Laser engraver exhaust CFM

[Justin Rapp]

I just got my first engraver last week, an xtool D1 pro 5w. I've just done a few test cuts and set up on a table with a box fan blowing the fumes/smoke out a door. This is not the ideal situation of course and I am planning out a fume enclosure. Any thoughts on CFM airflow i'd need from an encloser that is about 5 cubic feet (24" x 24" x 15").

The commercially available ones just use a PC type fan to exhaust but I would expect the CFMs to drop off significantly going through about 10 feet of flex hose.

[vince mastrosimone]

Google “ in-line extractor fans”. Many to choose from. Sound levels should be a factor as well as cfm.Just remember that the CFM being extracted needs make up air coming into the enclosure or the system will not work properly.

[Kev Williams]

Go to Harbor Freight and buy one of their basic dust collection blowers
hfblowers.jpgand some 4" dryer vent ductwork for it. In the past 20 years I've been running 3 of the smaller ones on the left, and in all that time I've had to replace only 1 of them, due to a noisy motor bushing pissing off a neighbor (still ran fine though!) -- and I have one of the larger ones (on the right), it's 20 years old, it sucks smoke from 4 lasers and vacuums chips from one of my rotary machines, all thru a maze of ductwork that would make MacGuiver proud -- That thing runs probably at LEAST 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the ONLY thing I've ever had to do to it was to remove the on/off switch that burned up long ago; I just hard wired the switch together, and turn it on and off using a couple of typical 3-way light switches in my basement shop. I can't even imagine how many hours it's ran, but it just keeps going! And the other 3 smaller ones, while they don't run as often or in long stretches like the big one, but only 1 replacement out of 4 blowers in 20 years, IMO there's no reason to buy a 'better' brand...

[Bill George]

Justin is this what you have? https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Engr.../dp/B0B2R9Y6Y2

Just about any CFM, even a bathroom fan would work.

[Justin Rapp]

Go to Harbor Freight and buy one of their basic dust collection blowers
hfblowers.jpgand some 4" dryer vent ductwork for it. In the past 20 years I've been running 3 of the smaller ones on the left, and in all that time I've had to replace only 1 of them, due to a noisy motor bushing pissing off a neighbor (still ran fine though!) -- and I have one of the larger ones (on the right), it's 20 years old, it sucks smoke from 4 lasers and vacuums chips from one of my rotary machines, all thru a maze of ductwork that would make MacGuiver proud -- That thing runs probably at LEAST 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the ONLY thing I've ever had to do to it was to remove the on/off switch that burned up long ago; I just hard wired the switch together, and turn it on and off using a couple of typical 3-way light switches in my basement shop. I can't even imagine how many hours it's ran, but it just keeps going! And the other 3 smaller ones, while they don't run as often or in long stretches like the big one, but only 1 replacement out of 4 blowers in 20 years, IMO there's no reason to buy a 'better' brand...

Ken - Thanks but way overkill for my small laser cutter. I know how much air my dust collector moves and I don't really want to exhaust all the air in my house in the dead of winter. If i was running in a commercial shop, which sounds like you are, my needs would be on a larger scale.

Justin is this what you have? https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Engr.../dp/B0B2R9Y6Y2

Just about any CFM, even a bathroom fan would work.

Bill - yup - that is exactly what I have. I found a vent fan that has a controller and at max it will move 180cfm but could also back it down to a lower cfm. It is is used for electronic cabinets and air movement in farm space (chicken coops, growing tents etc). My duct run in just a few feet to a window so my loss shouldn't be much. I suspect even if I drop to half, at 90cfm, it should clear my 6 cubic feet 15 times per minute. I think it will be plenty, and it cost $22.00. If it doesn't do the trick, i'll use an in-line bathroom vent fan.

[Bill George]

That Diode laser is quite the upgrade from what I had years ago. I thought it would be great to use for lasering directly on certain wall coverings and wood floor but it was GRBL based and had a LOT of issues.

[Bill George]

I almost purchased one last night, had it in my cart and then I checked the posts on the Lightburn forum and it reminded me of all the issues I had with mine.

[Justin Rapp]

I almost purchased one last night, had it in my cart and then I checked the posts on the Lightburn forum and it reminded me of all the issues I had with mine.

I think a fare amount of the issues are user error driven. For a hobby level machine that cost about $500, it works as advertised so far.

[Bill George]

I think a fare amount of the issues are user error driven. For a hobby level machine that cost about $500, it works as advertised so far.

You are correct the questions and issues are from people who have never bothered to read the machine or Lightburn documentation. When the prices are dropped to $500-700 for a laser, Everyone wants one! They buy and then do not have a clue, then onto Facebook to ask basic questions.
In a year or so... then its for sale.

[Kev Williams]

Ken - Thanks but way overkill for my small laser cutter. I know how much air my dust collector moves and I don't really want to exhaust all the air in my house in the dead of winter. If i was running in a commercial shop, which sounds like you are, my needs would be on a larger scale.

Actually, my shop, which consists of 10 rotary tool engravers, 4 C02 lasers and 4 fiber lasers, is all in our house and garage. The garage shop houses 2 fibers and 2 C02's, and I use 2 of the smaller HF blowers for the garage machines. They're both enclosed in a 'patio storage box' just outside the garage window
blwr1.jpgblwr3.jpgblwr4.jpg
--I made a 'filter box' which is just a semi-clear storage box 3/4 filled with dirt cheap charcoal briquettes from Home Depot...
According to my KillaWatt, these only use about 325 watts of power each. And they're quiet- with both of these running, from 25' away you can barely hear them. These 2 blowers, plus one in the basement, and a big one that I have outside in a Rubbermaid storage shed, many times run all day every day. As to sucking all the air out of the house, that may well be, but we've always had a reasonable natural gas heating bill, never noticed a change when I started using them from before I had them.

And as a bonus, if you're at all concerned about Radon, 'they' say Radon mostly affects "tight" homes, those with very little if any 'leakage'. If that's true, I can just about guarantee there's not a HINT of Radon in THIS place!

That's my story! I really don't have any experience with smaller blowers, EXCEPT for the smaller centrifugal HF blower- worked okay but was actually much louder than these 'medium' ones...

[Justin Rapp]

Actually, my shop, which consists of 10 rotary tool engravers, 4 C02 lasers and 4 fiber lasers, is all in our house and garage. The garage shop houses 2 fibers and 2 C02's, and I use 2 of the smaller HF blowers for the garage machines. They're both enclosed in a 'patio storage box' just outside the garage window
blwr1.jpgblwr3.jpgblwr4.jpg
--I made a 'filter box' which is just a semi-clear storage box 3/4 filled with dirt cheap charcoal briquettes from Home Depot...
According to my KillaWatt, these only use about 325 watts of power each. And they're quiet- with both of these running, from 25' away you can barely hear them. These 2 blowers, plus one in the basement, and a big one that I have outside in a Rubbermaid storage shed, many times run all day every day. As to sucking all the air out of the house, that may well be, but we've always had a reasonable natural gas heating bill, never noticed a change when I started using them from before I had them.

And as a bonus, if you're at all concerned about Radon, 'they' say Radon mostly affects "tight" homes, those with very little if any 'leakage'. If that's true, I can just about guarantee there's not a HINT of Radon in THIS place!

That's my story! I really don't have any experience with smaller blowers, EXCEPT for the smaller centrifugal HF blower- worked okay but was actually much louder than these 'medium' ones...

Wow that is some setup you have there. It sure is way overkill for my small 5w laser engraver/cutter, and even if I go bigger in the future it will be limited to 1 machine. If I go with any other type of machine that produced dust (rotary engraver or CNC) my 3hp cyclone dust collector will be hooked up to it.

[Dave Garrett]

One of my best clients makes radon detectors. I cut and serialize the cr-39 thermoplastic detection media that records the alpha particle tracks. They have their own casting process that is rather interesting. It's cast between plates of glass that are sucked apart to the exact thickness. the plastic has very tight tolerances so they can use an algorithmic counting approach when the units come back. I've learned alot about radon bc of that job. Did you know radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer? that really surprised me. their detectors are $28 https://www.rssi.us/radon.htm

[Justin Rapp]

One of my best clients makes radon detectors. I cut and serialize the cr-39 thermoplastic detection media that records the alpha particle tracks. They have their own casting process that is rather interesting. It's cast between plates of glass that are sucked apart to the exact thickness. the plastic has very tight tolerances so they can use an algorithmic counting approach when the units come back. I've learned alot about radon bc of that job. Did you know radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer? that really surprised me. their detectors are $28 https://www.rssi.us/radon.htm

Yup, I know radon is bad, it is like an unknown killer unless you test for it. When we built this house 20 years ago, we tested for Radon and in the basement it was pretty high. On the first floor it was about 1 pCi/L. Most of my neighbors had the same issue. I put in a radon vent fan pulling air from the french drain sump pit and the basement levels went to < 1pCI/L and the first floor was also down. I bought some electronic meter/detector and occasionally now will plug it in to make sure my levels are still down.