Why did GF not ship with the plastic dust collection hose?
It may provide a better seal…
But then again, the plastic might also be a fire / flame hazard?
This would be my guess. I only tried using it because it’s what I use for dust collection in my garage.
The hose it comes with has a plastic liner. It should be airtight.
Like @jbpa, my leak seems to be getting worse over time and I can’t find it. I’ve even used it as an excuse to purchase more fancy gadgetry to look for disturbances in the air flow but I got nothing.
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Have you used that device around the front door edges when the air assist is blowing right at them? @takitus put some soft foam weather strip on the edge flanges thinking smoke could be forced out there, and from the velocity of smoke hitting the front when the gantry is toward the front, I’m inclined to believe him.
As the fan grill on the PRU I was face loading, those were the first places I noticed leakage.
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@chris1 - @PrintToLaser is correct. There is some room in the front door, especially on the left, for exhaust to escape.
I leave my material roller stowed right in front of my Glowforge, and not long ago I noticed the amount of debris it had collected on the roller. I took some thin craft foam and rubber cemented it in the gaps on either side of the door to prevent this leakage.
I also realized a large reason this leakage had gotten so bad is because my exhaust port was very blocked up. Taking a long hard-bristled pipe cleaner through the grate helped clean it out well.
I recommend both of these actions if you are smelling things.
door exhaust accumulation
better view, this is after I wiped it off. there was a LOT
simple stripping from craft foam
stripping with door closed. completely fills the gap
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I understand air getting pushed out through those cracks when the exhaust is blocked, but in my case the exhaust is clear (I cleaned it when I installed the new hose, though it didn’t seem to need it). I’m certainly willing to try anything, but as far as I can tell, there is a net negative pressure inside the machine when operating correctly, so air gets pulled in rather than forced out. I’ll give it another go with the smoke pencil. I did try putting some tape over all the seams at one point, to see if that would help. It didn’t.
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There is a negative pressure inside, but seeing the velocity of the smoke blowing at the front door, it wouldn’t surprise me if that can momentarily overwhelm the air being pulled in when close enough to the front and blowing at the door edge.
This is super helpful.
I can literally see into my machine from the left side - and evidence that particles are exhausting out of it is concrete (beyond what I know I smell).
Great work.
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I’m guessing you keep yours super clean? I’ve cleaned the optics a couple times, but the insides need a good cleaning. I notice smells upon opening the lid even if it has not been run for a couple of days.
It’s clean enough. There’s a very noticeable difference between the lingering odor from the machine and the fresh smoke smell when it starts cutting.
I’m going to try sealing up the cracks around the door next time. I don’t understand the physics of it, but maybe that’s what’s happening.
What is this machine? It creates smoke to see where air is displacing it?
Awesome. Thanks!
I have a standard 4" inline duct fan on the “output” side of my vent setup, and I think that drastically helps keep the inside at a negative pressure. I have to believe it will also keep the ducts from gumming up as much. I leave it on between jobs, it’s not quiet, but it’s nothing like the internal fan when it gets going!
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This is the secret to no smell.
Edit: if you can’t put it outside, here’s an alternative: Exhaust setup - #20 by Scott.Burns
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I have a sealed exhaust fan at the window end of the hose. It’s on the inside, but I have checked it extensively and it doesn’t appear to be leaking. The fan itself is ultrasonically welded plastic and is supposed to be airtight, and there’s only a short coupling between it and the window vent which is taped to hell and back with that sticky conformal butyl tape that I like. I remain at a loss to identify the source of the smell, but it’s very noticeable. It seems like all the “improvements” I do make it slightly worse each time. :-/
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Probably because the dust collection hose is expensive. Possibly also because it’s less flexible than dryer hose.
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I thought you might be smelling the build-up of stuff over time but sounds like that is not the case.
The only additional thing I can think of is to use aluminized duct tape everywhere, instead of the butyl tape. The aluminum stuff is definitely impermeable.
So is the butyl tape. It has aluminum on the outside, with a better adhesive.
Did I miss where you got it from?
Sorry Chris, I have no more ideas. Good luck!