I have an omtech 100 watt. We just moved into a new location. Laser is going into our attached garage that is also our stock room and shipping center. We do e commerce with the laser and cnc router ( located in a detached shop). Garage will have a mini spoilt and supplemental heat installed this winter.
I plan on putting an 8” hard pipe from the exhaust to a piping system that gives me an exterior chimney above the roof line. 8 inch instead of 6” so I can easily add in another laser later this year. I will be using my existing infinity 6” fan.
I need to install a make up air system. I want to keep conditioned air inside the room and out of the laser cutting area.
Has anyone every sealed up a machine and piped in make up air?
I plan on putting a 6” duct into the right side door above the material with a fan inline to supply make up air and then seal up the machine using metal duct tape and magnetic strips around doors, sealing off the laser tube the best I can do it is getting as much conditioned air as possible and adding a water heater to my chiller system as a just in case back up for winter.
Does anyone seee any problems with this?
I would like to put an erv system in to reduce humidity coming in but I know it would be a problem areas due to wood fiber buildup in the erv. I already have to clean my exhaust system out monthly.
Lots of work and I don’t know what you expect to gain out of it. I’m not clear on what you mean by ‘make up’ air, assume you referring to air flow ‘intake’ that’s required for your ventilation system to operate
These are pretty leaky inside as far as trying to maintain some kind of difference between the inside and outside pressure. I don’t use my 50 watt commercially, but I generally have to leave the front open about an inch to allow straight flow across the bottom of the engraving (where I’m starting) to the exhaust vent. If you have enough flow it really shouldn’t require attempting to seal it up.
The more straight the air flow the better, so choose wisely.
Don’t know what kind of cold temperatures you experience, but I have mixed my coolant with 50% propylene glycol. It lowers freezing down to about 15 F. I get it at the feed store so it’s non toxic.
My closest Nieghbor is 1/4 mile away. The road is an 1/8 mile from My house. Neighbors are not a concern.
At the previous house I lived 13 feet from my Nieghbor on each side and had no issues exhausting the laser out s walkout basement wall.
My goal is to no blow conditioned air out side. My exhaust fan consumes hundreds of cfm. That air has to come from somewhere. The correct term for this is markup air which yes is an air intake.
You can heat and cool a room efficiently if your constantly blowing the conditioned air outside.
How leaky the machines are is my reason for stating how I plan to seal it.
There is no need to open a door if I have make up air brewing supplies to a sealed machine.
In my opinion, you are making extra work for yourself and risk damage to your laser. The vent slots in the case are there for a reason. Much of the air drawn in, flows over the power supply and cooling it.
A substantial exhaust blower will provide enough flow to prevent smoke from escaping and at the same time provide proper cooling inside the laser case.
So I still need to put some magnetic seals around the door gap and to do the electrical correct. It will have a relay and a single button to power on several circuits for everything at once. It this works great. Ran it for 10 hours yesterday. And had the best smoke extraction I’ve ever had.
The cutting area is sealed off from the rest of the assembly except for a half inch hole for the laser to enter between the first and second mirror.
The control unit and power supply area does not pull much if any ai lr through it using the exhaust fan. I’m total there’s maybe an 1.5” of holes between that area and the cutting area. Those were sealed off. It has its own cooling fan from the factory to pull air through the vents and push it out.
I will be removing the laser tube lid and be replacing it with a mesh lid to keep conditioned air on it to avoid condensation issues but still protect it.
It has automatic dampers to prevent drafts, and is plumbed for a second laser I should be getting in a couple weeks that’s a stock version of mine.
It was 101 yesterday and a tiny window ac unit was able to keep the 30x15 garage under 76 degrees all day now that I can keep the air inside it. Mini split will be here next week.
That’s a great idea. I have also thought about the same problem. It is actually the same way used to get the best efficiency out of wood stoves. They bring in outside air to burn so the house is not sending heated air up the chimney.
