For the last few days my set focus has no longer been working at any point. The laser head will act like it is going to focus, return to home, and then will throw and error code about refreshing the browser and trying again.
I’ve disassembled, and cleaned probably 5-10 times. I’ve refreshed, restarted, cleared cookies and caches, and nothing is making it making it work.
Even when I input the material thickness manually, the bed image does not refresh or adjust to that input.
I have been using the same exact files for the last 6+ months flawlessly, so I know that’s definitely not the problem. The material I always have been using is either 1/4” or 1/8” non proof grade birch ply.
If anyone has any recommendations or knows the solution, is greatly appreciate it. This issue has caused me to lose so much time and material.
Try setting the start to closest match PG stuff. That will set the thickness to that and then try the Set Focus. When you clean be sure to clean on either side of the main lens as the set focus uses the laser and camera at those two locations.
Make sure the two little windows (one on each side of the laser lens opening) are clean. One is a red laser, the other a sensor that looks at that laser. Watch the set focus operation and make sure you see the red laser hit the material and not a hole in the material. The system has a hard time measuring dark surfaces so if your trying to cut black unmasked acrylic as an example, it may cause the laser not to be seen.
Hello @kns70702 - I’m sorry to hear you’re having focus trouble recently, thanks for reaching out.
I appreciate the detail you’ve provided on steps you’ve already tried. Based off that, this sounds like you’ve pretty well eliminated that this is some sort of hang up in how you’re going about setting focus, and more likely something about the printer is unhappy.
To look into this further I extracted the logs from your Glowforge to investigate, and it’s possible this issue occurred because the Glowforge is having trouble communicating with the printer head. There are two key connections I’d like you to check for me.
Could you please do the following?
Turn off your Glowforge.
Holding only the finished black surfaces, grasp the printer head as shown. Pull gently up and back to disengage the magnets and remove the head.
There is a small tab in the center of the wire ribbon. Push down fully on the tab to release it, and gently pull the wire ribbon plug from the printer head.
Pick up the printer head and wire ribbon. Make sure the tab on the wire ribbon is facing up. Slide the ribbon back into the head until it clicks.
As shown, lower the printer head over the metal plate so that it rests next to the two round posts. Then push it gently away from you – you’ll feel a “click” as magnets pull the printer head until it sits snugly atop the metal plate.
Take a photo of the circuit board. If the cable I’ve indicated above with the red arrow appears to be loose, please reconnect it and try printing again. This cable should ‘click’ back into place.
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.
