@Formlabs1 and specifically @Sam_Jacoby who I quote now, bold emphasis my own:
we certainly do appreciate all of the time you’ve put into these incredibly detailed, thorough diagnostics! We’re learning right along with you, and everything that you add is really useful.
Above all, our primary interest is in making a machine that is as reliable and effective as possible.
That last line really appeals to me - and the message is clear - if a customer has information/research to add that furthers that goal, then you’ll encourage rather than discourage them.
That particular post though was pretty much directly addressed to my activities - and no-one else has yet felt “encouraged” enough to publish whatever research they might have done that involves handling the laser - except for @JoshK but only after he sold his machine.
What I would love, would be to see a formal clarification about voiding warranties from FL stating something along the lines of:
You CAN void your warranty handling any of the laser/galvos/other-sensitive-object - BUT if your machine develops a fault AND you can provide a reasonable/detailed/satisfactory explanation for why your activity is unrelated to the fault then your warranty will not be affected
With suitable disclaimers of course - like FL will decide what constitutes reasonable/detailed/satisfactory and its decision is final, etc, etc, ,
Or - to put it another way: “you can void your warranty touching sensitive components, but we won’t be assholes about it”.
For example - I’ve been handling my laser a lot - rotating it, taking it out of the machine, replacing it, and if my laser developed a fault beyond its documented pre-existing flare condition - I’d expect a hard time getting it fixed under warranty.
On the other hand - if one of my stepper motors developed a fault - I would expect my warranty to be unaffected and for its repair to be relatively free of any hassle. That is how I read @Sam_Jacoby’s response.
Obviously FL (and actually the community as well) don’t want every man and his dog jumping into their machine up to their elbows - but words like the above are not a free pass - it’s still clear that if you open up your machine you are taking responsibility for any damage you cause - in case of which, you WILL have voided your warranty.
But we need formal clarification from FL addressed to all customers of what risking their warranty actually means:
“Ultimately, that’ll be better for everyone. Can we get on board with that?”