Just because it seems sensible … to me.
We use mostly the OMTech units in-house, as they have a 3 stage filter. That said, if at all possible, vent outside. Deep etching on a galvo can clog up the prefilter in just an hour or two.
[quote=“cggorman, post:18, topic:121926”]
why filter air you’re dumping outside anyway?
[/quote]
Perhaps the neighbors dislike living next to an incinerator and it’s best not to rile them up.
No, the neighbors are 300 or 400 yards away. Filtering the air seems like such a good idea to me that I am rebuilding my downdraft system so it uses the filters from Amazon I mentioned above, prefilter dust, then activated carbon, and then HEPA all in the plenum before the shop-vac. My general design and build philosophy is: “There is no kill as satisfying as an overkill.” ;^)
(I hope that my dinosaur emoticon does not confuse those used to emoji)
Or, perhaps, nothing exceeds like excess!
My only concern with filtering dump air is the operating cost and landfill load. It may keep some benign particulates and mostly benign fumes out of the community air, but it seems to me that it comes at a substantial financial and environmental cost.
Now, washable/rechargable filters/media like I use in my aquariums…THAT might be the thing…more expensive up front, but less over time and much easier on the waste stream.
Not that this is a particularly cheap or environmentally friendly hobby to begin with…so those in glass houses and whatnot… 
With the filters I mentioned, the pre-filter for dust and other larger particles is washable, the activated carbon and HEPA filters are not. As far as cost, I just spent less than $60 for a stack of filters that I expect will last the rest of my life, although that is my guess and we will see. If they do not last that long either I will be using the laser more than I expect, or I’ll be generating far more smoke that I expect, and in either of those cases I’ll be happy to filter it rather than just send it out the window. When I was in Jr Hi a guy from the chemical industry came to our school and gave a presentation that often repeated “The Solution to Pollution is Dilution.” A clear vote for just sending out the window, but a bit self serving considering his industry.
Your aquarium waste is primarily organic solids, something our sewage treatment plants are designed to clean up. While we could design and build a system for bubbling our waste air through water to catch the majority of the stuff in our smoke, and then put that water into the sewers, I think that would be one very expensive system, and municipal water treatment plants are not really designed to catch and break down some of the toxic chemicals we make (depending upon what we are hitting with the laser). So, activated carbon is something easy and available which does a reasonable job at a reasonable cost, including disposal.
Or so it seems to me right now. And you should do what works for you.
Cheers, Be Well, Happy New Year, and all that.
WOW!! Didn’t realize I would get so many responses on this.
My final thoughts: I’m happy with the performance so far of this unit. Cleans the air extremely well. Run for a few hours so far and don’t see much degradation of the filter. The filters may not last 10,000 hours as documented but i’m willing to deal with that. The unit comes with 4 extra stage one filters so that should help extend the life. And it looks like the material for the stage one filter is pretty standard stuff and could be bought locally and i could cut more myself, kind of a fiber material. I bought an extra filter kit which contains a replacement for all three filters. Engraving doesn’t product much vapor so there would be very little wear on the filters, only when cutting.
As far as the neighbor issue goes. My neighbor does a lot of outdoor grilling and uses a firepit a lot and he probably produces more air pollution in one evening that i do with my laser in a year. Although his pollution smells really good when he’s doing chicken.
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I myself have built a filter system with active carbon, it worked approx. 4 weeks satisfactory, although without being able to take the terrible smell from the acrylic fumes. Ordinary wood, plywood and even MDF is not so bad and smells almost like my neighbor’s bad incomplete combustion in his wood-burning stove.
It might be a good idea to engrave and cut a bit of bacon once in a while 
“ It might be a good idea to engrave and cut a bit of bacon once in a while
YES! custom laser engraved branded bacon!
The thought definitely cheered me up this morning.
Your VEVOR filter does look nice, and as with most VEVOR products the price is more reasonable than some alternatives. And if it really is as quiet as they claim, that is great.
One curiosity is that you say that you bought an extra filter pack, while a question on their web site about buying filters was answered by their staff with: No, we do not offer replacement parts, but if there is a problem with non-consumable parts in the first year it will be covered under warrantee.
I do believe you, but that was odd.
May I ask about how long a filter set holds, approx. in operating hours at “normal” use of different kinds of materials?
Thanks
I got my replacement filter set from OMTECHLaser. Says its for their XF180 Fume Extractor. But its the exact replacement for the VEVOR. Wierd that VEVOR doesn’t sell replacement filters
Have no idea how long the filter lasts, i’ve only had it for two weeks
You may ask, but unfortunately, I do not have a tabulated list.
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