I’ve been using my GF often – often daily. No problems.
A week ago, I was doing a project (about an hour). When it finished, the orange light flashed once and then went away. (No problem, we were at a stopping point for the day.)
Today it happened again, but this time it stayed on. It’s 67F degrees outside, and the room is about 74F degrees.
I’ve noticed that these two incidents happened AFTER that last update, when the post-cut fan was turned off.
Q: Is this a cleaning issue? Or a firmware issue? Or (eek) a mechanical issue?
If you have a Basic, 74F is at the upper end of the room operating temperature. On long engraves the unit may still heat up above the limit. It will give you an orange light, pause, and continue after the passive cooling lowers the coolant below the limit. Might take a while. Sound like you were at the edge of that experience.
If your the room temp is above 75F the passive cooling will never lower the temp sufficiently. The Pro has an active cooling system than can work at a higher temperature.
I have a basic and before I added my cooling system it would print until the room temp got to 78 then it would stop unless i put a fan and some cold packs on the right side…
Understand what you’re saying. The company wording has always suggested that even when operating within the temperature limits, long high power engraves could cause the unit to pause until cooling back down. But everything we know is anecdotal. The company won’t publish their testing and there has been no controlled testing by forum members. Thermostats and temperature sensors are wildly inaccurate. And the units heat up inside even at idle.
I have the perfect environment and have never exceeded even the Basic limits. (I have a Pro) Never seen an overheat.
Thanks for letting us know about this. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.
Your Glowforge features a closed-loop liquid cooling system that uses the air from the room to remove heat. It is designed to be used when the temperature next to your Glowforge is between 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 Celsius) and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 Celsius). To check, put a room thermometer next to the right hand side of the Glowforge; it draws in air from underneath, on the right.
You can try any of these things to improve warm-weather performance:
Try printing with no material on the bed (so as not to generate smoke and fumes) and no exhaust hose attached. If this works, then the problem may be that your exhaust hose is constricting the flow of air out of the unit, preventing cooling.
Examine the bottom-right side of your Glowforge, and ensure that there is no fabric or other flexible material underneath it, like a tablecloth. There are air intake vents, and if they become obstructed, it makes cooling less effective.
Try pointing a fan at the right side of your Glowforge. If there is warm air around the intake, this could help it cool off.
Power off your Glowforge when you are not using it. When your Glowforge sits idle, the fans are off, so heat can build up
Just wait. Your print may take a little longer when it’s warm, but your Glowforge will protect itself and make sure it cools enough to prevent any loss of power or damage. It’s clever enough to pick up from exactly where it left off, even if it needs to pause to cool down during the print!
Ensure that the sun isn’t shining on the lid. This could cause the inside of your Glowforge to heat up.
If you are venting outdoors, ensure that extreme temperatures or humidity do not enter the Glowforge unit through the exhaust hose. Disconnect the hose from the outside air when the Glowforge is not in use.
Turn your Glowforge off and open the lid for a few minutes before trying again. It’s possible for the air in your Glowforge to heat up, just like a car in the sun on a hot day, opening the lid will help that warm air to escape and your Glowforge to cool down.
If you are still running into trouble, please let us know the following so that we can investigate further:
A description of the things you tried and what happened
If possible, place a thermometer next to your Glowforge on the right hand side and measure the temperature there; if not, estimate the room temperature
The date and time (including time zone) when you had the problem
Take a picture of the exhaust hose behind your Glowforge that includes the part where it connects to your Glowforge, and the part where it exits the room
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.