Would be nice to get an update from the folks in charge…
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I’d be rather surprised if the air filters weren’t the main focus of the January update.
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I’ll try to be positive and say that I hope you’re right.
i am hoping i can buy one separately at some point - i have the plus model and i was surprised by the amount of sound that comes out the exhaust in my window - i dont mind the sound in my room but id like to close my windows and contain the sound and the exhaust
A small box with the washable air filter material as exhaust muffler before or after the window would do an amazing job, I had such a box around the big Shop vac at a place I was doing engineering at making contact lenses and even in the same small room you could barely hear it.
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I’m sorry to see you’ve had issues. I’m not connected with the GLOWFORGE company. I have had good luck using an inline fan that fits the dryer duct to extend my exhaust, my workshop doesn’t have windows. If your classroom is not near a window, this inline educator system might work for you. I was able to push air about 15 feet horizontally, but I’m sure there is greater capacity.
Just like the December update…
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I’ve got our GF in a converted church sanctuary, that serves as Maker Space, class rooms, lunch room and some admin space. Currently I’ve got it venting into a HEPA Filter / Activated Charcoal container to eliminate some of the odor but some students still complain. I do all of the laser work after school to minimize complaints. How loud is your Air Shield? IF it is scrubbing that much that quickly and is relatively quiet that may be an option for us.
Can you link to the filter / your setup? I have the standard 4" hose, also in a classroom going out the window, but its not good enough
Like I said it’s an ok-ish solution, not the best but enough that after classes I can work for an hour or two and not set off smoke alarms. I do see wisps of smoke coming out the front door of the GF when engraving larger images but not billows by any means.
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You shouldn’t be seeing whisps of smoke out the front door. The machine should be under negative pressure and sucking everything right out the fan port.
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you say your neighbor has issues? well how far away is your neighbor? if you are in a house you shouldn’t have any troubles with it dispersing. and more to the point. if your neighbor is going to give you grief, and your life expectancy is short? what do you care? Let them bitch.
That air shield is noticeable but not so much that I cannot hear when the Glowforge is finished, It is also “white noise” probably a fair amount louder if you measured it than it seems. The Vivosun can be going and standing in front of it you could not tell, but the turbulence of the sheer volume of air moved and the 10" diameter open intake will make a fair amount of noise, and while the Vivosun is shaped to cause less turbulence the Air Shield is not. If there was a direct 4" to 10" connection and a 6" exhaust hose headed somewhere say a AC intake it should be a lot quieter, If you are operating say a grinder or cnc or any machine making a lot of dust the Airshield will clean most of that out of the air but only if cleaning the room and not directly to the Glowforge.
The room would still smell of smoke at it came out of all the doors etc on the Glowforge while it was cutting , engraving deep etc but a half hour later you would not smell it. If someone made popcorn at one end of the house the smell would not make it past the room in the middle with the Glowforge and blue monster.
Something like this might be extreme but it could capture all the smoke even leaking and put it through the filter leaving nothing to smell and reduced sound as well.
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I’d be really uncomfortable venting the machine into any kind of filter that was not made with laser cutting in mind. And smoke should never come out of the machine, that indicates a real exhaust problem.
Find a way to get that exhaust outside or into a real laser filter. It’s a safety issue.
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The basic issue of hepa filter and activated charcoal is not special to lasers. Having a layer to collect larger particles like sawdust , or the lack of activated charcoal if you were running a saw might make a difference. In my case the main exhaust fan was more maimed and exhausted and I had the Vivosun in the exhaust line trying to do that job. However I did notice currents in a Glowforge Pro that could be problematic even with a top notch exhaust fan .
At some point when the number of incoming holes are big enough the pressure gradient across any one of them drops off. If you match that with the head fan blowing hard against the front wall and the gantry somewhat blocking the flow to the back that gradient may not be negative. Add to that the crumb tray with a large sheet of wood on it blocking the top then the main exit for a major amount of the smoke would be the opening in the front and with the wood lifting the rubber shield I would be expecting a fair amount of pressure shoving smoke out under the plywood in the pass through, even as more was pulled in from elsewhere,
My experiments showed that was exactly what was happening. One might find it useful to wander about with a pointer laser when the Glowforge was doing serious cutting near the front of of the cut area as the laser will light up even light smoke, especially in a darkish room.
That would make a cool powdercoating spray booth if I hadn’t already built one.
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ME too.
Sadly, I see this dream slipping away …
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It’s with eager anticipation i say for the fourth time - “Im a week away from the much promised air filter delivery”. Anybody taking the over / under we get an email saying the date is moving? My guess is May.
Has anyone received one yet?
As of this morning my schedule date is still 13 days away. Having been in this from the first hours of the first day of ordering my expectations are set accordingly.
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