So I’m come to own 2 glowforges and need assistance with venting them. Can anyone who is in the same situation share how you went about venting them both through the same opening to the outside?
Assuming you have a 4" opening to the outdoors, you can try a 4" PVC Y connector…looks like this…
At that point though, you might need to find something to close off the side that is not in use, to keep smoke from wandering back into the other machine. So a couple of gate valve setups would be needed. And the more you add, the more opportunities for leaks to pop up. All joins will need to be sealed. (Clear caulk works.)
But that might work.
Or if you are going to run them one at a time, just get a Quick Connect setup for each machine. Much faster.
Some great fittings options are available at Rockler:
Get the hose as well…it’s much sturdier than the little foil ones, and it won’t develop pinhole leaks as readily.
(You can ignore this if someone else comes up with some other idea.)
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have not done it but this would be where i would start (along with an exhaust fan between this and outside)
and possibly 2 of these or some shutoff mechanism
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If it were me, I’d cut a separate vent hole. It’s really hard to get a complicated vent setup leak free and keep it that way.
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If you had a “Y” with 2 4" in and 6"out and an 800 cfm fan, It could pull well for both of them without worrying if both were cutting or not.
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I use the Y splitter and each forge has its own external fan.
I haven’t put in any kind of valve for when one is not in use and it all seems to be fine - no back smell or smoke.
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There will be less resistance to airflow out the vent than coming back thru the other machine.
Those inline dampers would prevent quite a restriction. The springs are not very light, and they don’t open all the way up (I’ve used them…)
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Thanks everyone for your ideas! I’m actually lucky enough to live within 45 mins of a Rockler store so I paid them a visit. I was able to find everything I needed in the dust collection area.
They have a piece called a blast gate which allows me to shutoff the laser exhaust I’m not using instead of the backdraft damper gizmo.
I do have an unorthodox way of using my inline fan. I did install inline like you are supposed to do before inquiring about other folks setups. I had major smoke issues. With it installed this way, it works great.
I’ve got somethings I’m going to tweak, but overall happy with the way it’s working.
Thanks @Jules for reminding me of Rockler.
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