My Pro Died This week

After 2 years of loyal service, my beloved GF Pro started having issues. I started having trouble with my cuts, engraves and scores were fine. I noticed a slight difference in the size of the beam as I was engraving one of our flags. Thought ah, they changed a power setting. Went to cut a plaque the next day and the beam had become huge and I mean huge, caught the masking on fire and didn’t even cut thru. Thinking I goofed up, checked my settings, tried several different cuts at different speed/power. The beam would narrow down but still would not cut my 1/4 inch that I have cut like butter till now. Figuring it was the printhead lens, after close inspection noticed some pitting and scratches. Managed to find one and the black and silver window. The mirror looked perfect. Anyways, changed it all out AAAANNNNDDD, No Change. Contacted support again and it has been determined that their is an issue in the laser system, They didn’t say tube, they said system. Because of the lengthy repair time due to the repair shop improvements that are being made, The have offered me a newly refurbished pro, for what I feel is a very nice gesture and price on their part to get their customers up and running again. We really have no choice at this point as we use our GF to supplement our social security. We have an Etsy Store with orders waiting and we also do some local venues. I have read negative remarks towards customer service and although it may happen from time to time, that’s just life, I have found them to be nothing but helpful. As a testament to the quality of GF, mine has ran hard for 2 years, served us well and have only had to replace that camera focusing cable. SHE WILL BE MISSED!!!
I’ve attached a few pictures of of what we use our GF to make, amongst a bunch of other stuff. We also do sublimation and have incorporated into some of our work.

Here’s our Etsy Link if interested in looking. Happy Forging
www.etsy.com/shop/NuVisionEngraving

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Those are fantastic! How did you do the colors on the green one? :slightly_smiling_face:
(Sorry your baby conked out on you.)

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Sorry to hear your workhorse has died, good luck!

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Those are done with our dye- sublimation. We send those to Okinawa to a Marine fighter wing. The black stripes and circle for plaque are engraved out, Paint them black, glue on all sublimation plaques and finish with epoxy resin.

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They ate aluminum photo panels.

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Nice work. I am sorry about your machine, but happy you were able to get the performance from it that you did.

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Really sorry to hear about your Pro.

Enjoyed seeing your work … some beautiful pieces.

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Sorry to hear of your machine. Will you have to send it back for the refurb? I guess they could refurb it easier to help someone else better that you could use the spare parts but spare parts can be handy.

Don’t know if you saw this yet, but the timing of yours going down is better than it could have been: Improvements to Our Repair Process: Update & discussion thread

Not sure how much a refurbished machine would have cost otherwise, but that sounds like a good deal to me! You’ve made some really great projects, hopefully they get you taken care of quick so you can get back to making them!

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Sounds like a weird focus issue, wonder why they didn’t just send a new head? Maybe the problem isn’t easy to isolate or diagnose, what do we know?

Thank you!!

Here’s what I know so far. It is a laser system problem that cannot be repaired by me. I have accepted their offer due to the upgrading their repair facility. If it was going to happen, this was a blessing. At this time. Cost is $489.00 + $200.00. + tax. They also send you return labels for the broken GF. It is what they are calling Newly Refurbished. I think it is very fair. Just waiting for the invoice so I can pay it. Will ship upon payment and you have to send the other back within 2 weeks.
So, I personally have my own theory. I maintain it very well, my OCD, LOL!! It still scores and engraves well, bit oh my word, you try to cut and this is no joke, it looks like an arc welder hitting the wood. I think it probably has to do with a controller of some sort. My thought is the silver box on the left side of the carriage may have electronics in it that controls power. That would require removal of tube etc… A layman’s thought anyways.

The head is supposedly calibrated to each machine. Owners of two machines report being able to swap them, but that’s what they’ve said.

Assuming you mean the one with the window on it, that “box” is empty, except for mirrors for guiding the beam at the rear and front. Power is controlled by the power supply over in the right-rear corner of the case.

Thank for the clarification. That’s what I was talking about. Kind of figured, just wasn’t sure. Like I said, score and engrave fine. Its the welding rod arc when you try to cut that Has me baffled.

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“Generally” a failing power supply would fail completely, as it runs at full power all the time, but is pulsed on and off to control beam output power. Once the switching components starts to go, they will self destruct rapidly.

The tube, however, will degrade over time. It is a consumable.

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I’ve swapped heads briefly when diagnosing an issue I was having, which was that I wasn’t getting consistent engraving. Issue persisted with the swapped head, sent everything in and got a replacement. I know they’d mentioned the overall laser system was calibrated specifically, but I hadn’t thought that the heads were a part of that.

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