I received and unpacked my new Glowforge Plus yesterday afternoon. I followed the setup instructions. I placed the printer on a workbench in front of a window and attached the included exhaust duct. I aimed the duct out of the window. There were no bends in the duct more than 45 degrees.
I selected a random blueprint from the website, inserted a piece of included print material - medium basswood, for what it’s worth - and hit the go button. The fan ramped up to full speed and the button turned orange. The laptop screen displayed warnings about critical heat levels and told me to unplug and check for damage.
The room is 70 degrees. There is a wall thermometer less than three feet away. I have an IR thermometer. The laser tube, print head, intake fan, exhaust fan, and all corners of the inside of the printer range between 71 and 72.8 degrees. These measurements remained constant (or slightly lower) throughout all testing described below.
I trolled the support forums. I removed the duct and tried again. No change.
I closed the window to keep warm, humid air out (not that the inside of the printer was warm anyway). No change.
I raised the Glowforge with small blocks of wood to allow more air intake. No change.
I put a box fan behind the exhaust to draw more air out of the chilled house and keep the warm outside air away. No change.
I placed a box fan at the front right corner to push chilled air toward the intake. No change.
I chilled the workbench surface near the air intake to the point of frost. No change.
I checked the fans for obstructions and debris. Nothing was wrong.
I ran the fans through an adapted lid-open cleaning cycle as described by support on another community thread. No change.
I checked the settings about “compact filter attached.” I don’t have one of those, and it’s not turned on.
I took the print head off and cleaned it with the recommended lens wipes. No change.
I unclipped the print head ribbon and checked for damage to the pins. No damage and no change.
I saw someone else was helped by unclipping and reattaching the wiring clips accessible on the print head. No change.
I removed the crumb tray and checked for debris. I haven’t managed to print anything, but I checked for packing debris anyway. No debris in, on, or under the crumb tray. I made sure the tray was seated into the grooves. The door and lid are properly closed and match the photos in other support threads. No change.
I unplugged the Glowforge from the surge protector and put it directly into the household outlet. No change.
I’ve switched web browsers. I’ve refreshed pages. I’ve logged out and back in. I’ve switched computers. I’ve power cycled everything. I’ve waited hours and tried again. I’ve changed print blueprints and print material. No change.
While we’re on the topic of print material, my lid camera won’t focus on the QR code.
I cleaned the lens. No change.
While typing this post, I downloaded a screen capture program and tried again so you can see the warnings. I pressed the button as soon as it turned teal, and you can see how fast it freaked out. I took the temps again after I turned the printer back off and stopped the recording. I hardly think 73.1 degrees on the tube and 71.5 degrees on the print bed is considered “extremely hot” and warrants checking for heat damage.
Aside from the overheating when nothing is actually hot, is it normal for my image to appear off-centered on my screen? Why won’t it focus? Is the lid camera faulty? It’s not loose.
I am staggeringly disappointed in this purchase. It’s supposed to be plug and play. I own and use a 3D printer and a small laser engraver. I’m not completely inept, and this is beyond frustrating.
::edit:: These are the logs I pulled last night. I didn’t pull new ones this afternoon after the recorded print attempt. 3DPX-013410.zip (15.6 KB)
