My Basic has started making an unusual noise when cutting or just sitting idle. I can’t tell if it’s a mechanical rattling or a fluid sound. It comes from the rear of the working area – almost sounds like it’s coming from the laser tube, which is a scary thought.
The machine is 6 months old, lightly used, kept fairly clean. I don’t use the internal exhaust fan. I first noticed the change of sound in the middle of a cut. When it’s idling the sound comes and goes, but is there most of the time. The machine is cutting just like normal, but I’m getting a little nervous about using it
Any ideas anybody?
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If you can record a video and then upload it to YouTube/Vimeo/etc. and then post the link here we might be able to better help - sound are hard to describe 
Are there any bubbles in your laser tube? If no, I wouldn’t worry about the tube - the first sign of a leak is bubbles.
Other sounds could be a lot of things, but if you’re not using an external fan - when was the last time you gave the installed fan a deep cleaning - from both the inside and the outside?
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No bubbles, thank heavens. Would the exhaust fan make a noise even when the GF is sitting idle?
I haven’t looked at it in a while – I’ll check it out.
I did some cleaning, then a test cut. The noise has gone away. That should teach me to be a little tidier!
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I’m glad it was that easy! Happy forging 
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I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
I’m so sorry about the strange noise you noticed during prints, but I’m so glad to hear that a good cleaning has made the sound disappear. I’ve made a note on your account about this behavior. I’ll close this thread for now, but please don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly in the future at support@glowforge.com, and we’d be more than happy to assist.