I just received my glowforge and there was liquid (not sure it is water since it seems sticky) every where in the protection bag. Did anybody already have this issue.
I don’t know what to do. Should I start the machine or ask for return?
thank you
Don’t start it/plug in. Likely the cooling fluid. By creating this post (since it’s in the Problems and Support), it will automatically open a support ticket for you and you should hear from them in the near future hopefully.
I’m sure they will want pictures, so you can get started by carefully taking pictures.
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thank you. for your help
We’ve seen that happen before, and in a few cases it didn’t require replacement. As @jaltschuld said pictures will help support quantify the problem.
At any rate, Welcome to the community! Support will get you squared away.
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Thank you. it looks like a lot of fluid is missing ( big bubbles in the tube) I put it back in its package ready to be shipped back.
All machines have air in the tube when received, the cooling system is self purging and the air disappears in the first minute of running, so that’s not necessarily an indication.
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A picture of the cooling fluid reservoir under the left side - it’s a white plastic cube-ish shape with a round screw-on looking top - would probably help to tell if it leaked enough to require a trip back to the mothership or if maybe the top was ajar a bit and a simple tighten and continue will be enough.
Anyone who has had a kid who barfed up a can of soda knows that liquids spill in far greater quantity than they exist in the container 
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I had exactly the same thing happened to me. Below is the mail I received from support. Unfortunately the machine wouldn’t power up, so they replaced it. I’ve been happily forging away ever since!
——-
’m so sorry that your Glowforge arrived wet. That’s incredibly frustrating.
This occasionally happens when the Glowforge coolant cap has a problem and the unit is mishandled during shipping. While the box should always be kept right side up, the shipping company sometimes gets it wrong, and when they do, coolant can seep out.
The liquid is a food-grade product that is safe to the touch and doesn’t cause damage to your Glowforge printer.
We’re deeply frustrated for you, because that’s not the experience you should have.
We do have some good news, however. You can be up and printing in just a few minutes by following these instructions:
- Use a lint-free cloth to gently wipe your Glowforge dry.
- Follow the instructions at glowforge.com/manual to setup your Glowforge.
- When you turn on your Glowforge, watch the laser tube carefully. You’ll see bubbles when you first turn it on. The bubbles should clear within a few minutes of the system being powered on, at which point you can continue with Wi-Fi setup and start to print.
If the bubbles don’t clear from your tube after several minutes of being powered on, or if you see additional fluid leaking while the unit is powered on, please let us know and we’ll follow up with next steps.
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This didn’t happen with my unit, but I’m a bit confused by the answer that @johnj posted. @Camilo.P, perhaps you can clear this up for me.
The Glowforge is supposed to have a certain quantity of coolant in the cooling system. Folks who have experienced a leak have lost an unknown quantity of fluid. How do they determine if the amount of loss is too much? Isn’t any lost amount going to reduce the cooling capability of the system such that it’s possible that their units will overheat at a lower ambient temperature than it otherwise would have?
I believe the answer is if there is sufficient coolant to completely fill the cooling system, as evidenced by there being no bubbles visible, then you are good to go.
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It doesn’t seem to me like “no bubbles visible” is the same thing as a “completely full cooling system”. The level of liquid in the reservoir is almost certainly lower in GF units which have leaked compared to ones that have not.
By “cooling system “ I was referring to the system that actually cools the laser tube, not the reservoir. But you can wait and see what Support says.
The reservoir is just that, a reservoir. It’s where the pump gets fluid to circulate. There is a minimum amount needed to prime the pump, but if the reservoir was 1000 gallons it wouldn’t change the amount circulated. Don’t know how much can leak before it becomes a problem.
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Kind of like a radiator coolant tank that has a cold fill range. It doesn’t have to be to the max cold fill line, just not below the minimum.
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However, just like a radiator, if it is filled up to the max cold fill you can sink more joules of heat into it before it overheats.
I guess I just don’t know enough about how the GF actually removes the heat from the coolant. But it would seem like more coolant would give more margin, regardless of the method used.
That’s not how auto cooling systems work. The reservoir is excess fluid not circulated thru the system.
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