Print is Zig Zaggy-missaligned

I have tried this print several times, changing the artwork, reloading, saving ect. I don’t think it is the art because i have printed 3 separate ties and each time the mess up zig zags are in a different spot. This is a pict of the worse one. I cleaned everything, restarted and tried again and still have issues. Anyone have an idea?
17%20AM

I’d start by checking the belts (all three) and tracks for debris or anything that it might be hitting. Turn off the machine, slowly move the head left to right…feel for resistance. Move the laser arm out to the area of the bed where the skips are happening and slowly do it again, back and forth and side to side. (Flashlight helps to spot debris if you encounter a little bit of resistance.)

Oh man, that’s the pits. :frowning: Just checking, were you holding down the material?

Thanks for letting us know about this. Can you please do the following?

  • Reboot your Glowforge.
  • We included an extra piece of Proofgrade Draftboard with your materials shipment for troubleshooting. Please print the Gift of Good Measure on Proofgrade Draftboard on the far right side of the bed, as close to the edge as possible.
  • Let us know how it goes by including a photo of the print in your reply.

so cleaning the belts seemed to work. i did print the Gift of Good measure but forgot to take a picture. it engraved fine but did not cut out cleanly but that could be because it was an older piece of draft board.

i just dusted and vacuumed the belts off, is there a preferred way of cleaning them? should i use some type of cleaning product? do i need to grease or oil anything?

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Dusty belts don’t matter, it’s when larger debris start impeding movement that you can have problems. Ironically these issues often start after a cleaning, as waste gets jostled around and then missed.

As for not cutting all the way through, make sure you’ve cleaned the lens and both windows, your material is flat, and your lens is in the correct orientation.

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There is a known issue that happens when printing on the right side of the bed. You should go ahead and take a photo of that GOGM and post it for Support to take a look at, just to be sure there are no subtle issues – slightly skewed numbers, etc.

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i am going to do another test print. i just did 2 and one was zig zagged again and another had a 2 pass cut and miss-aligned. so i think something is off

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didnt’ have time to take off paper and it didn’t cut through. i cleaned all the lenses, camera, ect and vacuumed the inside

Yep, the engraving is misaligned on that.

If it’s the same problem I had, you should be able to keep using your machine while waiting on a fix; just don’t use the rightmost few inches of the bed.

I’m sorry you ran into trouble, @kolleenk. I’m looking into this now and I’ll follow up with more information once I know more. Thanks for your patience.

Longshot, but check to see that all of your screws are fully screwed in on your gantry.

Details here:

Unfortunately, it looks like your unit is experiencing an issue that we can’t resolve remotely. I want you to have a reliable unit, so I’m recommending we replace this one. I’ll be in touch via email to sort out the details. I’m so sorry about the bad news.