Orange button... Am I missing something?

On 6/18/2019 at approximately 1130 pm, I had just finished an engrave, but instead of the “Dismiss” prompt, I got “Could not complete print” and the yellow button. Temp in the room was 69F. I turned the machine off and waited 30 minutes, but no change. Turned it back off and left it overnight, still no change. I’ve cleaned the lenses and the four pin contacts. Inspected the pin connectors on the white ribbon cable, but found nothing amiss.
This is my second unit that I’ve had less than a month.
Is there something I’m missing?

I’m having the same exact issue. My unit quit working yesterday (6/18/19).

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@bkratz, sorry you’re having issues, too. I had the “stuck in focusing mode” issue recently, and the support folks were great. I’m sure they are swamped, though.
Have you put in a separate entry, or sent them an email? They won’t respond to an addition to someone else’s post.

We’re trying to correspond by email now. I feel stupid but after some research (should’ve researched before) I learned that we’re not supposed to laser cut/engrave on PVC. I had already cut some shapes out of an old vinyl album and I’m afraid I may have messed something up. I didn’t cut much but, apparently, vaporized chlorine is corrosive. Oh, and don’t breath it! That would’ve been nice to know. It would be a good idea to put a big warning sticker on the GF for people who don’t know what lasers + PVC can do.

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Yeah, vinyl releases chlorine gas when burned…gotta be careful with that stuff…

In addition to the Glowforge Manual, I suggest reading all the safety information, e.g. : https://glowforge.com/support/topic/safety/safety-overview#materials-safety

Lasers are not Third Law compliant. :wink:

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Possibly a good idea to stick with Proofgrade materials that are tested and verified to be laser safe until you have time to research and verify materials on your own.

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So, another interesting observation. The image in the app is still of the last work I was doing before the orange button of death… no new pic when I reset or refresh… Maybe because it isn’t connecting? Maybe the camera is involved in the problem?

Did you try rebooting the router, computer and machine to unstick it?

Rebooted everything multiple times. Cleaned everything. Checked every clip. Kinda Dejavu, except last time I could use the machine, but was just slow between jobs. This time, it’s just dead, Jim…

It might be the lid cable, but finding it is a process of elimination for us. (Support can tell by looking at something in your machine logs. It’s good that you offered the time of the problem, as soon as they see this, they can look at it.) :slightly_smiling_face:

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It could be any number of things, but Dan just released an update saying they enabled more temperature sensors. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Those are for super high temps – like if there’s a fire in your machine.

But if one of those sensors is bad, it could think there’s a fire in the machine. And it only became a problem now because they weren’t enabled earlier

Orange button just means there’s a problem. It could be pretty much anything, not just a temperature issue.

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I get that. I was just throwing out an option, okay? In my first post I said myself it could be any number of things. Like Jules said, its process of elimination for us.

Sorry, no offense intended. People just seem to associate the orange light with temperature, so I’ve gotten used to pointing out that’s not always the case. :wink:

Come to think of it, I have only ever seen the Orange Light associated with temperature… hmmm… :thinking:

Perhaps I need to read more problems and support

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Disconnect the ribbon cable to the head and you’ll see it again :slight_smile:

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I’m sorry you ran into trouble. I extracted the logs from your Glowforge to investigate this further and it looks like there might be an issue with the connection of your printer head. Could you please do the following for me?

  1. Turn off your Glowforge.
  2. Holding only the finished black surfaces, grasp the printer head as shown. Pull gently up and back to disengage the magnets and remove the head.
  3. There is a small tab in the center of the wire ribbon. Push down fully on the tab to release it, and gently pull the wire ribbon plug from the printer head.
  4. Take a clear photo of the gold pins inside the printer head where you just unplugged the wire ribbon. It should look like this.
  5. Pick up the printer head and wire ribbon. Make sure the tab on the wire ribbon is facing up. Slide the ribbon back into the head until it clicks.
  6. As shown, lower the printer head over the metal plate so that it rests next to the two round posts. Then push it gently away from you – you’ll feel a “click” as magnets pull the printer head until it sits snugly atop the metal plate.
  7. Turn your Glowforge back on.
  8. Send us the photo of the gold pins from step 4.
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