My fan is on and almost all the way to max but yet so much smoke. Is this much smoke normal???
Video won’t play here, but if you are using the filter, then it likely means it is full and needs to be replaced.
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Thank you so much!!
The video plays for me but is all white only, if you have that much smoke, that would be a problem.
If the fan you are speaking of is the filter then yes the filter needs replaced. Make note that some materials eat filters faster than others, Tile, no problems, Acrylic goes a long way as well, MDF or plywood with MDF in it can kill a filter in a few days.
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thank you so much for that! i figured thats what happened. it happened after i cut a bunch of MDF… so sad! i wish i would of known that from the beginning. What kind of filter do you have?
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I have the universe as a filter as it goes out a window, However When the machine’s exhaust died I put in a Vivosun 190 CFM to cover it, which worked great except for really smoky stuff like MDF or Oak and smoke poured out of the machine anyway. As I had my Glowforge before Glowforge was selling filters I had purchased a Blu-Dry that is meant for clearing buildings that is 500 CFM but has an 11 inch intake. and just running it in the room did the job of clearing the smoke nearly as fast as it was produced.
I have worked out ways to make the jump from 4 to 11 inches, but never carried through as the need has not arisen to do that, I think it would out perform the Glowforge filter but for that issue,
It’s in the owners manual and referenced in the specs online.
MDF/Draftboard and MDF-cored plywood like Proofgrade ply should be avoided as much as possible.
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I’m sorry to hear you are having issues with smoke with your Glowforge. Like others have posted it is most likely that a new filter is needed If you can post a photo of the top of your filter we can take a look.
Yeah, that filter is toast.
They have them in the store.
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Thank you. For letting me know 
how can you tell by the picture?
The filter media behind the mesh is white when new. Combined with the smoke you reported, it’s pretty much certain to be full.
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Thanks for your help
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Thank you for posting those photos. When your Glowforge and Compact Filter are properly set up, you may have some harmless odor during printing which will rapidly dissipate. You may also smell something when you open the Glowforge lid after a print is complete. This is not harmful.
However, if you notice a strong, unpleasant or irritating odor when printing, or see smoke, shut off your Glowforge unit immediately. Smoke and fumes could be entering the room in excessive concentrations.
We’ve created a troubleshooting guide with illustrations. You can see it here: https://support.glowforge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034142593-Excessive-Smoke-or-Fumes-During-Print
I see we’re already working on this through email, I’ve just followed up there with the next steps. I’ll continue to work on this with you there, so this post will be closed.