Exhaust Fan for Laser Engraver

[Mike Chan]

I recently purchased a Trotec Speedy 300 and wanted to see what exhaust fans people have been happy with. I've read through the older threads and it looks like a lot of members are using the Grizzly and Harbor Freight. I'd like to keep this on topic if possible and also a true comparison for other members that are looking for this info in the future. Please state the following: 1. Brand/Model, 2. Price, 3. Distance that you are running the fan, 4. CFM, 5. Best describe the noise level, 7. Comments

[Mike Null]

Mike

Welcome to SMC. this has been a popular topic for a long time so I suggest you do a search where I think you'll find more than enough information to form an opinion.

[Mike Chan]

Hi Mike, Yeah, I've done quite a bit of research here on SMC about exhaust fans, but it always seems to get off topic pretty quickly. That's why I decided to start this thread, with a little more structure and hopefully it will be useful as reference for others in the future.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Hi Mike (C)

Exhaust fans vary, true, but more important is the location. A badly sited huge centrifugal on a long duct will be out performed by a simple 4" bathroom extractor sited at the back of the machine.

Static pressure affects the performance so much it is incredible. This is a Fantronix VK150 (6") Inline, 43 DBa @ 1 meter and tries to pull the window out of the machine!! (a 1200 x 900 bed cabinet) cost was around 80USD. Not a single wiff of smoke is left in the cabinet, even when running as an open bed type.60 watts @ 240 Volts power consumption.

266539


Compared to this monster

266540

That sounds like an F5 tornado when mounted 6 duct feet from the same machine with 8 duct feet tube to atmosphere and has around the same performance (effective extraction) Cost 220 USD Power use 750 watts @ 230 volts, 60+ BDa @ 1 meter.

It's all about efficiency my friend, not power :)

best wishes

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

Static pressure affects the performance so much it is incredible. This is a Fantronix VK150 (6") Inline, 43 DBa @ 1 meter and tries to pull the window out of the machine!!

I couldn't find the static pressure info on this guy anywhere? Any idea what it is? I'm trying to imagine anything more than an inch or two of H20 from a fan that pulls half an amp...

[Dave Sheldrake]

Heya Dan,

No idea, but it's fitted literally at the back of the lasers cabinet, moving it even 6 feet away and it becomes useless.I agree totally, I'd be surprised if it even managed 2" of pull.

That bigger chip extractor fitted at the back of the machine was overkill, the machine didn't have enough cross flow or venting to cope with the power and came close to sucking the window in :(

Noise was my biggest consideration so the fantronix was the one I opted for in the end.

best wishes

Dave

[Dan Hammerstron]

Yes, I started with a 2hp grizz dust collector, 6in. tubing. but "the noise". now have these two.266683They work very well hooked up to 1390 and uls. laser

[Russell Holder]

I used to be in HVAC. So I had an extra squirrel cage fan laying around. I have it pulling through 4 In. flex. About 8 feet from the Laser. One of those squirrel cage fans moves all the air in your house. I can't hear it run. I started out with a Harbor Freight 1 horse. It made so much noise that I think it lowered my IQ.

[Joe Hillmann]

I originally had an inline blower with about 8 feet of 4" duct work between it and the laser it was fine for engraving glass much more than that and it couldn't get the smoke out fast enough.

Then I switched to a 400 cfm blower that was meant for exhaust. It was about 35-40 feet from the lasers with 8 inch ducting. It was better than the inline but on heavy cutting the smoke wasn't getting out of the way of the laser fast enough and I would have to clean the lens ever few hours of cutting.

I tried putting in a blower from a furnace it was much larger than the 400cfm blower but didn't work nearly as well.

The set up I now have is a 3hp blower on the roof with about 40 feet a 8 inch duct to the last laser in the line. Every seam is taped. With it I can have all four lasers running at once and it sucks out every bit of the smoke instantly. With my old set up you could watch the smoke get sucked up but now the air is moving so fast you can't see the smoke at all. I also use the same blower to run my vacuum bed when I am cutting and it has enough power to suck a warped piece of plywood down and remove all the smoke at the same time. As far a noise, the blower is on the roof and when it is running all you hear inside is the air moving and outside it sounds like an air conditioner running.

[Catherine Lim]

Thanks everyone for all the info you are giving. I just purchased a ULS vls3.50 and have to get my ventilation set-up within the next 3 weeks before my delivery. I'm liking the Fantronix VK150 picture posted in the first post. Is that one of the ones available at Harbor Freight? I'm just starting out (my first laser) and don't know how much I will be using it at first but I want to try and do things right the first time. I will continue reading and learning. Thanks again.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Hi Catherine,

I don't know where you get the fantronix in the US (I'm in the UK) but there is likely a similar item available there. Inlines all tend to be very much the same so anything with 450 cfm flow mounted at the back of the machine will be fine (lower rpm is better for noise). Centrifugal blowers are great if you have long ducts but their power drops rapidly (like all fans) the more static air they have to move.

Sometimes too big a fan can be counter productive, whatever air you are pulling out also has to be let in to the lasers cabinet otherwise you end up with negative cabinet pressure and likely broken cabinet windows.

I run the fantronix 24/7 and have done for the last year or so, so far not any sign of problems and it's price makes it an easy replacement if it does go wrong.

best wishes

Dave

[Ivan Shuliak]

Hi, will bump this thread :)
We're moving to a new space soon and will be able to went to outside through the back wall.
Dave, do you think this setup will work with Fusion M2 32? It has 2 x 4" ports on the back. Do you think it will work with "Y" duct connection?
Also any advises are welcome. We have 2 machines, Zing & Fusion and would like to have vent setup in a way that it is quiet and efficient. Also variable speed control would be great or something similar if we use only one machine at a time for example, not two.

[Klaus Madsen]

Hi Catherine,

I don't know where you get the fantronix in the US (I'm in the UK) but there is likely a similar item available there. Inlines all tend to be very much the same so anything with 450 cfm flow mounted at the back of the machine will be fine (lower rpm is better for noise). Centrifugal blowers are great if you have long ducts but their power drops rapidly (like all fans) the more static air they have to move.

Sometimes too big a fan can be counter productive, whatever air you are pulling out also has to be let in to the lasers cabinet otherwise you end up with negative cabinet pressure and likely broken cabinet windows.

I run the fantronix 24/7 and have done for the last year or so, so far not any sign of problems and it's price makes it an easy replacement if it does go wrong.

best wishes

Dave

Hi, What do you mean by static Air???