Resolved: What has happened, this is off the rails!

Community Support
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I’ve gently tried to nudge it back to the rails, but it seems like it will take a bit more umph than I’m willing to give it without some official feedback.

The laser/head are crooked, and off the rails on the right side.

28311887_10211810029512713_1595086520_o
28311887_10211810029512713_1595086520_o1154×866 58.3 KB
28417877_10211810029712718_173124282_o
28417877_10211810029712718_173124282_o816×612 73.3 KB
28407734_10211810029912723_119201041_o
28407734_10211810029912723_119201041_o1154×866 101 KB

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I have not experienced this however there have been multiple posts of this issue. It is usually fixed by turning of the Glowforge, and then resetting it all to the back. Then powering it on and letting it recalibrate.

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Deep breath, it’s OK. The bottom wheel on that mechanism is spring loaded (standard design on any CNC), you can put it back on the rail without breaking anything. The question is what happened.
I did that once when I inadvertently had the material too far right on top of that ridge on the side of the tray, and the gantry jammed on it. Scared the h*ll out of me.

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Was there any little pieces or dust build up in the track? I have noticed that it gets really dirty and small pieces end up all over sometimes in mine.

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Make certain the tray is sitting all the way into the (clean) dimples on the bottom.

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Thanks for reaching out. I’m sorry for the scare!

Is it possible something in your Glowforge blocked your laser arm from moving? Please check around the rails for any obstructions. If there aren’t any, could you please do the following for me?

  1. Turn off your Glowforge
  2. Try gently sliding the laser arm towards you a bit, perhaps moving one side, then the other. Whether or not that works, continue to the next step.
  3. Placing one hand in front and one in back, gently lift up the laser arm on the right side, near where it shows that it’s off the track in your photo. Make sure your hands grip the metal bar, not the tube itself.
  4. While lifting upwards, roll the the gantry towards you, then farther away a few times. Your goal is to straighten it out, so that it’s parallel to the front door. It will pop back onto the track where it belongs.
  5. Once it’s on the track, place one hand on each side of the laser arm (left and right now, rather than front and back) and roll it to the center of your Glowforge. Then roll it back about three inches, forward to center and then 3 more inches towards you, and then do that a few more times.
  6. Move the Printer Head to the approximate center of the laser arm.
  7. Turn your Glowforge back on and continue printing.

Would you let us know how it goes?

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OMG it’s the 3rd time i’ve turned on the machine and this scared the ***** out of me. Thanks for posting, so I can have this fixed and back running within 10 mintues.

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Had the same, seems to work OK now.

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Fixed! Gentle nudging, bit by bit (did not want to ‘force’ anything). The instructions were good. Not touching the tube, just gripping the metal bar. It popped back on. Once it was on track, it moved back and forth just fine. Everything to center and we did a successful test print.

#Relief

Sorry for the delay in response. I swear, if I’m just about to leave town, something happens with my GF. It’s enough for me to call cut off dates three days before I leave.

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I’m glad to hear it - happy printing!