Moisture inside tube

Hi guys,

this is the second shipment that i got the first one when we opened the box was full of liquid as you can see from the pictures below. the video i am attaching is the latest replacement that i got which has moisture inside the tube.

The last time we were advised to get it replaced since it was really really wet now we only have a few drops of moisture.

do i turn it on or not?

im bordering on the not but any help is greatly appreciated.

hopefully not a coolant leak as i have read a lot on the forums.

video below of the moisture inside the tube.

https://community.glowforge.com/uploads/short-url/AyMgUJb2FyxwcQ5IknRe1lKg4J.mp4![1|300x500](upload://uo55KbByqAmrEYxtWBUWqVz3Agk.jpg)![3|690x414](upload://dRxVJh53CCyozE3m8bQfBHY6zja.jpg)![3|690x414](upload://dRxVJh53CCyozE3m8bQfBHY6zja.jpg)![previous|690x414](upload://xoMuEJARVB34KgVYlv3Fvnyebuo.jpg)

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It’s a little bit confusing …are those the pictures from the first machine? (That one definitely had a coolant leak). But the video is from the second machine. Is that correct? Those pictures are not from this machine, are they?

There is supposed to be liquid in the tube - it is what is used to cool the tube during operation. When you first turn the machine on, you might see some air bubbles that will purge with a lot of gurgling. After that though, you should not see any bubbles in the tube.

Inspect the tube carefully for anything that looks like a crack in the glass. And check to see if there is any liquid on the outside of the tube. If you don’t see anything that looks like either of those I would consider going ahead and setting it up.

Warning: I’m no expert, I’ve only been through this twice - if you want to wait to hear from the folks at Glowforge about it, that is probably your best bet. They’ve looked at a lot more of these things than I have.

Anyway, good luck with it. :slightly_smiling_face:

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The pics are from the first. That wasn’t good.

The second, I can’t tell either if those are bubbles clinging on the inside, or actual moisture on the outside.

Bubbles inside are to be expected after transit or moving it and the unit will purge itself.

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hey there jules / jb,

thank you very much for replying quickly and sharing your thoughts :grinning::+1:

g.f. really has an awesome community

regarding the questions:

yes the pictures are the first batch what i had replaced.

the video is the replacement i got.

bubbles / moisture are inside clinging to the tubes.

i really hope they would be purged when i turn it on, and yes we did transport it from the house to the office

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Inside is okay. As long as it’s not wet on the outside you should be good to go. :slightly_smiling_face:

Or not…I see from the response below that I might have been mistaken. Crud.

hey jules! awesome just finishing the manuals and safety etc. :grinning::+1:

how is your glowforge coming along? have you tried unknown materials yet?

im looking into engraving archery bows and accessories. do you think i would have problems with metal areas?

Well, you can’t actually engrave metals - you can mark them if you use something like Cermark or if you work with something that has an anodized coating.

Anything leather (quivers, straps, gloves, etc.) is no problem. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi Jbmanning5,

the bubbles are inside the tube, i am really hoping that the unit will purge itself after it runs its initial boot up.

thank you for your insight Jbmanning5, how is your glowforge coming along?

Hi Jules,

looking up cermark haha =) maybe ill leave the laser marking of metals to the pros who have bigger more capable lasers.

you mentioned quivers…and you look like you are knowledgeable about archery.

are you an archer by any chance?

yes definitely been dreaming about elven inspired leather accessories…that would be awesome. :star_struck:

Been a long time since I’ve used a bow. Most of the arrows and other archery equipment I had used were painted over metal (aluminum) or maybe anodized coating. If so the GF will remove that surface coating fine leaving the metal surface underneath. It will look like it has been engraved even though the metal was not engraved. Won’t work on plain metal without something like Cermark.

Of course getting an arrow in the GF might be a problem.

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I was thinking the same for most of it, The 20" size limitation will mean you can only do a part of anything. unless it is a Pro as then you could engrave designs on the leather or even cut out patterns. It would be quite a challenge getting a bow through even the passthrough. Hoping @rongyuen will post pictures of what he can do when the time comes :smile:

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If its just an arrow, an appropriately sized drill bit should make a good special passthrough…may void your warranty, so I would not advocate going that route.

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Would really make it true: I have an arrow with your name on it! Not that I would ever threaten anyone like that.:rofl:

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thank you very much for all the inputs and puns guys and gals i really appreciate it!

I will share what i create or destroy during the experimental phases :grin: hopefully more on the create part.

To be honest im still chickening out firing it up and messing things up.might end up like this :scream: if it suddenly bursts into flames or shoots lasers randomly and vaporizes my office. okay maybe that is too much of a scenario.

@rbtdanforth glad i went pro, will likely try and hopefully the pass through helps me get that arrow in there haha =) , got a bunch of spare arrow tubes i can play around with. hopefully the time would be in a few days, im still making sure my work area is clean and ready for my baby checking all grounding and circuits too.

@marmak3261 that would indeed be funny, i would try that pun on one of my regulars at my archery range.

@rpegg now that clears it all up, gf cannot engrave but can “scratch” or etch? the anodized coating? im new to this laser and materials thing for the lack of technical words to describe it. lol.

I think technically (and may be wrong) at the 40-45w power levels, you are bleaching the dye in the anodizing. I don’t think it really ablates the actual anodized coating leaving raw aluminum.

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now that is awesome, so if you are right i will not need to fear peeling, im not even sure if anodized treatment peels off or just fades…

while on this topic besides the copper and chrome any other metals i should be wary of? that can reflect / refract laser?

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Copper I understand is almost a perfect mirror to the wavelength, so that is bad juju.

I see you already emailed us about this and we’re working on it there, so I’m going to close this topic.