New GF Calibration issue - Any Diagnostic Recommendations?

I just received my GF Pro and am having some calibration issues. As many other’s have had, my GF is stuck in the calibration phase and does not move from under the camera.

After several hours of this, it only went to the back left corner once and I am not really sure how that happened. I then tried a test print and the printer head, was way out of alignment (It didn’t even hit the material) I looked through the forums and tried all the suggestions. (Iphone on top, restart, reconnect, waiting, turn-off and turn on.) , all to no avail. Because it is stuck in calibration mode, I will not allow me to refresh the bed image.

Does anyone know if there are any diagnostics I can run while waiting for support to get back to me?

I believe that if the machine is stuck in calibration for longer than a few minutes, it’s an indicator of a weak or spotty Wifi signal. There’s a list of troubleshooting tips that support will usually suggest here, apologies if you have already seen it:

https://glowforge.com/support/topic/troubleshooting/wi-fi

Running through those steps might help, and will give them diagnostic information. Good luck!

3 Likes

Wish they had an RJ-45 connector on the back of the machine. It would allow those having an issue like this to plug directly into a router and if it suddenly starts working great, they would have the problem pinned down quickly at least.

2 Likes

I’ll have to take your word for it, the whole Wifi thing is greek to me. :smile:

1 Like

I ran through those issues and eventually, the head moved to the back of the machine. This made me very, very happy and then I went to print the “gift of good measure” and now I have this really odd design.

Thoughts?

Some other things to check:
Check to make sure that the ribbon cable has been correctly laid in the gantry arm - it should look like this one:

IMG_4489

It folds backwards on itself before being plugged into the connectors on the head, so that it can unroll smoothly inside that channel.

If that looks okay, you might want to turn off the machine, unplug the ribbon cable and take a photo of the pins to see if any are bent or missing.

After checking those, check the rails for bits of debris or something that the gantry might be getting hung up on when it travels back and forth. Look for screws that might stick out, and gently move the gantry all the way forward to the edge of the grid, and back. Then move the head slowly left to right. Do all of this with the machine off - don’t try to move the gantry quickly or while the machine is on.

Report any problems you discover here. (It’s all part of the diagnostic process.)

1 Like

Apparently the forum member asked almost the same question twice in P&S. My response on his other topic was the same. Looks like the head is not moving freely left and right to me.

4 Likes

Thanks for your suggestions, @Jules! That’s a good first step.

I’m going to close this topic and continue working on this in the new one.