at there is the Air Assist (page 2 of the doc below)

Mostly the :glowforge: is simple, except when it’s not!

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7

Thank you so much. This will be incredibly helpful for the future!

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8

Hi Elizabeth,

I’m so glad that other community members have helped you locate the air assist fan, and I hope that the cleaning has gone well. I’ve noticed that we also have an email support ticket open for you, and I’m going to go ahead and reach out there and close this forum topic to avoid duplicate communication.

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