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I moved into my new place and concerned with the amount of smoke being exhausted from my machine. I’m thinking of creating a downward vent to attach w/ magnets on the outside of my window to direct the smoke DOWN because right now… if anyone is walking by they are getting hit in the face with the smoke. Last thing I need is the HOA to shut down my glowbaby.
Hard to see in this photo - but when the wind isn’t blow it’s a cloud of smoke
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The smoke leakage is pretty bad and I noticed the door is out of alignment and perhaps causing the leak… I’m wondering if there has been any DYI solution to this problem, to minimize the amount of smoke released in my office.
For the door alignment make sure your desktop is flat and that the Glowforge is sitting level.
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it’s flat and level, i have to shimmy the door to get it to lay flat, but even then, you have to push it down for it to be flush to the panels
The door never seals - the machine sucks in air from the room to clear the smoke, so don’t stress on that part. It’s likely that you’re seeing it pop-up because the table is on is uneven in some way. The case was designed to flex, so it’s flexing to accommodate an uneven table. If you can’t figure out where the table is off, you can always stick a slight shim under that front right foot and that should straighten you out.
Different material will smoke at different levels too - so sometimes it’s just going to be smokier! An exterior flap can definitely help. Someone on here even set up a vertical hose so the smoke was pushed out at roof level 
You photos don’t show your venting setup - but if it’s got more than 2 90° angles the fan inside isn’t strong enough to push the smoke out.
You can buy an external fan and put it toward the end of your hose run (mine is just before the window) to help suction. Minimum you want ~200 cfm, and you can turn off the interior fan which will make everything quieter too!
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also for those who are about to say get a airfilter - I have one and I’d rather not use it, because it cost $250 every time for a new filter…
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ah! You know what, I actually noticed I had a crazy two 90 degree turns from when i was setting up yesterday - I’m going to unwind that.
I have an external fan setup, but didn’t think to move it close to the window! Let me try that…
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Yup… you were right @lairdknox turns out my floor AND my table isn’t level…
I moved the exhaust fan closer to the window and unkinked
Do you think this look OK? @deirdrebeth
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Yeah, floors are not glass flat, and any deviation is going to telegraph to the top surface of the table you put on it.
Lift one corner of the machine at a time while observing the lid there where it’s raised. one of them is going to set the lid closed as you lift - Shim that corner. if it doesn’t close completely then another corner needs to be addressed as well.
when the evacuation is functioning properly you will see the smoke being aggressively pulled to the left. If it doesn’t you should check the exhaust path, starting with the exhaust fan grill. 
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oh!! ok, the lifting trick to see when it would close worked! I shimmied the front and it was 90% Ok, but catching a little bit and i couldn’t figure it out. Lifted the back a little bit and viola!
Thank you!! The smoke has cleared (literally)!
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Another thing to look at if it’s not properly venting and filling back up into your home is a dirty exhaust fan. So if leveling isn’t doing the trick, check the fan in the back left. After cutting some really nasty Home Depot wood in the beginning, the glue and dust gunked up my fan. In the beginning I thought it was because I had a gap in the front, but that was because I didn’t understand how it worked at first. Turns out the fan was completely gunked up, after cleaning it, it vented perfectly, no more smokey house.
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If your machine fills with smoke it can also mean you have a blocked intake. Check to be sure the right side of the machine (and bottom) are not obstructed.
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Yes, it looks beautiful - and everything they said
Reminds me I’m pretty sure my fan is due for a cleaning!
Or your exhaust grill could be chock full. Which reminds me that I should double check mine while I have it disconnected…
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A sheet of 1/2 to 3/4 plywood will not force a horizontal but it will sure force things to be flat. I already had some 1/2" foam PVC that did the same trick.
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I used a couple spare pieces of wood and a cardboard shimmy on the back to get it perfect
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Mine is doing this now. When the laser is running the lid goes up while still running and there is SO MUCH smoke the alarms go off in the house. The fan in the back is clean, I just cleaned it. Any suggestions?
If the exhaust fan is running properly and the vent hose is not too long, you should never have smoke coming out of the machine. Make sure the fan is running. The one on the machine can be turned off if you say there is a filter attached.
If you do have a filter, make sure it is not full and the fan is on.
Yeah if your exhaust fan is clean and running then the hose must be plugged causing a positive pressure inside the glowforge. If the path is all clear that will be under negative pressure and smoke cannot escape nor can the lid lift.
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Are you running an external in-line fan? If so, it’s possibly pointed the wrong direction. Other than that, you definitely have some kind of blockage somewhere forcing positive pressure to build.
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Thank you everyone for the help!! Turns out the fan was put back in wrong after cleaning so it was blowing the smoke into the machine not out. Kind of embarrassing but glad we figured it out!!
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