I’d used my GF earlier today, and everything was fine. I turn it off in between runs if it’s going to be more than a half hour or hour, so it was on and off a few times today. (At least one or two of those times it did the “short power loss” thing during startup.)
Just now, I turned it back on to do a new run, and it did this weird thing where the head was all the way to the left, and it would stutter as it tried to run it further to the left, then paused, then repeated. You can see it here:
Has anyone else seen this? I powered it off and let it sit for a bit, moved the head away from the edge, then powered it on again, and it seemed to be fine.
This has been reported as happening periodically. It happened to me twice on Friday, but it had not happened for a few weeks before that. I’m not sure we have gotten an answer on the cause, but I may not have seen some of the most recent reports.
It does not happen consistently, and if it does happen, you can turn the machine off, and manually move the head over to the right where the camera can see it better; but do not move the gantry–just the head.
My GF has done this a few times . Mostly during homing it out. So I just move the laser head under the camera and start it . I think it forgets where it’s locaton is maybe when the power flickers?
I work with electrical and electronics having the power off is just natural to me. Your right because the stepper motors and belts don’t like being pulled on when its on. I forget people don’t realize that.:)
This happens more frequently when your gf is confused about head location. If you have materials in the bed that are cut (aka scraps) it can appear like the head (black rectangles cut in the materials) can really throw it off.
Maybe not applicable here but something to consider.
The official support response is that if it does happen, it will not harm the laser. To solve it, turn off the Glowforge and gently move the head to the center of the gantry, then gently pull the gantry until the head is approximately under the camera. This will allow the camera to see the head. Do not move the head or gantry while the Glowforge is powered on.
I think this happens most often when there is material on the bed during calibration.
Parking the head under the camera prior to turning it on has become routine for me. A couple of sharpie index marks to position the gantry and head make it fast and simple.
I usually start with material on the bed and never have a problem. My GF area is lit indirectly though, so I suspect it is more the light source in the use area.
Thanks for the answer @jbpa, @gmikewilliams, and @bill_laba, that’s right. I’m going to close this thread - if the problem reoccurs, go ahead and post a new topic. Thanks for letting us know about this!
