Hi all! I’m hoping you experienced users can provide advice on which of my options is best for venting! I’m currently venting out a window in my finished basement and it’s not good enough. I’m sure the air quality could be better and the smell of burnt wood is starting to embed.
Option A: use unit in garage with a dryer vent installed. Positives are it’s completely out of the main house so no permanent smell issue. Problem is it’s on the air intake side of the house and while more than the min 10ft away, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be a greater distance. It definitely wafts outside and you can smell it at the complete other end of the house. Also we do open the garage door in the winter to put the car in so it will experience cold temperatures when off.
Option B: install a dryer vent in the unfinished area of our basement. Positives it vents to the opposite side of the house where no intakes. Cons it’s still inside so permanent smell may remain an issue (though I’m certain the dryer vent plus shutting the door to the area while I’m working will help a lot).
I have my Plus in the basement and have the infinity 6" fan connected to a dryer duct. It works great and is very quiet. I have very little smell inside the basement. What odor that is there, goes away quickly.
I have run mine in the finished basement for 5 years, and there is zero odor during operations.
The laser exhaust fan is pushing the smoke, so any leaks will let smoke out. As mentioned, an inline fan mounted next to the building exit will pull the smoke out.
You didn’t say exactly how it was set up so forgive me if I am stating the obvious.
If the hose is just flopped out an open window, you’ll have problems. If you are able to seal the gaps, a window vent works as well as anything else. For example:
Hi, Thanks for commenting! I have replaced my window screen with a piece of acrylic and inserted a dryer vent into the acrylic. In theory this should be good, but my basement window/screen are crap and the screen frame barely sits in its hole properly without tape, not to mention its an outside mounted screen so I have to remove the pipe every time to close the window. (I have to be able to close the window when not in use as there will be lots of snow and freezing temperatures soon). I have siliconed and tuck tape to help but it only lasted a month before it started to fall apart (due to the elements maybe)?
It is very awkward and I know is contributing to my problem as the tape and silicone did work while it lasted. I am going to pay to have a proper dryer vent line installed, I am just not sure where to put it. I guess I am worried that I will pay to install one in the basement and then if I still have a smell issue, I wasted money.
Do you run yours with both fans (internal and external) at the same time? Do you vent outside with a dryer vent line? There is definitely a smell that you notice when walking by my basement and my air purifier is already at 50% of its life after a 2.5 months. That is why I am going to pay for an actual dryer vent to be installed.
I do, it’s a window insert designed for a 6" hose. My duct from my machine is 25’ and standard 4", but them adapts to a 6" fan with a further 10’ of 6" duct from there.
Thanks for the extra details. Sounds like getting a vent installed is the right move, so you can keep that window closed.
If your vent is good, and your hose doesn’t have holes, and the clamps are nice and tight, you won’t have smell getting into the room from the venting. But, there is no way to keep all the smell out of the room because when you open the machine, the cut parts themselves stink.
This should be temporary, though. I have had my machine since the beginning and there is definitely no permanent smell in the room … but there is also no way to work without smelling something for a while.
In your situation I would put the machine in the basement. Venting away from the home’s intake sounds good to me, plus the temperature in your garage seems likely to get out of the safe range for the machine.
I would also do what @PrintToLaser said and mount a separate inline fan right at the new vent, so it sucks air out of the machine. Many people have posted here about specific parts they got for that kind of setup.
Thanks for the tips. I wam wondering if its possible to go from the 4" at the machine, adapting to the 6" inch fan and then back down to a 4" pipe again? I have no idea if that would work. I just know the 6" fan has a higher CFM but also that a 6" vent will be more money to install as its not as common.
I modified my machine by removing the internal fan and also cut the fan grill out. I don’t recommend that since glowforge probably won’t work on a modified machine. There is a toggle under the 3 dot menu to turn off the internal fan when you have the machine connected to the filter. I would turn that off because that little 4" fan has to scream to move enough air. With it off the machine is comparatively really quiet.
Yes, I vent outside, I had it easy. We replaced our old furnace with a high-efficiency model that didn’t connect to the existing flue, so I connected my exhaust to that so it vents out of the roof.
I did the same when my internal fan failed. At the time they offered repairs but now only refurbished replacements.
Prior to it failing, I did run an external duct fan along with the internal, due to the length of my ducting. It was only a 4", however, and debris quickly built up by itself, even after removing the broken internal fan and cutting out the grate. So I bought a 6" and it cleared up and has operated just fine since.
