Air Filter Latest

Oh, yeah. Would work fine for that. I’ll probably hand mine off here to hubs soon…I don’t really need one, I’ve got an excellent venting setup. I just wanted to test it. :slightly_smiling_face:

i think this would be a very expensive way to accomplish this. the filters in the compact filters would be awfully expensive to replace for that kind of use.

A long time coming is a little bit of an understatement, Dan. The current shipping estimate is presently more than 4 years since I placed my order, and over 2 years since I received my actual glowforge. Really wish you and your team would do better about communicating the actual status of your failure to deliver and what steps you are taking to actually provide the products we ordered.

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About a year ago, I started worrying about the air quality in my workshop, with the soldering and the lasering and the CNC milling and the hoyvin GLAVIN. After buying a gadget to monitor the air, I discovered that particulate levels spike while lasering, even with my machine vented to the outside. And who knows how long the really tiny stuff hangs around.

So I then invested in an actual filter on wheels. I did a lot of research and settled on that one because they’re not promising any magic or alien technology. It’s a big fan with a HEPA filter for particulates and activated carbon for VOC and smellz. I spend a lot of time in that room, and now it probably has the cleanest air in the house.

Disclosure: the above are affiliate links, because that’s what the Amazon shortener does when I’m logged in. I have no relationship to these products other than having purchased them at full price for my own use.

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I just want to know some stats so I can choose which one to get. I’m in a very similar situation to you, and I just want to use this 6600 dollar paperweight in my condo. You have my empathy sir.

If you’re looking for stats on the compact filter in use and in comparison you should probably read: this thread

There are lots of other posts from people who have bought other filters, just like the post you just responded to. So the information is out there - what’s stopping you from choosing?

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I’m trying to figure out the time distortions here. The original crowdfund was in October 2015, so we’re currently only 3.5 years out. I keep seeing people saying it’s been “more than 4” and “more than 5” years since they ordered. I was one of the original backers, ordered 3.5 years ago, and have only had my machine for 14 months. How have you had yours for over two years?

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I don’t think he’s said that. He’s saying his current shipping estimate is what he’s basing his time delay on.

For instance I now have an October shipping estimate for my filter. If it holds true (it was July last I looked) it will be 4 years after I ordered and just shy of 2 yrs since I got my machine (Nov 2017).

Okay, that makes more sense. I’ve been reading some of these posts and wondering if I live in a parallel universe or something. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I’m counting from the current shipping estimate for the air filter of October 31, 2019 (the date shown in my account.)

I was also one of the original backers, with an order date September 26, 2015. I received my Glowforge in late September / early October 2017.

If the air filter manages to ship by October 2019 (unlikely given Glowforge’s track record), it will arrive 4 years after I ordered it, and 2 years after I received my Glowforge.

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Interesting. Does it seem accurate to you?

I am on my third Foobot (with a fourth allegedly on the way). They keep replacing them for various issues. I have collected a lot of data using them and, found that they frequently disagree with professional meters sitting right next to them. There does seem to be some correlation of some readings with actual AQ conditions but, alerting appears to be completely disconnected from even its own AQ readings.

There have also been several incidents where it has shown sudden-onset CO2 levels so high I should not have been conscious.

Of note is that it guesses CO2 levels from VOC readings rather than using a dedicated CO2 sensor.

I’ve found a few other people with similar experiences, like: Air quality matters but don’t trust Foobot on it | by DHH | Medium

I keep eyeing the various inexpensive AQ sensor breakout boards for use with microcontrollers and, wondering if a DIY solution might be better.

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I haven’t compared mine with professional meters (if I could afford a professional meter, I would use it instead). I don’t really demand accuracy, and for my needs having something on my desk that turns orange when the air gets bad is good enough.

I did recently get this IQAir for the bedroom, because I wanted see how badly CO2 levels spike overnight, and it seems like it’s probably better in a few ways. But for the workshop, I like the one Foobot feature of changing color if I have a Glowforge exhaust leak.

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I submit that at the very least, owners of the Pro who are still waiting on the Air Filter deserve an official spec sheet of the replacement option from the company that has pushed their product back to ship in October 2019 for me. This is getting ridiculous. I purchased my unit in August of 2017. If I’d known this is how they were going to handle production setbacks, I would have gladly chosen a competitor. I haven’t made a decision because I frankly didn’t know where to look for actual tech specs on the alternative filtration system.

Thanks for the links.

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Just for clarity on my part: the discrepancies I am seeing are orders of magnitude, often 4x or more.

Another update… I have been running my Compact Filter now after another 10-20 hours of cutting, including about an hours worth of material with MDF (walnut plywood, and also proofgrade draftboard). I switched out my “pre-filter” and I am still on a “3” setting. I think the pre-filter is really helping! Highly recommend. I change it out once I start smelling the odor a little stronger, rather than bumping up the filter #. I just bought another 2 sets of these filters (2 filters each, so 4 total filters that fit the GF) for about $16.

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Just popped one in the cart! Thanks! :grinning:

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Thanks. (Amazon thanks you as well!)

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I’ve had the compact filter for a couple months now and am going onto my third filter for it. FWIW it does the job well while it works. The downside is that the time it works can be rather short. I log usage so numbers are fairly accurate.

I mostly work with wood on the Glowforge and so far my filter life has been 15-20 hours of use.

First filter: 22 hours of life, mostly doing 1/8th in plywood engraves (about 80% of the time) and cuts for the remainder. The filter clogged slowly until even at max fan speed it wasn’t pulling enough air to clear the Glowforge.

Second filter: 15 hours of life, still doing a lot of plywood engraves and cuts but also cutting some finished hardwoods (Red Oak). Filter clogged suddenly while doing 30 min of hardwood cuts, going from working great to almost no airflow even at max fan and smoke coming out of the machine. I’ll spend some time with the next filter figuring out if it was the material or just more cut time that used up the filter faster.

In the end my feelings on it have gone from positive to mixed. The filter is expensive, all one piece, and the life isn’t great. Almost all other fume filters have a cheap pre-filter to extend the life of the expensive main filter and/or break it into parts. I expect filter life could be 10 hours or less depending on the materials (not just MDF but hardwoods apparently), and unless the filter gets more efficient or cheaper that’s a lot of cost to absorb.

After some research, it looks like the design is directly based on (or sourced from the same parent as) the Full Spectrum Laser 100 Small fume filter (FSL-100). The only differences in cartridges seems to be a metal casing on our filters (this seems like a waste on disposable filters) and the FSL has pre-filters that are expected to be used at a 5 to 1 ratio to the main filter. Our price is a lot cheaper for the filter, but without the pre-filter it’s getting consumed that much faster.

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Did you see this post? One of the testers is still on his first filter by using these cheap pre-filters cut down and laid on top of the Compact Filter.

I’ve done the same thing, but those filters are only catching the biggest stuff and are far from an official solution. From a filter standpoint they are around a MERV 6. If you look at something like low end BOFA units, they use MERV 11 prefilters w/ surface area 10x that of our HEPA filter. I definitely need to find some kind of solution that doesn’t eat a $250 filter in 10-15 hours though. Over time the community may be able to figure out which materials are worst for the filter, but that’s going to take a lot of testing to figure out.