Booster fans, smoke leaks

All winter my system vented just fine. I have two bends (less than 90) and about 6 ft of hose. All of a sudden I’ve started getting the previously described smoke venting, from the front drop down panel and from the top hood. I purchased a hepa air filter that keeps the workshop clear but I don’t like sitting in there while it is cutting.

Does anyone have any recommended booster fans (fan systems) to give me that extra push i need to vent my exhaust?

Thanks

Have you cleaned your exhaust fan?

If that is not clean, a booster fan likely won’t make much of a difference - or much of a difference for long. If it can’t exit out the exhaust port, it’s going to exit somewhere else.

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image has it right sounds like rear exhaust grate is blocked.

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I have an inexpensive Vivosun that helps but folks are correct that what is needed is a good cleaning of your exhaust fan. it is a great pain but a step by step can be found here.

I have issues with the recommended cleaner as it really needs to be used outside and I have no way to get the Glowforge outside but many have had good results

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My run is about as short as one can be but I still boosted it. Made a visible difference. The outside flaps went from about half open to slammed onto the stops.
Still get some smell now and again and that is a clue to plan on a major cleanup. Especially after a lot of 3D engraving (12+ and that debris builds up).

Pictures for clarity:

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Thank you everyone for the replies, I opened up the hose again and there was a little build up but not as bad as other photos I’ve seen out there. Going to pick up a Vivosun to help out as well.

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Whatever vent booster fan you end up with?

Make sure it is sealed. The one I ended up with had some air leaks in the housing. No surprise; the fan is designed to effectively be in the environment it is venting and, thus, a bit of leakage is not a problem. Once I figured that out and sealed the hell out of the fan’s housing, it eliminated pretty much all smell from my workspace (except when the outside air draft brings the stench back in – I need to look into running a vent up to the roof line).

I would assume that these inline boosters will have a not-unlimited lifespan, too, but I haven’t seen any discussion yet on here about a problem where cleaning or replacing the inline vent booster was required.

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I did have a bit of leakage at first but the leak plugged itself.

If that honeycomb screen on the back of the fan is removable, I’d be sorely tempted to remove it. Since my Forge is out of warranty, when I get to the point of cleaning my fan I may remove it even if it’s not removable. Even perfectly clean, that’s got to be blocking off a good 20% or so of the fan.

Of course, I could conceive of it serving a purpose as a “fire break” so the fan doesn’t exhaust any live flame, in which case removing it’d be bad… maybe someone from GF will say if it’s more than just something to keep fingers out of the fan blades.

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It’s been done.

Discussion here too:

https://community.glowforge.com/t/anyone-have-the-link-for-the-fan-grate-removal-post/34478

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I’m sorry you ran into trouble, @kernbanks. If you’re having trouble with your Glowforge exhaust system, please refer to our troubleshooter. However, the booster fan question is outside our team’s scope. I’ve moved it to the Beyond the Manual so the discussion can continue there. Please start a new thread in Problems and Support if you’re continuing to experience trouble with the recommended exhaust setup.

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