Use and store out of doors?

Does anyone see an issue with storing and using the Glowforge outside? It would be under cover so out of the rain. If I covered it with something like a grill cover between uses, should there be any problem?

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I would not advise that. things like open areas vermin could crawl into, be it filed mouse or spiders or other things

that and direct sunlight is never good for plastic enclosures even if covered the thermal change

I’m sure other ppl can come up with 50 other reason not to

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Hand in hand with thermal changes come swings in relative humidity. The GF isn’t weatherized, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Lots of electronics in there. :confused:

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And not only the Glowforge unit. If you have any humidity at all, your material is going to warp like the dickens, and it’s hard to cut it that way, and your boxes will be Dali-esque.

Probably not the best plan. :frowning:

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Depends how constant your weather is. Dramatic changes is temperature and/or humidity would not be a good thing.

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I feel like you should def try and put your complex and expensive laser cutter outside for long periods of time, loosely draped with whatever you have laying around. These are the kinds of life lessons that you just can’t learn elsewhere.

:smile:

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Hmmmm…just joined the forum and this is a first question? What do folks call this sort of thing? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I don’t generally like to store expensive electronics outside. Condensation with temperature changes doesn’t sound good for circuit boards to me. YMMV.

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This makes me sadder and sadder :cry: please don’t leave forge outside in the wet and cold by himself … I feel like this thread needs a really sad sound track to start playing when it’s opened. Honestly I can’t think of any realistic scenarios where storing a Glowforge outside would be recommended.

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Well if the house were on fire, I’d suggest temporarily storing the GF outside, until the next indoor storage opportunity arises :wink:

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I wouldn’t advise it. The outdoors are pretty brutal on electronics.

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I could be wrong, but I’m not sure this is a real question…

It’s a little bit like asking if its ok to keep a new high end desktop computer on the patio on the picnic table under a tarp.

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Ok there might be one scenario!

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Save the GF!

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NOOOooooo!!!

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@Kallisti has been using her Glowforge outside at Maker Faire this weekend. Haven’t been to her booth at closing time, but pretty sure she has been leaving it outside.

Granted, the sky had barely had any clouds, and the temperatures are not changing much. So it is a pretty ideal case for being outdoors. But at least it is some experience with using one outdoors and a few nights exposure.

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That poor, poor Glowforge, exposed to the elements at such a tender age.

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