Too Hot

Hey all,

yet another error i get with the glowforge, its always saying it too hot and doesnt and it doesnt start… I live in Saudi Arabia, its always too hot!

by any chance has any1 found a way around this??

thanks in advance

1 Like

Lots of discussion on cooling. It’ll come down to your specific setup. Can you elaborate on where and how you’ve set your machine up?

The solutions range from “get better AC” to “install a peltier cooler” to “get clever with some piping and an ice chest” (my personal favorite).

If you search for “cooling” on the forum, you’ll find lots of threads. I’ll pull a few of my faves in a second and post them here.

2 Likes

Even this (but beware humidity)

9 Likes

I get all the hacks for making it… but my issue is I shouldnt be doing all of this!! with the price paid for a GF all of these issues should have been resolved prior production.

I have been working in multiple makerspace across many countries, and have many operated countless number of laser cutters.

A way cheaper Chinese laser can do so much that a GF struggle to do. thats why I would expect to get value for my bucks.

What issues? You read the specs, right?

Even with a Pro, 81F is on the upper limit of the operating range. The GF doesn’t directly monitor the air temp. Instead, it’s measuring the temperature of the liquid coolant inside the case (which is usually warmer than the ambient air).

3 Likes

My understanding… All lasers have the problem of keeping cool to keep from burning out the tube prematurely. (You might want to research how frequently the cheap Chinese lasers have to have tubes replaced.) That would be obscenely expensive with these proprietary tubes, particularly from Saudi Arabia, so the operating temperatures are set low enough to keep people from burning out their tubes too quickly.

Unfortunately, we’re dealing with the physics of the situation. We need to be able to provide a cool enough environment for the machine to function in. We get a slightly higher operating temperature range with the Pro model, but we’re still likely going to have to provide cooling of some kind for it. I live in the Southern US, in a tropical/semi-tropical environment, and I decided that would require the Pro model, and I still have to run the air conditioner at about 75°F (24°C) in the room where I keep it.

Glowforge can’t “fix” this. Try to figure out a way to cool your environment off.
(Plenty of suggestions above.) :slightly_smiling_face:

.

3 Likes

as @dwardio mentioned, the operating temperatures are written in the specs. this is one of the tradeoffs you get with the GF. the downside to a completely enclosed unit is that you’re not having big external cooling tanks to lower the temps.

otherwise you end up with things that look like this (all K40 chinese lasers).

image

5 Likes

I have pre-ordered this in October 2015, and I dont believe the full specs were out that time

and regarding the Chinese lasers , I have dealt with many, good quality ones because I am yet to change a tube from 2 years, and they run for an average of 8 hours a day

this is one of the examples from chinese lasers:

Everything is fully enclosed, just like the GF with small water tank. and I have run it with no problem at 30C or 86F.

Even the fact that i can not align any design to where i want is frustrating. As the camera is not 100% and just a simple laser pointer would have been an easy solution.

Why isnt there side vents with a cooling fan. again an easy solution.

to be honest Looks wise the GF is probably the best i had. Everything else there is no comparison.

Im saying all of this because I am really disappointing in the machine, having to wait for it for few years, and paying this much for it… I expected better

Have you run the Recalibration program yet? (It helps with the alignment issues.)

They really need to update this as its misleading to say “Recommended”, this implies it will probably work out of range. It really should just read “Operating Temperature”.

1 Like

My Pro has worked up to 84 degrees until it paused. It’s “recommended” because it’s not a hard limit. The machine isn’t just saying - read that air right there as +1f over the limit, so I’m going to pause.

In fact, they’ve had fairly recent updates that they’ve claimed will get a few more degrees out of the machine.

1 Like

Then maybe they should figure out the actual numbers and post those instead…

FYI…I have no issues running my machine our craft room is the coldest and only air-conditioned room in the house! 100+ everywhere else and only 70-72 near the Glowforge it’s a reason to keep it running, otherwise, I’d want to turn off the AC and save power. :smile:

I only have an issue with the lack of firm, documented information that this company is willing to provide, sometimes also with the amount of B.S. others are willing to put up with. Then again I never uploaded all my personal data to Facebook and complained when it was leaked/sold either… :man_shrugging:

1 Like

And I wish folks would stop picking nits over individual words.

Car owners are used to recommended oil viscosity and fuel octane specs. The manufacturers recommend that you use a range of products and will stand behind their product if you do. Run your car on methanol and you’re on your own.

If you operate your GF within the recommended temp range, it will maximize performance, results, and runtime.

1 Like

If by “performance” you mean it will operate, and by “results” you mean it will operate therefore cut material, and by “runtime” you mean it will operate there decreasing the time taken. Then yes, running within the recommended range is by all means preferable.

Specifications are meant for nitpicking, they are supposed to be solid numbers that help you decide which product you want to purchase. I also understand that a large majority of us bought the product before any of these numbers existed. That makes us early adopters and we tend to suffer some consequences for that. For standard consumers, which the Glowforge is targeting, these values have significantly more meaning and impact if they are inaccurate.

The problem is everyone is measuring temp slightly differently. Where are you measuring? How accurate is the device? I’m sure they can give you a specific temp for specific location, but that doesn’t mean what/where you measure is exactly the same.

So you may say, “it’s 75 degrees,” but your measurement may not be exactly the same as what/how GF measured. Or how I measure. Or how @dwardio measured.

Gotta window with afternoon sun coming in? Have it sitting in standby which means the coolant is not flowing? Dirty exhaust fan? 110 degree heat coming back in through your exhaust plumbing? Have a piece of paper sucked up against the intake grill? All of those have happened.

2 Likes

This 100 times over, you have summarized my point exactly. All I’ve asked for is to see Glowforge post more accurate information. If this involves telling us, the customers, where the sensors are and what the applicable ranges are we all win.

Each Glowforge uses the same sensors to determine the temperature and assuming they are using calibrated sensors that are located in the same place it wouldn’t be that difficult to tell us how far out of spec we are along with possible actions to remedy the situation.

My only issue has ever been the lack of clear information that flows from this company. I love the machine, however, I am not naive enough to believe that my mother, a life long a craftsperson, would be able to use a Glowforge without significant training and a lot of frustration.

This would be useless info for the vast bulk of users and function more as noise than signal. Stay in the recommended range and you’ll be fine. That’s all they have to say. Why is this even still a conversation?

1 Like

I totally agree, and now we’ve come full circle to my very first post. They should drop the word “Recommended” and just say “Operating Range”.

This topic was automatically closed 32 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.