Stuck on Centering, homing, scanning

Since a while now I have problems with the GF stuck on scannning or homing or centering.
I cleaned all the lenses, tried different wifi connections, endless on and off turning the GF

Sonetimes it´s working, but it gives me some headache, because I don´t know when it is working and when not.

While cleaning the lens I noticed that the lens is nearer to the opening when I remove the laserhead and turn it around to remove the lens for cleaning.
After cleaning I push the lens with the lens tool much further towards inside as it was before.
It seems that it is working better after pushing the lens to the inside as picture 2 shows.

Could this be the problem for the endless scanning, homing, centering issue?
And what can I do to solve the problem?

The lens moves up and down in the head to focus–it’s totally normal. Don’t push it in, as you can damage the mechanism.

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Thsnkd for the info. But then, this cannot be the reason for the stucking on scanning, homing,etc…
right?

I think most of that process depends on the lid camera. And wifi. Make sure the top of the head and the lid camera are clean, take any material out of the bed, center the head under the camera (with the machine off, of course), put a towel or something over the top glass in case outside light might be interfering with the scan, and try again.

If none of that helps, I’d start looking at wifi next.

All of your described actions I already did many times, including wifi connections with different providers and connections and turning on and off - the whole program…

There still could be an appliance or something interfering with the wifi signal. Microwaves, Apple TV, cordless phones, and baby monitors have all turned out to be culprits. Could even be something at your neighbor’s place, depending how far apart your houses are. Changing the wifi channel sometimes helps.

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When support gets here they can check the logs and help narrow things down. It could also be the black cable, but I remember hearing Dan say wifi is the most common culprit, so it’s worth trying to run that down while you’re waiting.

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Initially, few years back, I had the same problem. I had mine connected to my WIFI at 5 GHz, the GF will only connect to a 2.4 GHz WIFI signal.

Also, if you have other components using the same WIFI you could be slowing the signal and not even know it. I now have mine on a totally separate internet connection…

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For the first time in over 3 years, I too had a similar problem and it was indeed caused by a wifi issue, so that shouldn’t be ruled out, yet. Support will be able to help you narrow down the problem.

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Hello @andrea,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I’m sorry your Glowforge is having trouble calibrating. As @geek2nurse mentioned, the printer head lens moving up and down inside the printer head is completely normal, that is how it focuses.

I’ve extracted the logs from your Glowforge and looked at the trouble you’ve been experiencing. The issues you’re seeing look to be caused by a poor connection with the cables on your lid.

If you have not already done so, please follow the steps below to check the lid connections:

  1. Turn off your unit.

  2. Open the lid.

  3. Using both hands, gently roll the laser arm to the front of the unit.

  4. There are 5 clips pictured below. Check each one to ensure it is closed. The clip should lie flat, and you shouldn’t be able to flip it in any direction.

  1. If any of the clips are open, please take a photo and attach it to your reply. Don’t try to adjust or reseat the cable until reaching back out to us.

If everything is connected properly, it’s likely that the black cable on the lid has a problem and needs to be replaced. I can send you a replacement for that cable, along with some instructions on how to replace it so we can get you back to printing as quickly as possible.

Since we’ll need to confirm personal information to get the cable shipped to you, I’m going to send you a separate email with details. You should receive my email in a few minutes, but if you don’t receive it in the next 30 minutes please check your spam / junk mail folder. Once I know you’ve received my email, I’ll close this thread.