I found a lot of mentions of fans, theoretical or currently being used, in various threads, but I still have a lot of questions and I think a consolidated topic on it would be helpful.
I’m only on day 2, but the smell is becoming a problem. I’ve gone over everything with foil tape, but my lungs still smell like hurty. It’s a short run and there are only two bends in it, and I’m going to try semi-rigid duct and flexible foil tape to ensure I get every possible hole and crack covered. But still, I feel like I want some extra help from a booster fan.
I’ve tried to narrow it down to 4" 200 CFM inline duct fans, and I’ve come up with two possibilities: Tjernlund M-4 Metal Inline Duct Fan looks good to me and with Prime I could have it here for the weekend. But then I saw the Fantech FR 125 and the words leak-proof caught my eye. I’m going to be going through a lot of trouble to seal everything tightly, so if my fan leaks I will be rather unhappy. That Tjernlund looks pretty solid, but it’s certainly not advertised as leak-proof. On the other hand, the FR 125 is only 171 CFM, and I think the Glowforge is 200. So now I have some questions:
- Is it reasonable or safe to have a booster fan at all? I have read some comments about the fan driving (or over-driving) the Glowforge’s own fan, and that being bad.
- What airflow is appropriate? What happens if it’s slightly more or less than 200?
- Can I keep running it for a bit after the Glowforge finishes to help pull out the remaining odor?
- How likely is a fan like that Tjernlund M-4 to leak? Can I get away with it, or tape it up?
Normally in these situations I would just experiment, but these things aren’t cheap enough to just get a few different ones and see what works best. So are there any fannage experts out there who have all the answers?