Today while engraving a customers order my GF stopped engraving completely. The head was still moving but the laser was not firing and no engraving was happening.
I cancelled the print. Shut the GF down and unplugged it. Restarted and proceeded to try another engrave file. Same thing. Head moving but no engrave.
I have emailed support but I know from experience they aren’t very quick with getting back to us users who have spent thousands of dollars with them. 
Well, in fairness to Support, all the users have spent similar amounts of money. They don’t discriminate. 
Your machine’s laser power supply has probably croaked. If you’re not handy troubleshooting electronics, you should probably spend the time while you wait for Service to get back to you locating the box the GF shipped in and repacking it in the box to return for service… 
Sorry. Didn’t you post that you were selling your Glowforge?
Two years was the predicted lifespan for the tube, so either that, or the power supply - as hinted at above - are likely dead. The tube replacement is quite a deal.
Send pics to support and wait to hear what options you have. Might take a week or two. Box it up in the meantime.
I did
Thanks
Ha yea I guess we all did pay that money huh!
I checked my connections and all that good stuff. Really not sure where to go from there. Super bummed I’ve got to pack it up.
Thanks for the laugh
A gas laser generally won’t go from working fine to not working at all in an instant. Tube life relates to the slow diffusion of the gasses inside the laser tube (the gasses inside the tube leak out, and outside air leaks in). The process of diffusion is accelerated by heat, which is why the more you use the laser the sooner it wears out. So the power output from the tube ought decrease long before the tube reaches the point that the laser will no longer fire. Instantaneous failures are more often than not a failure of the electronics that drive the tube than the tube itself.
They can fail instantaneously, it’s just not as likely.
Solid State lasers (like the one in my old Form1+ SLA 3D printer) also degrade with use/time. But because they’re dependent on a semiconductor to produce their light, and semiconductors can fail nearly instantaneously, the “it was working fine a minute ago and now it doesn’t work at all” scenario is more likely to occur.
so what happened?
Jonathan
I’ve been burned!! Bad! I have absolutely nothing good to say about this!
I was told that there is something wrong with my laser and they have no way of figuring that out unless they see it in person. (But repairs are not done in house. What?) My replay, I’ll send it back. You fix it, send me my original back and I’ll be happy. GF, sorry that’s not how we do it. You have to purchase a refurbished pile of crap for over a thousand dollars, send your original back to us and you’ll be off and running again.
With my hands tied that was pretty much my only option other then be stuck with a GF that doesn’t work at all.
I get the refurbished printer and when I open the box the glowforge is in a plastic bag and a absolutely dripping wet. Obviously for condensation but none the less super wet. Puddle of water in bottom of bag wet. Immediately took glowforge out to air dry, take pictures and email support. Three days later still no email back so I decided to plug it in and get WiFi set up and try a print. WiFi set up through my laptop but laser “offline” on my laptop but I can connect and print from my iPhone/iPad which is actually not easy to do when your resizing and have to design on laptop top upload to GF then jump off and get back on iPhone.
Email support regarding this issue. No reply. For several days. Ask for a phone call. Sorry we don’t call our customers.
So pretty much. I tried to return the refurb and they said nope. Can’t do that.
At this point I’m switching to another company that I have already spoken to a live person who has answered all my questions and has nothing nice to say about GF.
Possible legal action to be taken.
Well, I can tell you how to fix it, or I can buy it.
I would be happy with either option
where are you located?
and which laser is it?
Jonathan
It’s a pro. I’m in Northern CA. Close to Redding.
Would it be easy to fix? Or how much would you purchase it for?
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