WD-40 vs. 3m Novec for the fan?

[crkjelstrom]

My fan is doing the wiggle of death and yes it needs cleaning. I see that 3M Novec is the recommended cleaner and I have no qualms about ordering from Amazon, but I wondered if anybody had used the WD-40 Contact Cleaner as seen here: https://www.homedepot.com/p/WD-40-SPECIALIST-11-oz-Contact-Cleaner-300083/206356189

Because I don’t want to wait 2 days for shipping what I could pick up from Home Depot right now.

[Jules]

Nope, you want to stick with the Novec. It’s nonflammable.

[crkjelstrom]

$40 a can on Amazon ugh.
Or $20 on Hillas and forever shipping ugh.

Fine fine fine xD

[Jules]

Well…you can do it the way I do it…Q-tips.
(I bought the Novec to have on hand, but haven’t used it yet.)

[crkjelstrom]

Q tips and… Hot water? Because honestly I will do anything to clean it today so I can get back to work.

[Jules]

I wrote it up once…takes a couple hours and then you have to let it dry completely. (Still quicker than waiting on shipping.)

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 …

[crkjelstrom]

Thanks!! I just used the Q tips and Hot water and I’m gonna let it sit for a few hours. I got a good amount of gunk off and it’ll do for now, then I’ll order the degreaser. I appreciate your write up!

[evansd2]

Since denatured alcohol works so well to remove residue on cuts/engraves I would imagine it’d work well here too?

It’ll evaporate off quickly when complete, I bet this whole process would be much faster than waiting for water to soften stuff.

GF really screwed up the fan placement/design, especially for pro users.

[crkjelstrom]

Denatured?

And seriously, all I want to do is be able to remove the fan and clean haha

[evansd2]

Denatured alcohol. Tried and true cleaner for stuff like this. Search the forum for it and you’ll find tons of posts.

I keep a small bottle of it on my bench for precision work. These guys:

Another tool to go with your Forge

I got a set of these bottles: They have a very small metal nozzle, allows for extremely precise application of whatever liquids you might need to apply. I have 3 bottles currently set up: water, denatured alcohol, and wood glue. I put a band of blue electrical tape around the denatured bottle so I can immediately tell it apart from the water. I might make a danish oil bottle next, might be handy for touchups. They have really improved my work flow, just the tiny 1/20" dabs of glue in fi…

[sqw]

The 3M Novec is stupidly expensive in the UK. So in the end I use WD-40 Specialist Fast Acting Degreaser.

Run in fan maintenance mode in the same way. Really seems to work a treat.

What it doesn’t do is shift the gunk of my honeycomb though

[evansd2]

@sqw

gunk of my honeycomb

I’ve seen the simple green process outlines, where you disassemble the tray and go to town. I’ve never done it with simple green, so I can’t say.

From @karaelena

Pre-Release | Car Wash

My glowforge had some mileage on it when I got it. Then I added even more mileage since I’ve owned it. The honeycomb has definitely seen some better days. Discamiler. THIS IS NOT THE OFFICIAL GUIDE ON HOW TO CLEAN THE BED. You do this and screw thing up. Shame on you. Okay then. Play this while reading this. Wait until the 50 sec point then start. https://youtu.be/OlARiwAazQI?t=4 This is what it looked like before I cleaned it. [image] This is the after. [image] Steps in-between. Fill…

[crkjelstrom]

@anybody is this the right one?

3M Novec Electrical Contact Cleaner, 11 oz Spray Can (1 per pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O7S1L7W/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_TaIYDb2A15PE2

[rbtdanforth]

Yikes -

• Industrial use only. Not for consumer use
• NOT FOR SALE IN CALIFORNIA, All California orders will be canceled.

Not the right one
This one is what is recommended by Glowforge but has the same warning. I hope that P&S will change recommendations because of this. On my machine, it dissolved all the gunk and then evaporated, leaving the gunk as a pool of hard plastic jamming the fan and forcing the replacement of my Machine.

I have been using alcohol type hand sanitizer on everything including the little bottle brush I use to clean that fan, It is thicker than regular denatured alcohol and will evaporate better than water alone but leave it for several hours after with the Vivosun pulling air through to make sure there is nothing left.

[crkjelstrom]

So I should more look into getting a spray bottle and denatured alcohol or a brush and hand sanitizer? I’m assuming maybe a toothbrush would work fine too.

So far I’ve only done hot water and a qtip and it’s helped a bit but I still have a good amount of gunk left on the fan and the grill.

[icirellik]

I just did some random searching for places to purchase 3M™ Novec™ Electronic Degreaser, it looks like the price averages between ~$20 - $25. Whoever is selling it on Amazon is scamming us all.

I would look elsewhere before ordering from Amazon.

[rbtdanforth]

@icirellik

it looks like the price averages between ~$20 - $25.

Look at the price plus shipping. Can be cheaper if you do bricks and mortar store but a $20 can will likely have a $20 shipping fee as well.

[icirellik]

Looks like about $9, but I see your point.

Probably best to buy a case of 6 at a time or do a group buy for GF users in your area if you are lucky.

[randy.cohen]

I use 90% IPA. Remove fan, power it up stand-alone, spray IPA in to it while it’s running. Yeah, it’s flammable. But the fan is brushless so it’s not an ignition source. Just do it outside and don’t smoke while you’re doing it (Vaping is OK).

[icirellik]

I read this as spraying all over your fan