laser exhaust system

[Craig Hogarth]

Would anyone mind posting pictures of their exhaust system and how they have it set up?

My engraver is arriving this Friday (or Monday) and I'm working on finishing the garage this weekend. My sales rep sent me plans on how to set it up, but it shows the exhaust mounted on the roof which is not what I want to do.

It's a ULS M-360 if it matters.

Thanks

[David Fairfield]

I have my exhaust blower unit inside my shop, which vents to the outside. Its not an ideal set up.

Air in a negative pressure / vacuum state reaches the blower and becomes pressurized. The pressurized air leaks, so I get some fumes from the ducting leading from the blower to the outside, and probably fumes leaking from the blower itself.

If the blower were outside, the exaust air would be in a vacuum state all the way to the exterior, and I wouldnt get fumes inside. If there were leaks in the ductwork, it would suck room air in, not force exhaust air into the room.

So what I'm saying is, if at all possible put the blower unit outside in a weather proof structure. Less noise too.

Dave

[Craig Hogarth]

I never thought about the fumes leaking.

Do you think they recommend it being on the roof because of fumes? I have 3 kids and I guess it'll be a good idea to keep it off the ground. I live in a wet area, so I really don't want to mess with the roof. I guess i could just mount it on the outside of the garage.

[Mike Null]

I use an in-line blower inside but near the outside vent. it draws air through the engraver to the outside without leaks. My shop is in my basement and an outside blower is not an option. I'm in my ninth year with this system and it's been very satisfactory.

[Joe Pelonio]

Rather than have the fan out in the weather I chose to just make sure I caulked the seams well and have no leakage problem (I did until I found and sealed them). My wife calls it my Rube Goldberg Contraption.

[Jerre Griffin]

I built a wooden plenum and used an old furnace blower to vent to outside. Mounted the plenum high on an exterior wall and have free swinging louvers which open to the outside. I have a six inch hose from the Epilog 32 to the plenum. Almost too much suction as it is hard to open the top of the laser when the motor is going full blast. I had to make the motor variable speed using the motor taps.

Jerre

[Paul Torrigino]

I have my blower that came with the machine mounted on the floor next to it, with a duct running through the wall to the outside. Then I boxed over the blower with heavy plywood with some foam insulation inside and sealed all the edges with duct tape. It works pretty good and I use the box as a work table for laying out pieces. It's still a little noisy, but not as bad as before I boxed it in. Just be sure to seal everything really well.

[Nancy Laird]

Craig, check out this thread for a picture and description of our setup - it's not fancy, but it works like a charm for two lasers.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=47353

Nancy

[Larry Bratton]

I have my Epilog EXT (with 2- 4 inch exhaust ports) set up with flexible pipe (the variety that is used with dust collection systems and the such) coming off the machine. The two flexibles are connected with a metal T. Then we ran a metal pipe through the wall and to the blower. I have the blower in a PLASTIC DOGHOUSE ($59.95) from Tractor Supply, sitting on a wood platform shot down to the concrete pad it is sitting on.

I was watching the laser engraving wood yesterday, and just as soon as a whiff of smoke became visable it was whisked away by that blower. I don't know the exact specs on the blower because the Epilog rep gave it to me, but it does a dandy job. Good luck!

[Bill Cunningham]

Just a tip for anyone that might want to do a quickie job and use the plastic flex exhaust stuff when 'sucking' air to the outside.. There is a plastic liner inside that will break down and colapse inside the tubing, causing a complete blockage of venting.. You can blow through it, but don't suck.... I found out the hard way..

[David Fairfield]

Good point. I was recommended the plastic dryer vent stuff, but when I went to buy it at the hardware store, it looked flimsy. Then there was some written information about dryer lint getting stuck in it and causing fires :eek: Noooo way.

Went with flexible metal dryer exhaust, which works well enough for me on my small setup, but with some leakage. Were I to do it over, I think I would use a more substantial non flexible tubing that would make a better seal.

I think I'm going to move the blower outside into a commerical plastic doghouse recommended by Larry. Thanks for the tip! :)

Dave



Just a tip for anyone that might want to do a quickie job and use the plastic flex exhaust stuff when 'sucking' air to the outside.. There is a plastic liner inside that will break down and colapse inside the tubing, causing a complete blockage of venting.. You can blow through it, but don't suck.... I found out the hard way..

[Larry Bratton]

Yeah Dave, and my blower has a real satisfied look on his face. He is a happy blower in that house. Rain doesn't bother him, he can breath good and I can't hear him when he's outside. Funny seeing that smoke comin out of there though..smells like he's cookin barbque.:D

[Bill Cunningham]

Do you have a sign on your dogouse that says "Beware of Blower" :D

Just one other weird thing.. Last spring, I had a starling try to take up residence in my exhaust.. It would lift up the blast gate, and jump inside.. I seen the bird crap on the wall below the blast gate, and when I went into the shop I heard something scurry around in the pipe..
What else could I do, I switched on the blower.. I 'think' it left in a hurry.. It came back a couple more times in the evenings, and I assume spent the night, before being rudely 'ejected' in the morning.. It finally took the hint.. I'll have to watch for the same thing this spring.. I guess birds don't have a sense of smell :-)

[Larry Bratton]

:rolleyes: Good thinkin Bill! They will be one on there first thing tomorrow!!
Yep, wildlife will do all kinds of pesky stuff.

[Jim A. Walters]

Hey, I don't mean to be nosey, but I thought you'd like to know...I would want to know if it was my dog...but i saw....well, it's not like I 'watch' your house...but I think your dog is smoking.....do with it what you will...but if it was MY dog.....

[Dave Jones]

Smoke coming out of the doghouse? So, that would be a Hot Dog in there?

As for the birds, Maybe you could add a small piece of hardware cloth to the inside of the blast gate? Hardware cloth is like a cross between window screen and chicken wire. A square wire pattern with about 1/2" squares of heavy wire. Any hardware store or lumber yard should have it.

[Scott Shepherd]

I was working the other morning and I kept hearing something hitting the glass walls on the office. Sometimes when they mulch, they throw it and it hits the window, so I thought it was that. I kept hearing it and then noticed that a crow was going nuts with his "cawww cawwwwwww" over and over and over. The noise kept tapping on the glass. I finally got up, turned the blind so I could see out better and all I saw was a huge body with feathers. I immediately thought it was a huge red tailed hawk, but got a better view and it was a buzzard. About a 10 pound buzzard, tapping on the glass. I opened all the blinds up so I could see and it was 4 of them, all walking around the glass, tapping on it at their reflections. The glass is smoked, so they couldn't see in at all.

I watched them for a while, casually, until they approached my vent and started pecking at it. That was when I hit the remote control and gave them a blast. They scurried away, I turned it off, and they came back for more. We did that for about 10 minutes and then something finally got their attention and they flew away.

Didn't know buzzards were going to be one of my problems with a laser :) Well, at least AFTER the sale ;) hehehe :)

[Dave Fifield]

I used a fingerguard from an old 6" fan (taken from a defunct computer rack tray of fans) to keep critters out of my outside extractor fan box.

I used standard 4" woodworking dust collection pipe and fittings for the exhaust system. The only difficulty I had was finding a short section of 4" OD pipe to go through the wall - I found some white drain pipe at HD that did the trick in the end.

[Chris Cordina]

Mine is simular to others except for a fresh air intake. You can see in the pictures the white hose, that just lets fresh air in. I have a screen on the intake to keep little things out. You still have to seal the exhaust real well but very little inside air is used so I don't empty the house of hot or cold air depending on the season. At the end of the day I just remove the window insert.