Air Filter Latest

I’m hoping we won’t have to lift the GF off the Air Filter in order to change the filter - could you reassure me on that account? I’d really like to get it but I can’t rely on the teenager next door to be available for help when I need him! :slight_smile:

Tia! (From one parent of b/g twins to another.)

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Along with others here, I also recommend creating an insulated way to vent out the window. Perhaps a sheet of foam with a hole in for the elephant tube and velcro to mount against the inside of the window. Perhaps have your students come up with a design.

Here’s why: Even if the filter were available today, replacing the filter cartridges costs money you could spend on other things and venting even filtered air back into the room sounds more questionable than dumping it outside. To me, filtering only makes sense in an interior classroom with no windows. If you don’t have such rooms and find an acceptable way to vent, you can request a refund for the filter.

I backed the filter but quickly realized I likely won’t use it.

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Dan,

I would like to see the option to accept the interim filter with the ability to trade it in when the official filter ships.

Had we known how long it would take to receive a machine which we can actually use (2 years, 8 months, 14 days IF the current projection holds) we would not have purchased your product.

I understand you are working hard. I appreciate that. But for those of us without the option to run the unit without a filter, this is yet another in a long line of setbacks. The air filter was in the original pitch; we would NOT have ordered had we known it would take this long. We have hung on because we KNOW you’ve made a great product. But our good will is wearing thin (especially my better half, who will likely suggest cancelling when this news is heard).

Please consider this trade-in idea.

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Even if they don’t do this, I’d be surprised if you couldn’t sell the 3rd party filter to another Glowforge owner for close to its trade in value if you wanted the Glowforge filter. I hope things work out for you!

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We have looked at this, but unfortunately, the current cartridge can’t be recycled.

There have been so many different “how I exhaust” threads - even me, a newbie, found them all and used one of the methods. If you got a window, an existing dryer vent or even an exterior wall that’s not 9" thick ( :slight_smile: ) you can figure a way to vent. It’s the library types who want it in the middle of the building… Damn, be logical, not touchy feely when you do this stuff people!!

You do in fact need to remove the Glowforge to change the filter.

Thanks for the suggestion. I don’t think that’s a likely outcome, but I’ll pass it along to the team.

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You must not have sensitive neighbors in proximity to your work space. How convenient and lucky.

Lucky? no. I chose where I live - out in the suburbs with space between houses. The exhaust ‘aroma’ dissipates faster than truck or bus exhaust fumes I’ve smelled in every major city, or while driving on I75…
Sorry my comment somehow offended you, but logic is applied to solve problems…

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You’re sorry about somehow offending me yet proceed to insinuate something I can only guess is intended to further offend me.

Nice talking to you. Hopefully someday you’ll come to realize that being able to move to the suburbs is also a matter of luck of different types and quantities. I’ll just imagine your retort of how you worked for everything in your life and accusing me of assuming too much about you while doing the same to me.

Or you could just realize that what worked for you doesn’t work for everyone and doesn’t mean they’re illogical or incapable of “solving problems” or too “toucy feely”. Some of us, (gasp!) live above the street a few floors, don’t live near highways, and have neighbors that don’t like the specific odors of materials being atomized.

But you do you, buddy. You do you.

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The irony of that coming from the cigar guy…

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Well, in the meantime, I decided… why not just supercharge what I already have with in inline exhaust fan to help.

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If that fan is actually sitting on your Glowforge? I would think the vibrations would throw off your accuracy.

Bummer! Can you provide more information? Many of us have no place in the room to move the Glowforge to. When replacing my Glowforge, I had to stage the boxes in the room next door. How fast can the filter be changed? If I have three people, can two people lift the Glowforge up and the third replace the filter while the other two are holding the GF up? If not, this would make changing the filter a time consuming and (more importantly) risky process for many of us.

Must the filter go directly below? What if I had a dedicated shelf for it below the shelf the GF is on? I know this isn’t as aesthetically pleasing, but might be a good solution for many.

No actually… the intake fan I have is quiet and doesn’t vibrate. I actually have EVA foam on the bottom of the feet but this was just an interim solution. Fan has since been mounted elsewhere.

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Yes, it needs to go below. The bottom of the Glowforge serves as the top of the filter, unless they’ve changed the design from what they described in the past. Also I believe there’s some type of communication port (IR perhaps?) at the bottom of the GF that tells the filter below it when to turn on and off.

If you need the filter not to be mounted below then you may want to look into the alternative filter they’ll be offering.

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I suppose the filter could have no top, though that would be a bit weird. I also doubt it because it needs enough structure to support the weight of the Glowforge on those two long feet. The only reason I can think of why the filter would have to be directly below the GF is if the vent coupling is a fixed size vent and can’t be replaced.

If there is no top to the filter (or no top above the changeable filter), changing the filter should be a really quick process, and the 3 person change scenario I suggested might work. That would be great!

The only thing I recall seeing on the bottom was the two long feet and a metal rail of some sort. I could have missed an IR port. I had assumed it would communicate via Bluetooth or WiFi.

The only reason I asked about this is that moving my GF to another room each time I need to change the filter is a risky proposition. Honestly, the alternative filter sounds much worse than venting out a window. I get to move my GF away from the window but everything else is worse. No thanks.

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That seems overly complex when you are physically stacked. I’d just use a plug that plugs in when the filter stacks on top.

Now reason an open top shape couldn’t support the weight (do the stand on an aluminum can experiment to see the compressive strength of vertical walls). Yes they have to pick an appropriate plastic with reasonable stiffness and compressive strength, but @Dan has engineers working for him…

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I’d do it that way too (more reliable), but here’s the thing: we all already have our Glowforges. Unless there’s already a plug or an IR connector on the bottom of all of our units, they can’t communicate that way. I don’t recall seeing one, but I could have missed it (I only looked at the bottom briefly) and I’m not turning my unit over to check (anyone have their GF on a glass table? If so, post a photo!). I do know there are no connectors on the back of my unit. Given how clean their design is, I can’t believe they’d send us all a kit to retrofit a connector on our units when we get the air filters.

Funny thing about that aluminum can experiment. Shift your weight and the can collapses. If you’re not careful, you can break an ankle. Imagine the weight of a Glowforge shifting as you take the crumb tray in and out, when you put in heavy material, when the laser’s moving back and forth.

Again, all of our units are already out in the field. They’re not changeable and they seem to be designed to be supported exclusively by those two long feet. Maybe the feet only need to be supported at the ends. Maybe only at three points and the rest is cosmetic. Maybe the unit is designed so that it can be completely supported from the perimeter instead of the feet. Nobody outside Glowforge knows unless they’ve actually done stress tests. So, sure, it could be completely open in the middle, but I’m still going to say it’s doubtful given what we do know. That said, it would be awesome if it was open enough that the filter change was quick and easy to do while you have a couple of people lifting your unit up.

Please @dan, enlighten us!

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You’d probably also just use limit switches. :slight_smile:

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