Laser Fume Extractor Horizontal or Vertical Filter Box

[Misty Smith]

Hi
I'm still redesigning my new DIY fume extractor. The layout makes sense for a horizontal air pull. Is there any benefit, restriction etc for choosing between a horizontal and a vertical pull. A horizontal box would allow a straight run until piping up over the roof. The box would be cheap paper prefilters, a hepa filter, and about 20lbs of carbon. Also, I'm paying $260 for a rectangular 12x24x12 merv 17 hepa. I think this is larger than I need but was told a nonstandard size would be even more expensive. Can anyone recommend a hepa vendor? And do you think I'd be okay going with a smaller sized hepa? 12x24x12 seems overkill. Thank you!

[Misty Smith]

Hopefully this helps

[Tony Lenkic]

Google for Quatro's hepa filter part no. F074

It is 15" x 12" x2" size

[Kev Williams]

The picture tells me you're venting outside? If so an expensive hepa filter is a waste of money- my opinion- because for outside venting the main objective is remove the smell, that's what the carbon's for. Hepa filters also block a lot of airflow...

A decent $30 furnace filter like this should be all you need for outdoor venting,
and may even work okay indoors...
filter.jpg

[Misty Smith]

The problem is the exhaust is re-entering the building, I'm going to assume through an open window. The shop is a tiny 10x10 building so the exhaust sorta just drifts all around the building- it's not being swept away with the air current. Its piped pretty high too.

[Misty Smith]

Thank you for the suggestion. Checking it out now.

[Kev Williams]

What I can't tell from your picture is: Is the blower inside, or outside? If inside, IT'S the source of smoke in the room, because the blower casing itself is under pressure, and most blowers are hardly leakproof, and the outlet hose is also under pressure, any perforations or loose fittings is where smoke can leak out into the room..

If the blower's outside, then do what I do, which is just exhaust the air close to or right at ground level. My business is in our house, and there's another house every 75' away in all directions for 1/4 mile at least. In 19 years no one has ever mentioned or complained about my laser's exhaust. To be fair, the smells can be noticeable, but not intense and they seem to fade fast...

[Misty Smith]

Yes the blower is outside. I will see if exhausting low helps