Looking for some advice on how to improve airflow in my laser setup. I have an OMTech 100w C02 machine that exhausts to a Cloudline S6 which then goes to a Vevor fume extractor. You can see in this picture that the Cloudline is as close to the machine i can get, no more than a foot and a half, albeit with a right angle (which i read dramatically reduces the flow). And the tube within the machine is straight, about a foot and a half as well. I thought this would give me some sucking power, but smoke tends to just pool and I don’t feel much of a draft at all. Any help and any suggestions are welcome.
I’d think putting a reducer on the output side of the fan would limit how much air/debris it could move.
Consider using rigid and/or semi-rigid tubing. The flex tubing you are using has radically higher impedance.
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Do you have adequate air input. Does anything change by spacing the lid open?
So you have one blower pulling a low pressure on your laser cutter box and pushing into a fume extractor(which does or doesn’t?) have its own blower? If the fume extractor does have a blower then are the 2 matched? Have you disconnected at the fume extractor and then tested the extraction air flow from the laser cutter box? This would tell you the problem is or isn’t at the Cloudline or as @donkjr mentioned caused by little to no air inlets on the laser cutter.
Maybe the filters are clogged on the Vevor or it’s blower is too weak.
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There is no specific air inputs as a feature. When i crack the lid, there is no noticeable change in the smoke dissipating.
That seems to be the concensus from here and other forums.
It does have a blower, but i’m sure they aren’t matched in CFM.
I have a neighbors window close the vent outside so i need the fume extractor somewhere in the mix. Given that, what is the optimal way to arrange the pieces to get decent airflow? I’ll try some non-flex ducting where i can.
If it has an internal fan, and an external fan, it will likely lead to issues.
Only one fan is the best for simplicity. If you put multiple fans in line, it’s going to work more like the least efficient fan, since one of the fans won’t perform like the other. Unless you have an engineer that can compute what goes where, stick with a single fan.
Aircraft feather a prop if that engine looses power and a helicopter can auto gyrate to land, all based on the drag of a fan.
I think it’s better to suck it to the fan than blow it out. Lower pressure in the machine and venting until it is outside. It’s easier to deal with holes, cracks or misfitting where, if the gasses were under pressure, would be forced out. Being under a vacuum it will draw air in, not force debris out.
In any event, you need air flow, into the room, through the machine(s) and to the outside.
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