Recommendations on Exhaust Options

I’ve not got first-hand experience, but I would doubt the lower wall section is cement in a climate as moderate as Hawaii, especially considering this appears to be an elevated level of the structure.

I’m seriously considering going vertical. I.e. a vent straight up a couple of feet above roof line with a booster fan.

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what about a cat flap door in panel or a magnetic vent ?

what I would do is this. you should be able to remove a couple of the glass “panels” at least in the windows like that I have seen in the past. make a board that closes that space off. cut a hole in it for the exhaust duct. Then I would put a 2 -4 foot extension on there to take the opening away from the house. that way there hopefully be enough time for it to disperse before it comes back onto the other windows.

I’ll fly out to Hawaii with tools to cut through a wall and install a dryer vent (cement, wood, stucco, doesn’t matter). All you have to do is send me a roundtrip ticket with a 5 day layover.

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I’m calling dibs on @rpegg’s assistant job! I’ll work for lilikoi!

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I’ll pay my own way - for 10 days stay… :slight_smile:

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I’ve not got first-hand experience, but I would doubt the lower wall section is cement in a climate as moderate as Hawaii, especially considering this appears to be an elevated level of the structure.

Termites and rot. The preferred construction material in tropical climates tends to be concrete because that material is not going to degrade due to the environment and termites won’t eat it. Older structures are often made of wood, but newer structures eschew that material in favor of stuff that survives better in the “harsh” environment.

I have a house in Florida that is about 90% concrete and metal. The only wood in the house is the pressure treated roof trusses. Everything else is concrete, plastic, metal and sheetrock.

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Well I’ve got to say, I cannot believe they placed a part we have to clean such as the back exhaust in such a manner that we cannot unscrew it and get to it. Anyway last night I clean the fan for about 10 hours because it was so full of gunk. I bought a new hose and attached it to the back. Today the sound of the glow Forge is so loud it sounds like an airplane is taking off next door. The fan is super loud and is blowing perfectly and the machine is almost vibrating.

We have the same issue here. The fan spins freely but the machine is LOUD. I’m afraid to run anything.

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If the fan is out of balance it will run rough and be much louder. The front of the blades on the exhaust fan need to be cleaned periodically, because build up on the edges will cause it to run out of balance.

I just cleaned mine manually a couple of days ago…it’s running much quieter. But on the Pro models, that can take a couple of hours. (I still prefer to do it that way, to make sure I get everything.)

There is a way to clean the fan using a special non-flammable degreasing spray and Glowforge has a special routine that you can run while using the spray.

Both the links to the routine and the manual cleaning instructions are here:

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Thank you I saw that yesterday and ordered it. I will try this. I can not believe how hard this fan is to get to. I was gonna buy a second one - now I’m thinking Boss. Also I degreased it yesterday cause I had little bit left (I use it for other things) maybe I didn’t have enough.

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I was afraid to run as well, I wouldn’t be they have a warranty and they’re a huge company. My American Express protects me for two years as well. If they’re worth their salt this machine should run loud or not, so I wouldn’t worry. I stopped worrying about it after the solution was given at this forum. I will say as helpful as this form is it’s amazing to me that we don’t find a little odd that we have to help each other, and Glowforge sends me the same emails that they sent me before I bought a machine (we are working with current customers etc). In fact I got a letter yesterday that said since you were thinking about buying a Glowforge machine you were entitled to a 15 minute phone call. Dude I’ve owned a machine for 2 weeks.

Is there a degreaser anyone can recommend that I can go get from the local Walmart? This is going to take a week to get here and I’m not gonna stop running my machine because I have a big enough house to just get away from the noise. The fan is blowing freely as you can feel the air coming outside the window through the hose, and I’ve had it under a month so I have a bunch of work to get done.

I see that you reached out to us directly via email, and we are working on it there. I’ve moved this thread to the Beyond the Manual so the discussion can continue there.

I will have to say after looking at the boss and how much it weighs will be getting a second glow Forge pro laughing out loud, we will just have to vacuum it every day and not let it build up. Im happy to design an easy screw in the system for the back of your fan - the entire block should come out. Other than that it’s a great laser.

How the heck do you get to it?

Flexibility? :smile:

Seriously, you need those long Q-tips. Kind of hard to reach without them.

Super cheap. I just had 500-delivered lol

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Oh, and that’s a better price on them too…I think I picked mine up at a Sally’s Beauty Supply. Need to go grab another batch.