My Neighbour is COMPLAINING about the smell from my laser engraver. I do vent to the outside from the top of my house.
I am Lookin’ @ The OMTech 80W Industrial Air Purifier with 4 Layer Air Filter, 106cfm Intake Fume Extractor for Laser Engraver and Cutter Soldering Station CNC Machine Exhaust Fans, Portable Smoke Absorber and Purifier.
Has anyone tried one of these air / Smoke extractor things? How often do you need to change filters etc?
I did quite a bit of research into fume extractors, prior to receiving my laser. The consensus was I would need over 500 cfm to clear the bed and properly pull through the filters (51" x 35"). So 106 cfm sounds low, unless your bed size is quite small?
I looked at the BOFA AD1000iq and the Filtrabox Xpand X-2. Both run around $6K. I don’t run my laser that much, so I ended up venting outside for the moment, but I still plan to get a filter eventually. Mainly so I don’t have any harmful fumes around my family, or complaints from the neighbors.
The difficulty is that the smoke particulate has to be cleaned to a pretty high standard before the odor removal stage (activated charcoal). Otherwise the smoke will turn to fine dust that will clog the activated charcoal’s pores. Most people really aren’t concerned about the smoke being released into the air, just the odors.
And the smoke is a lot of bulk particles to capture. The smoke pre-filter need to protect the odor adsorbing carbon needs to be changed regularly/
106cfm is a pretty low flow. And the smoke filters use multiple stages and very fine particulate filters that create a pressure drop that can really slow down the cfm
I don’t have any insight to add since I have not tried one and I am really just getting started with engraving but that 80 watt purifier looks like a great solution for small scale engraving. The one concern I have is filter replacements since they don’t seem to sell the replacements for that model on their website. I would like to know how much replacements cost and where I can get them.
I am definitely considering this since I am just opening windows to help vent my basement. It is not the best. I am mostly doing wood so it is not the horrible smell of some materials but still would be better if it was filtered at a minimum.
@laserwillie has written from his experiences with air filters, try searching for this friendly guy, here in the forum.
In the long run, I am also interested in a more professional solution to the smoke and odor problem. My homemade carbon filter system ventilates well but does not filter well enough.
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