New Fan Sensor Update

@annie.curasi I just did a good cleaning this weekend. But the fact that I had the issue last night then printed this morning and as soon as I got home from work before the issue came back seem to point to something else.

We had an issue after the update where our prints would get cancelled at random. It wasn’t like it overheated. That usually results in a pause and the job continues after awhile. This was a full blown cancellation that I did not request. At first, we thought maybe our cat walked across the computer… that’s pretty typical. But it happened 3 times. After a really good cleaning it fixed the problem for us.

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@annie.curasi, I’m recleaning the fans now. Wondering if there is a fan I’m missing. The only two fans I’ve noticed are the exhaust fan and the tiny fan on the print head. Are there any others? I really wish @glowforge would come up with a more comprehensive, official cleaning guide.

The little fan on the back of the head is just purge air. There is a 3rd fan, that is the air assist fan, located on the back of the carriage plate. They have instructions for cleaning that located in the support section. There are also intake fans. Those don’t necessarily get dirty but they can suck up things like paper, which covers up the inlet.

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@jbmanning5 Thanks so much! Did they add those directions in the last few months? All I recall seeing when I first got the unit was instructions for cleaning the laser mirrors and lenses and the crumb tray.

They updated the cleaning a little while back. We had no idea until we messaged Support asking if we were missing anything in terms of cleaning.

I’ve been using some 3/4" diameter rare-earth magnets to hold stock down on the crumb tray for months no problem. With the two most recent jobs I ran, both stopped with a fan error when the printhead got near the magnets. I don’t think it has anything to do with how clean my GF is (it’s pretty clean, I am not a heavy duty user). Seems like maybe a recent update has tightened the limits on fan speed variation. So maybe GF revamped the fan management stuff…

Would be nice if GF published release notes when they make changes, so users could determine if a problem they used to have is gone because something was fixed, or if they have a new problem if it appears related to a recent change. I honestly can’t say I know of any technology company that doesn’t provide a change list to their customers when changes are made.

Maybe GF does this and I just don’t know where to look?

There is a permanent link to the latest improvements and features in the right side panel of the Dashboard on everyone’s app. (Plus they always make an announcement here on the forum, but Rita usually announces it in the Problems and Support section, not in Announcements.) If you want to go back and catch one that you missed though, you can read up on all of the changes here:

They do list this change, it was several improvements ago. (They advise against using magnets in the Manual, if I recall correctly, so they aren’t likely to belabor the point.) :slightly_smiling_face:

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Although they (thru Dan) are quite proud of the fact they went to the extra expense of making the honeycomb out of more expensive steel than the often used aluminum. It’s very much a wink-wink nudge-nudge don’t do this admonishment. :slightly_smiling_face:

I’m willing to bet there are a fair number of magnets in use on laser Thursday. :wink:

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Oh I know. But the fact that it’s in there precludes them continuing to warn us about the effects, KWIM? :smile:

But…

and…

and…

and…

I’m sure there are plenty more.

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I know not of this right side panel. I just went and checked the window that was open the last time I did a print. Maybe this is what I get for not reading any of the documentation.

But I did check the Latest Improvements list. Thanks.

Note: I am not suggesting that they should not have made changes to the fan handling, I’m sure the reason behind the change makes sense. I just didn’t realize the change list existed and that the explanation was there.

Though the release note doesn’t say anything about magnets, or even “this makes the printer much more sensitive to changes in fan speed” so the association has to be inferred.

When this condition happens, the print is aborted, there doesn’t appear to be a way to pause, open the lid, move the magnet, and then continue. A feature like that would mean I could still use magnets (which I’m going to do anyway) but I wouldn’t have to be as careful where I put them.

Yeah, I’m sure a lot of people miss it. If you opened the app to a job that you did last, just click the white Glowforge icon at the upper left row to go back to the Dashboard. It saves your latest file and you can see and select all of your other files.

There are cool things on the Dashboard. See the little gift next to your name at the top? If there is a red dot on it, then the Glowforge team has loaded a new freebie there that you can go and download. They put a new one up every few weeks.

And the most recent upgrade is always listed under the Gallery pics.

The use of the magnets is a personal decision. I haven’t cared for them since some early tests with the PRU, when I suspect they were causing other issues with the head, so I use the Honeycomb Pins instead. But some people do love their magnets, and I’m obviously not going to change anyone’s mind about using them, (especially since we’ve got that beautiful steel tray just begging for magnets to get stuck on it), so I know when to give it up as a lost cause. :smile:

Here’s what makes sense though with the magnets…use non-neodymium magnets to hold down paper and you should be fine. Smaller magnetic field, and it’s farther away from the head, so it’s not going to stop the fan. Using the world’s most powerful neodymium magnets without shielding is going to stop your prints and ruin a lot of material. The decision is up to the individual.

Shielding is cheap. I added a disc to all of my thicker neodymiums. Got the shielding off Amazon.

Pins are pretty much useless for internal bows & warps :slightly_smiling_face:

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Are you sure you don’t mean neodidliums? (thank you, Marion) :smile:

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The problem with pins, as articulated by JamesDHatch, is that they can only grab the edges of the material. If I’m going to cut a circle out of a piece of paper, I need a hold down in the center of the cutout to keep the air assist fan from pulling it out and blowing it across some other area yet to be lazed. Or if the material is bowed in the center, magnets are the only option for holding down the inner regions of a piece of stock.

Flux rings (or in this case, “plate”) is a good idea. An Iron “cap” covering the top and sides of the magnet will significantly reduce the magnetic field emitted upwards while simultaneously increasing the field strength emitted downwards…

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When mining and dividing out the various chemicals in the lanthanide series there is a pair that is very hard to get apart. The neodymium and praseodymium are therefore used together as didyminm particularly as a colorant in glass best known as glassblower glasses but if you put your hand in the meat display and it looks like a nice steak then the lights are colored with this material.

I could be wrong but I suspect that the neodymium in magnets does not include the praseodymium.

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I use magnets from retired hard disk drives. The plate they are attached to and the way the magnets are poled results in almost no field on the steel plate side and NdFeB strength on the other.

I make hard disk drives for a living (or used, to, anyway. It’s all about SSDs now. And they have no magnets. :frowning: )

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