The fan

[sarahpassotphotograp]

Good morning, everyone. I haven’t cleaned my machine since I got it and am estimating that I’m approaching that 40 hr mark where I need to. I took the vent hose off and I can see that the inner ring needs to be cleaned off but there’s this part at the bottom that I can’t tell whether it’s a build up of debris that I can just pick out, or is it a seal or something and I should leave it alone?

[PrintToLaser]

Good Morning!
That foam seal is not restricting the exhaust flow, not a problem at all.
The most critical elements are the optics, the windows and lens. I find I need to clean them more often than 40 hours. The first to show residue buildup is the window on the gantry under the left side because the smoke is drawn that way. Shine a flashlight on it and you will see any film or fog on it. I check that whenever I turn the machine on. At the first sign of any deposit I clean both windows and the lid camera. The lens and mirror need cleaning much less often.

The infrared energy (heat) is transmitted by the optics, and any buildup gives a surface for the energy to be deposited on. Eventually the heat can burn and ruin the optics.

The frequency of cleaning depends on what materials you use and how often the machine is used. Go by what you can see on the windows rather than the general recommendation of 40 hours.

[sarahpassotphotograp]

Ok, thanks! I haven’t cleaned any part of it yet except the obvious woot or whatever it was on that outer ring. I’m glad I didn’t peel that seal off! Sounds like it’s meant to be there.

[rbtdanforth]

Your rear fan will not be a huge problem but it has been addressed. You have the new design so cleaning the fan will be way easier than the old design, The recommended process by Glowforge is that it needs to be taken outside to do it. This is not remotely possible for me and the recommended material us really nasty indoors, so I use the older method that has extensive instructions.

Caution: Dirty Pictures....or...How I Cleaned the Exhaust Fan

Update: 12/14/2018: Happily, the Glowforge crew has released an “easier to implement” cleaning regimen for the exhaust fan now…instructions for how to do it involve purchase of a special non-flammable degreasing spray cleanser and use of a special cleaning mode of the software…instructions here: Written up below is the old way that I was doing it…it’s a fairly labor intensive alternative that has worked very well if you are willing to keep up with it as you go along and not let it get …

[sarahpassotphotograp]

Thanks!! I was wondering how I was going to go about that!