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Steven Smith
05-09-2007, 5:33 PM
Hello all,
I just bought a Pinnacle M-30 that I'm going to operate at my house. I'll be doing some promotional stuff, a little acrylic and some wood, focus more towards artwork.. I bought a 850 cfm blower with the unit and would like opinions on the comparative noise level a unit similar to that may produce. We really like my neighbors, noise and smell are a concern for me and my wife. Noise similar to a shop vac? Leaf blower at 7am on Sunday? C-130 at take-off ?

Has anyone here 'homebrewed' an activated charcoal filter system? I'm interested in the longevity of the filter media for acrylics, wood and leather.
Anyone have a resource for activated charcoal filter material that doesn't assume you're a drug dealer?

Joe Pelonio
05-09-2007, 6:33 PM
850 cfm is a lot, and probably would could be louder than my fantech FX10-XL 590 cfm. My only noise is outside at the outlet and it's no louder than a dryer vent, all you hear is the air. Vibration makes noise so I mounted it with rubber between the metal mounts and wall studs. How far is the run? Seems like I remember 400 cfm being recommended. I got mine for a 20' run, but now at only 3' it really sucks air.

I have been running 8 hours a day 7 days a week cutting acrylic mostly here at my home, and my vent goes out a side wall up high (upstairs room). If I go outside I can smell it below the vent but it's not too bad and seems to dissapate quickly. It was a lot worse at the old place in a business park where the vent was under the overhang and the smell stayed around. Since moving 12/18/06 no complaints from any neighbors, and the closest one is unaware of the laser being here. The only real problem will be in the summer, if they have a window open and the wind is blowing that way.

Mike Null
05-09-2007, 8:20 PM
With 850 cfm you must have to push the air into the next county.

I've been using a 300 cfm in blower for more than 8 years with never a problem. It's less than 10 feet from my desk and I can carry on a telephone conversation when it's running.

I think you will find the noise uncomfortable.

I would look into a speed control.

Marc Myer
05-10-2007, 2:17 PM
I use an 850 cfm Dayton blower with mine. The noise is about the same as a dryer vent from the outside, not bad at all.
Like Joe, I originally had planned to run a 20' exhaust, but it's currently only 6'. The specs with the laser claimed it needed 450 CFM at the machine, and apparently there's a loss of vacuum as the run gets longer, so I went with a bigger blower. The blower claims the CFM is accurate only at 6".
Does anyone know about placement, specifically, will a vent higher up dissipate fumes better? I too like my neighbors and wonder if my low-mounted vent would be better or worse mounted 10' off the ground...
marc

Joe Pelonio
05-10-2007, 2:29 PM
I'm finding that to be the case, higher up keeps the smell away better. Probably the fumes are warm and will rise, except for maybe in the summer when it could be cooler than the outside air. I figure that if I do get any complaints I'll run it through the roof to get it even higher, Currently the outlet is at about 16' up.

Bill Cunningham
05-10-2007, 9:34 PM
The temperature and humidity outside, will govern how much your neighbors will have to endure.. I run a 750 cfm blower right under the table where my Epilog TT sits, it sucks about 3 feet from the cabinet, and then pushes it up the wall 6 feet, 8' along the ceiling beams to the outside wall and through a dryer vent type blast gate. The noise from the blower is not objectionable (to me anyway), when it's warm, humid and 'still air' outside, the stink 'can' linger, on those days a vent low to the ground and into the grass (hey! an excuse not to cut the grass!) keeps the smell to a minimum on days like that.. I don't have neighbor problems, because she runs a wide format solvent based printer for signs, vented to the outside, and I've yet to smell that!

Steven Smith
05-11-2007, 9:58 AM
Thanks for the replies. Doesn't look like sound will be an issue. If I end up building some sort of filter, I'll post pictures.

Marc Myer
05-14-2007, 1:13 PM
I would like to know what you do and how it works out.

Yes, the smell is affecting my neighbors, and I don't do much cutting yet. I asked my neighbor across the street if she smelled anything, and she said yes, it bothers her, but she said it's because she's pregnant and was probably hypersensitive.
I'm lucky I have good neighbors. She didn't want to make a big deal of it.

So I'll move the exhaust up to the ceiling of my shop, only about 9', to dissipate a bit before exiting. Trouble is, it's a humid and hot environment here; don't know if it will help.

The other option is to run a long 30' run up to the attic of the house, to dissipate through the rooftop vent. Wish me luck.

Tom Cullen
05-14-2007, 1:38 PM
Not sure if this will help but here goes, I also have a small space to work from ( enclosed patio) so what I did was this .... ( not sure what type my blower is ) I took an old tool box on coasters and removed the inside shelving to leave me with a box. Then I cut two holes in either side of the box to accommodate a 4" flex hose , one coming from the laser going into the box from the side and connecting to the blower that was placed into the box. on the outgoing side of the blower I had a muffler made by a local vent fabrication company $60, and had that go out the other hole on the box and then attached about a 10ft length of 4" hose running away to the other end of the patio. it cuts the noise down by more than 50% , I have neighbors on either side of me and to the back of me . No complaints and I work into the night. it also cuts the smell down but I don't do a lot of cutting, to be honest I was more concerned about the noise. if you need to clean the muffler , all you have to do is use water.

Joe Pelonio
05-14-2007, 1:39 PM
I would like to know what you do and how it works out.

Yes, the smell is affecting my neighbors, and I don't do much cutting yet.

The other option is to run a long 30' run up to the attic of the house, to dissipate through the rooftop vent. Wish me luck.
Humidity holds in the smell, you may have to go with the roof option, so it's good that you have the powerful fan.

John Sobeski
05-20-2007, 8:42 PM
Hello all,
I just bought a Pinnacle M-30 that I'm going to operate at my house. I'll be doing some promotional stuff, a little acrylic and some wood, focus more towards artwork.. I bought a 850 cfm blower with the unit and would like opinions on the comparative noise level a unit similar to that may produce. We really like my neighbors, noise and smell are a concern for me and my wife. Noise similar to a shop vac? Leaf blower at 7am on Sunday? C-130 at take-off ?

Has anyone here 'homebrewed' an activated charcoal filter system? I'm interested in the longevity of the filter media for acrylics, wood and leather.
Anyone have a resource for activated charcoal filter material that doesn't assume you're a drug dealer?

I just finished up an exhaust system for my Versalaser. I used a "cheap" Harbor Freight Fan "31810-0VGA" 660 CFM. My wood shop is in one half of the basement, the general purpose use is in the other. I put my Versalaser in that clean general purpose area. When I installed the exhaust system I followed the design guidelines and mounted the blower at the basement window level for a straight shot to the outdoors. Between it and the Versalaser is a short run, less than 8' of 4" "dust collection" type hose.

When outside, the fan sounds like a "shop vac" running ther at full blast. It is louder outside then inside. (Almost as loud as the 3Hp dust collection system in the woodshop)

OK, now I have to redesign from the recommended method to another to keep the noise level down outside, or my neighbors will.....

I see others have mounted their fans inside close to the laser unit and made a longer run to the outdoors.

So I too am looking for a "quiet" solution to the exhaust system problem. I want to use the laser but not just yet at the expense of irritating the neighbors. I have to redo the exhaust system to quiet it down first. The idea of no more noise at the outside then a dryer vent really sounds appealing. I do live in a very quiet suburban residential area.

Will mounting the unit under the laser table and about a 10' run of 4" PVC pipe out of the basement window reduce the noise problem? Do I need a muffler? (The thought has crossed my mind).

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Dave Jones
05-20-2007, 11:18 PM
Most exhaust "blowers" are designed to suck rather than blow, and work best at the end of the run, not the start or middle. Plus the chances of exhaust leaking after the blower is much higher. If there is a leak before the blower it simply sucks in a bit of fresh air into the exhaust. If there's a leak after the blower it can let fumes into your space. Those can be deadly.

Marc Myer
05-21-2007, 4:31 PM
Good advice. I'll be moving my blower (or is 'sucker' more accurate?) closer to the output port.
I read up a bit about air flow, and it's claimed that even with a 4" outlet from the laser, it's a good idea to use a larger diameter hose. I stepped mine up to an 8" hose. Wonder what the effects or benefits of this might be, aside from less stress on the blower?