Alright sooooo… this will now be the third time on three different units I’ve had the issue of a print being cancelled midway and the message “Lid Open” coming on… and staying on… for ever and ever. My current unit is exactly two weeks old and I literally treat it like the most precious, fragile, sacred thing I own. I use it as a hobby so I think it has relatively little print time in the two weeks I’ve had it. I consciously make sure I’m not opening the lid too wide to not risk damaging the black cable. I keep it clean, level and adjust my heater/air conditioner to ensure it never gets to hot or too cold. I may as well tuck this thing in at night! And yet… this flippin’ “LID OPEN” is a reoccurring problem for me. I’m starting to think it’s me but seriously… what could I be doing wrong to cause this!?!
Anyway, I’m pretty much a veteran at troubleshooting this issue so once again, I went through all the steps to attempt to resolve this issue on my own (even though it never works for me).
I followed the troubleshooting tips in a topic titled “Stuck Centering/Focusing: How to Troubleshoot for potential Lid Cable issues before contacting Support”. I checked the cable connections and everything seems to be fine and fully seated (photos attached).
I followed the instructions given to me by Glowforge Support
Power off your Glowforge
Open the lid and front door of your Glowforge
Remove your crumb tray
Check for and remove any debris that may prevent the front door from closing properly, particularly the area underneath the front door
Close the front door and lid
Power your Glowforge back on
I compared the photos of Support previously provided to me with my own unit and nothing looks different (photos of my unit attached). All the lights come on and even without the crumb tray, the Lid Open message is still there.
Every time this has happened I’ve first been sent a replacement black cable (which fix the issue) before ultimately getting sent a replacement unit. I don’t know what’s happening with my units or why but I’d say odds are, the black cable will not fix this unit either.
Please let me know what I can do to get this resolved.
Are you touching the cables or any associated connectors when you “clean” the machine? The lid sensor cables are at the very front of the lid attached to the LED strip PCBs.
The only parts of the machine that need cleaning are the optics (glass windows, lens, mirror, lid camera) and fans. Every ~40hrs of use or so. I’ve cleaned mine ~15 times in three years (I pulled 20 zeiss wipes out of the 100 pack and still have 5 left.)
I avoid cleaning any cables or wires. This one is two weeks old so really the only thing I’ve cleaned is the lid camera, windows and lens. When I clean the windows I don’t touch anywhere that’s not glass and I only use water on a microfiber towel. I’ve had 4 units and never had one long enough that I felt it needed a deep clean.
Support will most likely want to send out yet another black cable, as that’s most often the issue, and they have to rule that out before paying to swap out the unit again. You could start up a service replacing them, given your experience.
Alcohol and water are essentially the ingredients that make Zeiss wipes. I dont moisten my cloth any more damp than a zeiss wipe would be. So I wouldn’t think the absence of alcohol on the glass lid would be the cause of this problem.
I use Zeiss wipes on the lenses but the top glass is quite large to clean with 2" squares of cloth.
But if miraculously thats the solution… im all for it.
True, water shouldn’t matter on the glass lid itself, and I wasn’t offering that as a solution to your problem. Depending on your water source, it can have minute grit in it that could scratch your lenses, however if you use Zeiss lens wipes, you’re good to go there. Hope your issue can be resolved soon.
If you can watch the GFUI from the glowforge and have some magnets there are sensors on either side of the front of the lid to detect if the lid is closed,
Clearly one or both of those are not getting their message through. If you can play with magnets at the far front lower corners of the lid and can turn off the lid open error then the black cable is not the issue. If not then the lack of communication would likely be elsewhere,
At one point when I was replacing my black cable the lights on the right side did not come on, and thinking that was all there was there tried to open the GFUI and quickly got the lid open error, so I spent some time getting the plug from the black cable on that side to seat properly and when I did the Lid Open error went away.
Have all your machines been in the exact same place? If yes I’m wondering if something else there might be causing a weak magnetic field that’s messing with the door sensor? It’s a long shot, but 3 in a row is astronomically bad luck
This is where it sits in my craft room. Alone on its own wall. There’s a TV mounted on the adjacent wall and nothing outside the windows.
BUTT the door to the right is a “smart lock” pin coded lock. Id imagine it uses some magnets to lock and unlock. Could that possibly be interfering??
Or maybe I’m being paranoid and just hoping for a reason aside from tremendously bad luck.
I’m gonna scrounge up some magnets now. I need answers and im curious if its the cable or something else. I’ll let ya know what I find. Thanks so much!
@TaylorTee - Thank you for your patience, and I’m so sorry that you’ve run into trouble with your current unit. After reviewing the logs, I’ve found that this is an issue which we can’t resolve remotely. I want to ensure that you receive a reliable unit, so I recommend we replace this one. I’m going to reach out to you via email immediately with additional information and next steps.
