Ah, thanks! The photos on page 21 show that the spare fuse is in the switch assembly, right next to the functioning fuse. That’s a great place to store it. It saves me the trouble of finding a place to stash the fuse until I need it.
Thanks again!
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It may be here, but I’m not finding it.
As of now, is the plan for the GF filter to be easily able to switch off (and go back to using the hose)?
I’ve got a great vent system in my current house, but I may not always be in my current house. The compact filter is definitely easy to switch - being attached by the same hose, and I’ve read posts going back in time with both positive and negative answers to the question of whether the GF filter will be switchable.
Hmm. good question. The forge will SIT ON IT, so, not so sure?
the GF filter will not be able to exchangeably work with the vent hose. this has come up before. this would be one of the benefits to the alternative filter.
Not without a mod according to Dan.
But never say never eh? 
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My question comes because “according to Dan” includes both the following quotes:
which seems to indicate you could uncouple the filter and use the vent hose and
(as well as your quote above) which seems to indicate you can’t…hence asking for clarification.
If installing the filter means I can never use the vent hose again without completely removing the GF filter - I’m gonna switch to the Compact. If you can uncouple the GF filter, but leave it underneath the 
until you need it again, I’m back on board for the GF filter 
You can uncouple the elbow and switch to the vent - that’s just the physical connection.
I think the problem is the same as with the Compact - the laser unit knows the filter is attached. In the case of the compact it’s told in the software so the fan control can be modified. I seem to recall that for the GF it’s electrical not software (RF maybe?) that tells the GF that the filter is attached and to turn off the main fans and turn on the filter’s fan.
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Just unboxed the Compact Filter. My initial thoughts:
- It has wheels! How cute.
- Oh neat, once you take the lid off, the filter comes with handles for easy removal.
- OH WOW. The filter itself is way bigger than I thought. This is not your window air conditioner’s slide-in filter.
- There are some funky design choices here. The power switch is on the bottom corner of one side, and the fan controls are in the middle of the other side. The intake is in the center of the top. This makes it very difficult to figure out what orientation I can put this darn thing.
- Would make a lot more sense to have the fan controls and the power switch on the top.
- The power cable that comes with it is WAY too short. Eyeballing, it’s maybe 2.5 feet? And given the weird orientation choices I’m forced to make due to the above design decisions, I definitely need to replace it. Luckily, it’s a very standard 3-prong power plug, like any desktop computer would have.
- At low fan settings, it’s approximately the same loudness as the Glowforge, although it’s a deeper sound. When the Glowforge is running, it’s not noticeably more noise than without the filter running.
- At high settings it’s real loud!
I’ve only done one short test run so far, but overall seems pretty cool (annoying design decisions aside).
(Important to point out this wasn’t designed by Glowforge, so you can’t hold them responsible for the weird design choices.)
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yes, this is the big issue. if you just disconnect the hose, the fan won’t be running. hence my comments about people discussing ways to mod to override that RF when you want to use the vent instead of filter. but we really won’t know how feasible / easy that is until someone actually has a GF filter to test.
Believe RF is correct. So… unplug it
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I believe it’s actually an IR transceiver on the bottom of the GF that will communicate with the filter.
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There’s some confusion, and I apologize.
It’s relatively easy to switch between either filter & a hose. You just turn off the filter, disconnect it, and connect the hose.
The thing that is hard was that someone wanted to connect their filter to their Glowforge, and then exhaust the filter outside. That is, send the clean filtered air outdoors. I don’t know why you’d want to do that, but it wouldn’t be particularly easy.
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Is that true of the (as-of-yet unavailable) Glowforge Filter or just the current compact filter?
Excellent news 
I believe that is the case Dan was responding to in specific. The official under-unit Glowforge filter system.
It connects on the same exhaust port as your hose would connect, but with a little C shaped connector which diverts the air straight down and back into the filter. You would pull off this connector, then attach your hose, and now be able to vent out the window.
With how small of a lip you have to connect the hose, some people have built extensions to make attaching a hose easier. Those extensions would interfere with connecting the official filter. Those who want to regularly swap between venting and filtering will have to deal with the really small connection lip for the hose each time. (Maybe I am just an oaf though, and for others it is not problem getting a good seal there)
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nope, it’s not just you. that’s why so many people have built extensions.
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I was talking about the Glowforge Air Filter (but the same’s true of the Compact Filter).
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Well, that’s good to know. Guess I’d better go do some editing.
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Excellent - so I will continue to hold course for the beauty that will be my 
official filter 
Thank you for the clarification!
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Yay! Then I’ll probably wait for the Glowforge Air Filter. The only reason I might have considered switching to the Compact Filter would have been if it would be significantly harder to switch between filtering and venting outside with the Glowforge Air Filter.