Blast gates are probably a good idea

Humidity damage.

Nice

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Wouldn’t humidity damage happen due to environmental humitidity in general? Or does the GF amplify it?

The humidity inside my forge is completely different from inside my house. It basically has an open path to the outdoors. Inside my house is pretty dry. I run a dehumidifier to make sure.

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Thats crazy, I had no idea. I’m going stop leaving stuff in there.

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Isn’t this just a variation of this:

https://community.glowforge.com/t/my-glowforge-is-full-of-water-condensation/9876?source_topic_id=10503

They’ve updated the manual to warn about it.

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yup, but good to mention because people may not think about it if they don’t notice condensation.

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Exactly. No sign of moisture at all, other than a very warped piece of wood. I never would have known had I not left it in there, and I’ve had this forge 8 months now.

Something like this could cause premature part failure. Moisture + laser dust can make goo and bind your fans etc.

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Blast gate is a must then. They are fairly cheap and will keep critters out too… Then leave the GF cover open or slighly open to keep the humidity down inside…

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So… Now I’m imagining those giant outdoor cockroaches taking up residence in my imaginary and overly humid glowforge. Oh man, or stink bugs.

Maybe I can have some sort of screen, then a blast gate, then one of those super sticky mats they put outside of clean rooms, then another screen of finer mesh, then a demilitarized zone, then another blast gate, then the glowforge.

Then I’ll be able to sleep at night.

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I currently have a port with flaps that fall down when not in use and a screen in front of that. It keeps the bugs out, but isn’t a barrier to temperature changes at all.

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… I thought that is what a blast gate was.

This is what I have:

AA6B262C-4369-4559-A81E-DEC37CB3FB07

This is a blast gate:

B7E89E49-F08B-45A7-B1E7-7E6F4285CE94

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Oh!

Well, I’m very glad someone else had a humidity problem after the first one because I would definitely have not gotten the right thing.

Thank you very much for clarifying. I’m sorry you had an issue at all, but thanks for posting about it and warning the rest of us.

If there’s a bug smart enough to get through an actual blast gate, we are all in trouble.

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How long was that wood sitting there & exposed to that humidity? What kind of % humidity are we talking?

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My simple point was that this outside humidity sneaking in was not an isolated instance, it’s happened before, it’s in the manual, and it could happen to you. But sometimes on the internet it’s hard to tell condensation from condescension. :grinning:

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A day or two. It gets really humid here, like 90%+

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okay.

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I intend to use a small furnace filter in line before the external fan.

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Hmm. My window vent has flaps, and it’s been sitting there for two years with nothing connected to it, so although it’s a poor insulator and critter barrier, I obviously don’t care that much. I run the air conditioning at a ridiculous level, so on hot humid days there is a significant difference between inside and outside. I’m hoping that leaving the lid propped open will be enough to avoid trouble.

From what I’ve read on the forums, I’m really going to need to ensure my ventilation is sealed tightly. It’s going to be in a basement with no fresh air, so any fumes will tend to linger.

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