Anyone have a good alternative for the replacement filter cartridge. It’s has been out of stock for months.
Thanks in advance.
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Hiring a handyman to punch a hole in a wall or ceiling for a dryer vent costs less than one filter cartridge, FWIW. If done professionally on your dime, I doubt most private landlords even would have a problem with adding a dryer vent to their property. If that’s truly not an option, you might have to buy a different brand of smoke filter that has replacement media available. Amazon sells a bunch of random brands I can’t vouch for.
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Do you have any option of venting out a window or something?
(I have to vent out a patio door and have a set up that accommodates that.)
That’s my question too…
Has anybody tried ones sold by Omtech?
Might not be a bad idea, heck this one costs as much as just the replacement cartridges from glowforge. Though we have been really happy with how well the glowforge one has worked. Sadly where our laser lives it’s not an option to vent out a window our put a roof vent on it (we did that for our 100w OmTech that’s in our garage)
120W Industrial Air Purifier with 4 Layer Air Filter, 106cfm Intake Fu – OMTech Laser
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I looked at that particular unit… they don’t list replacement filters for it on their site, and the sales agent said (today) “We just restocked the product itself. It’s just the filters went out of stock so fast.”
The Amazon reviews for it weren’t promising.
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The comparably-priced industrial filters like available from Omtech are not designed for large particulates such as produced by the Glowforge. You would be replacing filters constantly, unless your machine was used only very occasionally.
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I imagine you’re right about that one. I wonder about the larger (and more expensive ones) like the XL300. I like that its 5 filter layers are independently replaceable.
… On the other hand, I just saw this review on Amazon:
“XL-300 is one of the least expensive full-size fume extractors. I use it for my Fiber laser. Had it for over a year and was not overly impressed by its performance. The biggest problem is that seal is not good enough, so fumes bypass all filters (as you can see in the photo). Also, filters clog fairly quickly and that’s just with Fiber laser engraving anodized aluminum… The biggest issue is that I wasn’t able to find a replacement HEPA filter for months, which forced me to switch to a BOFA extractor.
The filter comes with a pretty decent flexible hose, however, it’s only held by friction and frequently falls off. It also has casters, which are super useful, and a remote control.”
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That review echos my thoughts, and I have experience with industrial filters for other purposes. They can’t even survive a dusty environment without frequent filter changes, or cleaning.
They are expensive for good reason, they do a great job at what they were designed to do, which is handle noxious fumes. I don’t care what they say on their web site, I do not believe that product is suitable except for the most occasional use.
Can you not just hang a vent out a window or open door when needed?
Wish we could, currently have the glowforge setup in an interior room (media room, hence no windows) that has a second floor over it. Be nice if glowforge could at least give us an idea as to when replacement filters will be available.
Any recommendations on proper filters to use if the omtech isn’t a good idea (no surprise there)
No. It’s come up before and I don’t recall anyone ever saying they had found a good solution. The GF option is somewhat custom and probably one of the most economical.
I’ll add that my GF lives in a “work room” which is an interior room, and for the first year or two I just ran a 25’ duct hose with an inline fan out thru another room and thru the door to my deck on the back. I’d just drag the hose over when needed, and pull it back by the machine when not. There is a window on the front of the house but I did not want to have an exhaust visible from the street (for security reasons…)
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HEHEHE you haven’t met my wife and it’s her laser. No way she’d let me do that and even then, it wouldn’t survive the dog and kids.
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