LASER Not Working!

Hey everyone,

I have a Glowforge basic. About a week ago it overheated and the head laser no longer works, so no work can be done. Does anyone have any tips on what I could do to fix it before sending it in?

Or would my best option be to send it to headquarters so they could fix it for me.

Thanks.

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I would prepare to send it in. As far as i know there are no serviceable parts wit the laser itself. They should contact you here. Question is why and how did it overheat?

While using it, it was giving me trouble with a material and it just stopped working midway. It didn’t finish carving.

If it just quit doubt this would work but give it a through cleaning, it worth a try? If you reach then even all the contacts…

What do you mean by cleaning it? Cleaning the laser head, or…?

Clean everything, the laser head, mirrors, the top of the power supply and if you can reach around it along the sides, intake fan, coolant reservoir, exhaust fan, laser tube, crumb try, clean it all and any of the electrical contacts to you reach. make sure you unplug it first…

Can you elaborate a little? Do you mean the head doesn’t move, or the laser doesn’t fire, or the laser fires but doesn’t cut the material, or…? There are a lot of possibilities, and an exact description will help support (and us) to help you better.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on cleaning your lenses: https://glowforge.com/support/topic/cleaning-service-and-moving/cleaning#things-that-need-wiping

Alright, thanks for the help!

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Did the UI tell you that it overheated and was cooling, or is that an assumption based off of getting the orangeish yellowish light?

I would check the ribbon cable that plugs into the head. Sounds more like a bad connection there.

When the head laser stopped working the printer button was orange. I kept on getting the message that the machine needed to cool off. So I stopped using the machine about a week. Now that I tried using it again, the laser head moves, but the laser itself is not firing off.

Did you check the settings being used? Sometimes the machine will default to extremely low power settings for non-Proofgrade materials. (It looks like nothing is happening.)

No it’s not this.

I followed all the steps and cleaned everything. The laser head moves, but the laser its till not firing off.

This is the message that I keep on seeing when I try to work on something. The laser head still moves, however when it tried to work the laser fired off for a bit but then it stopped.

What temperature is your room?

Okay, that’s a standard cooling message. The Basic machines have an operating temperature range of from 60°F to 75°F. The machine heats up a few degrees higher than the air temperature around it when it operates, so if it gets too warm, the machine will Pause operations until it cools off.
(If you do not turn it off, the machine will resume the print as soon as it has cooled off sufficiently.)

What that means though, is if the air temperature is on the warm side, the pause is going to last for longer. The cooler the air around the machine, the shorter the pauses.

There are steps you can take to make a better operating environment for the machine here:

https://community.glowforge.com/t/stuck-in-too-hot-to-print/27259/8?u=jules

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It’s 75F

I’m sorry for the continued trouble. It looks like you already contacted us about this via email, and we’ve been in contact with you regarding the replacement or repair of your Glowforge. I’m going to close this thread and we’ll be in touch via email to continue that process. Thank you for your patience.