Oh where or where do I get my air from

Hey all.
New to the forum and looking for some input.
I am just setting up a Sculpfun S9. Most of the assembly is done just building a case for it to keep the smoke under control.
But I am thinking I need an air assist pump. So far I have not been able to determine what pump works with the Sculpfun s9 and Lightburn.

Any suggestions would be great.

Cheers

Hi,
literally any air pump will work fine, you just gotta make sure it can at least deliver 30L/min. There’s even a special air pump for the sculpfun s9 on Aliexpress, can’t remember the name though. Lightburn has nothing to do with the air assist pump itself. just get a pump with a switch and switch it on before you engrave/cut.

I bought this and it works great.

Hey there thanks all for the replys.
I was under the impression that Light burn and the Sculpfun had the ability to turn it on and off when needed.
also the EcoPlus…I was told that it vibrated a lot and danced around the desktop. IF that’s not the case then cool. Thanks.

LightBurn does provide some control, but you need to provide an air assist solenoid setup of some sort to utilize this feature. This is not a standard option provided with the Sculpfun laser, but you might want to double-check directly. :slight_smile:

Ok thank you.
I will order the air pump. Can’t wait to get burning.

I have a guide on air assist for the S9 here: Air Assist - Diode Laser Wiki
At the same collection, I also have a guide on how to add a relay that controls the air assist pump and how to control that using LightBurn: Relay Control - Diode Laser Wiki

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I have been reading your wiki…interesting stuff there.
While I am not to concerned with the air assist turning off and on automatically, I can turn it on by hand lol.
However the subject of limit switches caught my attention. I have a CNC router and so am familiar with their use. Not having them on this S9 well I find that annoying. However I think if I read things right, the current version of LaserGRBL doesn’t support them natively. You need to input the commands to home properly each time. So flashing is something I would consider.

One other thing. Any concerns with that compressor. I have not ordered it as yet.

The factory version of grbl firmware on the laser supports homing already, but is not “tuned” for it. That’s why I recommend changing it. Both LaserGRBL and LightBurn do support the homing command as well, so once you added the switches, you should be ready to go. But you need to fiddle with more hiccups if you don’t update the firmware.
Regarding the compressor, the majority recommends using one with at least 60L/min. But it also depends on the pressure it can provide. In my experience, the by far most used one is the ACO-318 (which is a slightly more poweful version than the one posted above). I used it as well. It works fine, but is quite noisy. Sculpfun released a new pump lately, which is much more silent. I really like that one (from the loudness point of view; I don’t like that I can’t connect an inlet hose and therefore can’t put it inside my enclosure because it would suck in dirty air - but it is such silent that I can put it on top of the enclosure).

ya I had read that I would have to fiddle and upgrading the firmware/software made sense. I am just in the process of putting the machine together, building an enclosure and so on. I need to spend sometime doing the switch install.
Also waiting on a drag chain.
I heard Sculpfun came out with a pump but so far I have only found the 220 volt version on Aliexpress and well that wont’ work well here in Canada.
Not sure I understand your pump placement. I would think that putting the pump in teh enclosure would result in dirty air being sucked into the pump. Did I read your comment incorrectly.

Not sure I understand your pump placement. I would think that putting the pump in teh enclosure would result in dirty air being sucked into the pump. Did I read your comment incorrectly.

Right. The ACO-318 pump has a usual (like 6mm or so) inlet where the air is sucked in. Here I could connect a hose that ended outside of the enclosure. So, the pump was inside (because of the noise) but it would suck in clean air from the outside. The Sculpfun pump has its inlet at the bottom, not using any standard hole where you could fit a hose. That’s why I had to put it outside.
The xTool pump looks exactly the same (https://www.xtool.com/products/air-assist-set) and I’m sure that I saw exactly this pump from no-name china resellers somewhere else. Unfortunately I didn’t find it now. I’ll have another look.

ah I get it.
So clean outside air via an intake hose. I had not considered that. Thanks for that information.
At this point I will likely go for teh cheaper pump as it puts out enough air and it can can be fed from outside the case.
So much to learn lol

Also consider that you’ll have to provide ventilation for your enclosure or the smoke will just build up. Usually that involves an exhaust fan which places your enclosure under negative pressure (sucks) and exhausts the fumes to the outside (your house or building). Something maybe like this:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078HFVTYX/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_6?smid=A1LJO3FZJ9NMOU&psc=1

Yes, it does vibrate quite a bit. I have a box outside my shop where I have installed the vacuum and air supply. If you don’t have that luxury, you can try to mount it to something solid.

thanks Robert.
I included a fan and filter in the case. I was planning on at a minimum of exhausting through charcoal filter and if possible to the outside.

@MrMag I will see what I can do to fasten the unit down. It’s clear from all my reading that air assist is a must. So that next for me to order.

Ok I ordered that air pump. It’s the last thing I need to get operational other then building an exhaust system which I best do this week.

Thank you everyone for your input.

cheers