Ventilation question for your laser fans out there..

[Don Young]

I recently brought my laser inside after a laser tube froze and broke in my very cold garage workshop :( After bringing it into the controlled climate of the house and venting the 6 inch pipe directly outside, I noticed that even with the blower on, I can still smell the wood which doesn't bother me as much as the burning plastic from the sheet plastic when I burn and cut it. I am worried that this faint smell may harm me and/or my animals upstairs. Anyone else deal with this and has it caused any problems and do you wear a mask when burning inside.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks

[Gary Hair]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless you have leaks in your system you are probably just smelling the residue on the wood/acrylic and not something in the air. A couple of things that may help - put the blower outside and draw the air outside instead of the blower inside pushing the air outside. Wait a bit before opening the lid on your laser to allow the blower to get all that it can.

Gary

[Craig Matheny]

I guess the first question I would have is what size blower are you using? Do you know the cfm it moves? how long of a run is it?

[Tim Bateson]

A 6 inch pipe seems rather large, you may not be getting enough pressure/air flow due to such a large pipe size. I use a 4" between the laser & blower, then 3" for a short section out of the house.

[Joe Hillmann]

What are you using for a blower? And how big is the laser?

[Dan Hintz]

See my blog for a DIY filter solution...

[Joe Pelonio]

Also, try leaving the fan on 10-30 seconds after it finishes, before opening the door. Make sure you have a window cracked open so the room can draw in fresh air.

[Dave Sheldrake]

What you can smell is a fraction of what is being liberated into your living accommodation.

cheers

Dave

[Don Young]

Thank you so much for the advice. I have decided on a larger in line fan with 440 cfm. for the two 6 ft runs. That should push that air outside and keep the wife off my back.
Thanks again,
Don

[Keith Upton]

Don, I just spent a long time chasing down an odor issue (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?212813-Strong-acrylic-smell-on-small-rastor-and-vector&highlight=) with my set. How strong is the smell and are you getting during cutting/engraving or only after you pull the part out of the laser? Also, how are you getting from inside your house to outside of it (not pipe size etc, but the "hole" you are going through)?

[Mark Ross]

+1 for Dan. We use this at work as we have moved our OPS into an area that abuts a residential area.

[Don Young]

The run is about 4 ft to the blower and 4 ft from the blower through a 6 inch hole in plywood using a 6 inch galvanized coupler. I am using all 6 inch flex tube.
Thanks for any help,
Don

[Keith Upton]

Don, first I would change your setup to this:

Laser ----> hole in plywood ----> blower

I learned that on this forum and it is very helpful. Any leaks in your exhaust line in this setup will only suck in clean air from the room and vent it outside. When you start pushing the bad air you have to worry about an leaks escaping into the room.

Is the hole in the plywood sealed... I mean really sealed? And is that plywood sitting in a window that you opened, or cut directly through a wall of some type? My odor problems were all from the laser sucking the bad air from outside back in to the room.

I would also suggest that if at all possible, replace that flex tube with hard PVC pipe. I saw a pretty big increase in air flow when I did that... even when I had to step down from 4" flex to 3" PVC. You would probably even gain flow going from 6" flex to 4" PVC.