Advice on venting through a sliding window

Everything Else
1

Hey there,

My wait still continues til end of February. However, my fiance and I are starting to work on the room the Glowforge will be in. Unfortunately, the only window in the room is one that slides to the side. I’m trying to find if there are any kits out there for this or if I have to DIY a way.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

2

I’m using the window insert for my air conditioner. It’s working just fine. It also allows me to easily remove it and close the window when not in use. The vent tube that comes with the GF is just a standard 4 inch dryer vent tube.

1 Like
3

I have a similar situation in my setup, I have sliding basement well windows.

Materials:
4" Exhaust Tube (Glowforge Provided)
4" Blast Gate
4" Exhaust Hood
3/4" Plywood Sheet, Cut to desired size (small enough to fit in window sill) - 8"x~38" in my case
Pipe Insulation
Gorilla Duck Tape
Gorilla Glue

  1. I cut a hole in the plywood big enough for the exhaust hood tube. Location is not super critical but keep in mind where the GF will be and any obstacles you don’t want to hit with ejecta I used a drill and a 2" bit (biggest I had) and more or less got a circular shape.
  2. Glue the Exhaust hood assembly to the front of the plywood
  3. Glue the blast gate into the Exhaust hood on the back side (the one indoors)
  4. Using the tape, attach the pipe insulation on one of the sides of the board, I added this because it allows for a good seal with the sliding window.
  5. Optionally, seal the edges of the plywood with some more tape. Helps keep the edges of the ply from delaminating with use
  6. Hook up the exhaust to the back of the GF.

Here is a very detailed MS paint schematic:
Red is the hood, blue is the blast gate, green is the 4" hose, black is the tape and the pipe insulation.

image
image.png792×571 2.75 KB

When I turn on the GF, I put in this window insert with the blast gate closed (it has been -10F here…) and only open the gate when a job is starting. Working great so far.

1 Like
4

My Venting Setup for sliding window

5

You can have a sheet of plexiglass cut to fit & cut a hole in the plexiglass for the vent. I was going to use Plexiglass but it was kind of expensive so I used a piece of fiber board that is painted white on the exterior side. I bought it at Home Depot and was inexpensive. I then cut a hole with my scroll saw for the vent. Works well.

6

Thanks for all the advice! I’ll look into measurements and see what works best. Appreciate it!

7

Not for the glowforge, but I had a similar situation venting a portable AC unit thru a narrow bathroom window that pivoted out. The unit came with an insert (probably what William4 is using, above) but because the window pivoted, it was difficult to put in-place without allowing a ton of outside air back in.

What I ended up doing was using some construction insulating foam, available cheaply in large sheets, to build a “box” that could be pressed into the opening. I used hot glue and/or polyurethane adhesive (gorilla glue) to assemble, reinforced with duct tape in places.

After a while I didn’t like how much light was being blocked, so I replaced the upper sections with some scrap plexiglass/acrylic (don’t know which) that were glued onto the remaining foam frame.

The bathroom faced the woods, so nobody would see my pink creation, but it would be easy enough to paint if desired…

1 Like