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!
1 Like
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.
7 Likes
Denatured?
And seriously, all I want to do is be able to remove the fan and clean haha
1 Like
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:
3 Likes
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 
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
@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
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.
1 Like
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.
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.
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.
1 Like
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.
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).
1 Like
I read this as spraying 
all over your fan 
6 Likes
Might try oven degreaser?
1 Like
Funnily enough…
Would be bad news to get that on any of the circuitry…
1 Like
It would probably work, but I wouldn’t waste an IPA on it. Removing burned wood resins is something better suited to a Malt Liquor like Schlitz.
On a more serious note, I would recommend against Oven Cleaner. The chemicals in oven cleaner are very caustic. The fan is brushless but it still has copper windings and bearings that might suffer. And definitely don’t spray oven cleaner in a running fan. It’ll send that stuff everywhere and as bad as the vapors are to breath and get in your eyes, an atomized mist will be orders of magnitude worse.
4 Likes
Good point. I was only suggesting it might be worth trying on the honeycomb. (maybe)
I can confirm Simple Green is enough to kill the fan.