Weird noise after the clicking

thewoodmama · February 12, 2020, 5:25pm

when I turn on my glowforge pro, there is the clicking and after the clicking there is a boom!.. this starter happening a couple of weeks ago… can someone let me know what is going on please?, the machine is cutting no problem and is working fine… but Im afraid this will get worst… thanks

thewoodmama · February 12, 2020, 5:25pm

I know the clicking is normal, but the boom in the end is not, the machine vibrates with the sound of the boom

eflyguy · February 12, 2020, 5:29pm

Pretty sure it’s normal slight movement of the gantry.

Can you watch it very carefully and see if you can see any sign of movement or “tugging” on the belts?

Another idea is (with the power off!) to move the gantry forward and the head to the right, just and inch or two, then power it on and see if the same noise happens.

Jules · February 12, 2020, 5:33pm

Perfectly normal. (Even the “boom”). During that boom, it’s also possible that the machine will restart if an update has loaded.

eflyguy · February 12, 2020, 5:35pm

Actually, I just carefully listened to mine and I think it might be the initial start-up of the coolant circulation pump (and thanks for giving me a reason to get off the couch and fire up the machine to finish up a project I was working on last night! )

thewoodmama · February 12, 2020, 5:37pm

this was not happening when I first got it… it was a soft silent kind of far noise but not the boom, this starter 2 weeks ago… so is not normal

thewoodmama · February 12, 2020, 5:38pm

this is a new noise starting happening 2 weeks ago… before it was a just a silent kind of far noise but not the boom after the clicking

Jules · February 12, 2020, 5:39pm

What you loaded there in your audio clip makes less noise than mine does, and mine has been doing it for over two years. Really don’t think you need to worry about it. (I call it a thump, not a boom, but I’m quite sure it’s non-destructive.)

jbmanning5 · February 12, 2020, 5:40pm

Sounds like a stepper motor engaging.

thewoodmama · February 12, 2020, 5:41pm

at first was a small noise after the clicking, what I will call a silent far kind of noise… not this noise now

Jules · February 12, 2020, 5:46pm

Over time, it might have gotten louder. Still not an issue, and it’s not going to blow up.

I believe @jbmanning5 is right and it’s a stepper motor engaging. They make a lot of loud noises sometimes…but they are nothing more than a little pressure puff created when the magnets rotate into place at the next step.

marmak3261 · February 12, 2020, 5:51pm

That clunk at the end is not an anomaly from my experience.

One way to isolate it to the steppers is powering off and moving the gantry and head to the center of the Glowforge. Turn on machine and listen to where the sound comes from. It may help you understand a bit.

thewoodmama · February 12, 2020, 5:51pm

yes I remember the puff when I first got the machine, but is not a puff anymore is more like a boom

Jules · February 12, 2020, 5:55pm

It might be that the rotors in the motor are parked farther away from the contact poles, making a “bigger” puff. Which means sometimes it’s going to sound loud, and sometimes it sounds kind of quiet, and there’s no way to know which is going to happen.

But it really doesn’t sound excessively loud…I think you’re okay here.

kanati · February 12, 2020, 6:11pm

Perhaps mine is just a quiet little mouse of the glowforge world but mine has never made any sort of noise like that. Even his clicking noise seems to have a secondary “thump” to it that mine doesn’t make. I’m the one that told him to bring it here for support to listen to so hope everyone is right and it’s nothing.

eflyguy · February 12, 2020, 9:07pm

I’m glad this came up because it got me to take a closer look.

It’s definitely the coolant pump firing up. You can also hear it when the machine goes active after being on standby for a while. My machine is in a different room and I can hear it.

Also - for those that have had the power reset happen immediately after the lens focus ticking - that’s not a reboot for firmware. It’s the pump causing a power reset. Yes, happened to day while I was “testing” to see what the noise is.

kittski · February 13, 2020, 12:28am

I can understand be worried about a new noise so I’m just going to add that mine makes the same noise and always has.

kanati · February 13, 2020, 5:02am

Now I’m going to be wondering if mine has a problem because I DON’T hear that.

GaryW · February 13, 2020, 5:22pm

Thank you for the answers everybody! That is correct. The “boom” noise you’re hearing is typical and isn’t a cause for concern. During startup or resuming an operation, your Glowforge can have sounds that are inconsistent due to the starting positions of the motors when they engage.

I’m going to close this thread. If you have any other concerns, please start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.