The airflow in the machine is directed across a lot of stuff that can’t be cleaned. It probably helps cool components, and keeps the machine more compact in its design. But this drags debris, dust, soot, and glue residue (from plywood) across all of the components and sensitive stuff. I’ve got a GF pro and have half a mind to run the exhaust out the back pass through port. Much easier and more accessible to clean the back wall than everything buried in the left side of the machine. Thoughts?
Edit.
Thanks all! I’m glad you talked me out of it. I have a secondary exhaust fan, and will soon get a stronger one. - My original plan would have kept the stock fan, and added more airflow through the slot.
Question, do you clean the tube? I wipe off the top but underneath is crusty as can be but tough to get to.
Your machine would probably overheat a lot. Air is directed over a heatsink and peltier cooler immediately in front of the exhaust fan to cool the coolant that’s circulated through the laser tube. If you rerouted the exhaust through the back passthrough slot instead, there would be no airflow over the cooling system.
Since switching to a Vivosun 6" fan rated for 390cfm - even though it’s on the far end of 25’ of 4" hose - my machine stays MUCH cleaner than it did when I had the stock fan along with a 4" external fan. Plus it’s virtually silent, I often forget to turn the fan off.
I did remove the broken stock fan and cut out the honeycomb grate, which I am certain made for better airflow.
Once my stock fan quit, and I only had a 4" external for a little while, there was a pretty rapid buildup inside the machine, but without any manual cleaning, once I installed the 6" external, that buildup slowly vanished.
I do not “deep clean”. Many threads in P&S begin with “after I cleaned, now…” I use the recommended method to keep the optics clean, which takes less than a minute. I do not disconnect the head from the grey cable, there is no need. The only other “cleaning” is a little alcohol or simple green on a paper towel to clear up the lid (being careful to not touch the cables up there) and taking out and dumping the stuff in the crumb tray every few months.
So in summary, and in my experience, strong airflow out the provided port is sufficient to keep the machine clean enough. Edited to add - which also means, in my opinion, the provided exhaust fan is not sufficient for more than light hobby use.
Also the rear passthrough slot is too small. The area of a 4” circle is about 12 square inches. The area of the passthrough slot is about 5 square inches (assuming 1/4” height. Haven’t measured it.)
Also also in terms of cycling the air through the machine, the intake is on here right, exhaust on the left. You get pretty quick complete air exchanges that way, I think it would be less efficient at removing smoke if you used the back slot as the flow would be less directional.
Same! I used to repair computers. I know all too well how easy it is to break a perfectly good machine by trying to clean it unnecessarily. I made a LOT of money off people who did it.
Same here. I have seen too many posts like “I just cleaned all the things and now my glowforge talks and keeps telling me ‘I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.’ AND MY NAME ISN’T EVEN DAVE!!!” So I clean only when I have to and only the bare minimum.
I don’t do the deep clean either as those have stated above. i clean the optics if i’m starting to get bad cuts or cutting something with lots of dust/debris. TOO many people identify issues after they cleaned when it probably didn’t need the deep dive to start with.
Thanks all! I’m glad you talked me out of it. I have a secondary exhaust fan, and will soon get a stronger one. - My original plan would have kept the stock fan, and added more airflow through the slot.
Question, do you clean the tube? I wipe off the top but underneath is crusty as can be but tough to get to.
