Epilog Helix - ventilation questions

[C Mytko]

Hi all - 

I know this thread pops up periodically, but our school just purchased an Epilog Helix and we are struggling with the ventilation.  I realize that the best option would be to vent to the roof, but that apparently is not an option.

Two questions: 

[local to Bay Area] Would you allow me and the maintenance guy at our school to stop by your school and check out your ventilation system?

[not local to Bay Area?] I would love to hear your experience with hooking up your Epilog Helix to a Quattro and / or BOFA filter, or any other ventilation strategy. 

I am trying to gather information to share with the higher powers over here.  I do not believe the system we currently have is safe enough to implement with kids.

Christine 

Black Pine Circle School

[Josh Merrow]

Hi. We vent our helix out a window with 4" galvanized ducting using a blower. We made a 6" tall plywood insert for the window with a 4" hole in it for the duct. No problems so far.

Best

Josh

[Kevin Jarrett]

Very happy with this self-contained BOFA unit. Expensive, but worth it. 

http://www.bofaamericas.com/productDetails.asp?pid=49

-kj-

On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 9:44:08 PM UTC-5, C Mytko wrote:

[Jeremy Sambuca]

+1 on BOFA Fume Extractors. I've had experience with the AD Oracle. Its relatively quiet, powerful, and has a small footprint. 

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Hewitt empowers girls to discover their full intellectual and creative abilities, to pursue their passions and personal best, and to lead lives of consequence with character, compassion, and conviction.

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[Janet Wu]

Hi Christine,

I feel you re: the safety of kids.  We had a filtration unit until I put my foot down and refused to run the machine until we got outside ventilation.  It was super fast and done within an hour or two by our facilities guy.  Used a vent blower from Penn Industries drawing 850 CFM.  I'm located in Santa Clara...not too close to Berkeley unfortunately, but always welcome to show you if you're in the area.

Janet

[Kenton A. Hoover]

You can always side-stack out a wall and run a vertical draw stack from there. TechShop in SF vented sideways out the window into an alley for a long time (might still)

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kaho...@tehiyah.org

+1 510 233 3013 (main)

+1 510 730 7098 (direct) 

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[Joe Donahue]

We have an Epilog Fusion. We first didn't get a filter, but quickly purchased one to reduce fumes. Even though we had our machine on an outside patio and a strong fan blowing fumes out, the fumes got into other class rooms. We got a BOFA and the set up was very quick and easy.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 6:44:08 PM UTC-8, C Mytko wrote:

[Diego Fonstad]

We started with in room filtration with a Quattro system at Castilleja but then shifted to outside venting after the first year.  The Quattro filter was good but the filters needed constant replacement because we mostly cut cardboard and wood and the large particulates kept clogging the filter.  We even tried a pre-filter but the problem persisted..  After one year of outside venting through an exterior window, we then had to redirect the smoke higher (our maker space is in the ground floor and we were originally venting through a light well window).

I purchased a BOFA filter for my business laser cutters and I have changed the filters much less than when we had the Quattro.  The BOFA has a filtering system the precipitates out the larger particulates before the smoke gets to the smaller filters and anecdotally, I can attest that it seems to work.  Here's a video I found that describes it.  http://www.bofaamericas.com/deepPleatFilterTechnology.asp

I've always wondered if such a precipitation system (or as they call it, a drop out chamber) would work better for the current set up as I do know that there is build-up in the ducting when you push the air outside without any filtration.  It would also make me feel better if we weren't just pushing it out to the atmosphere....

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[Katy Garnier]

We have a BOFA unit, our lab has no outside walls, and it was going to be cost prohibitive to vent out, plus it didn't feel good to dump stuff into the air. The unit has been great, it is a little loud, but once you are running the engraver and the air assist it's pretty loud already, so it's not like you can lecture over it to begin with.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 9:44:08 PM UTC-5, C Mytko wrote:

[Sam Moser]

Hello!

Do you have any pictures of your laser cutter exterior ventilation?

Thanks,

Sam Moser 

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[Joe Donahue]

Hey Sam: 

Here are a couple of pics on how we set up the venting. From the cutter we go into the extractor filter, then out to a roof vent with a blower on the roof. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Joe

Joe Donahue
jdona...@gmail.com

On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 7:05 AM, Sam Moser <smo...@flinthill.org> wrote:

Hello!

Do you have any pictures of your laser cutter exterior ventilation?

Thanks,

Sam Moser 

On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 7:46 PM Diego Fonstad <dfon...@castilleja.org> wrote:

We started with in room filtration with a Quattro system at Castilleja but then shifted to outside venting after the first year.  The Quattro filter was good but the filters needed constant replacement because we mostly cut cardboard and wood and the large particulates kept clogging the filter.  We even tried a pre-filter but the problem persisted..  After one year of outside venting through an exterior window, we then had to redirect the smoke higher (our maker space is in the ground floor and we were originally venting through a light well window).

I purchased a BOFA filter for my business laser cutters and I have changed the filters much less than when we had the Quattro.  The BOFA has a filtering system the precipitates out the larger particulates before the smoke gets to the smaller filters and anecdotally, I can attest that it seems to work.  Here's a video I found that describes it.  http://www.bofaamericas.com/deepPleatFilterTechnology.asp

I've always wondered if such a precipitation system (or as they call it, a drop out chamber) would work better for the current set up as I do know that there is build-up in the ducting when you push the air outside without any filtration.  It would also make me feel better if we weren't just pushing it out to the atmosphere....

On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 4:30 PM, Joe Donahue <jdona...@gmail.com> wrote:

We have an Epilog Fusion. We first didn't get a filter, but quickly purchased one to reduce fumes. Even though we had our machine on an outside patio and a strong fan blowing fumes out, the fumes got into other class rooms. We got a BOFA and the set up was very quick and easy.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 6:44:08 PM UTC-8, C Mytko wrote:

Hi all - 

I know this thread pops up periodically, but our school just purchased an Epilog Helix and we are struggling with the ventilation.  I realize that the best option would be to vent to the roof, but that apparently is not an option.

Two questions: 

[local to Bay Area] Would you allow me and the maintenance guy at our school to stop by your school and check out your ventilation system?

[not local to Bay Area?] I would love to hear your experience with hooking up your Epilog Helix to a Quattro and / or BOFA filter, or any other ventilation strategy. 

I am trying to gather information to share with the higher powers over here.  I do not believe the system we currently have is safe enough to implement with kids.

Christine 

Black Pine Circle School

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[David Malpica]

Just to add to the conversation, I've seen people use a portable blower in their outdoor venting set ups. This is a lot cheaper than a BOFA or a Quattro (minus any remodeling).

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC3XX.html

Be sure to read the comments for people's experiences!

On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 6:44:08 PM UTC-8, C Mytko wrote:

[Joe Donahue]

It is cheaper for sure, but we had real problems with the fumes from the acrylic floating into other classrooms.

Joe Donahue
jdona...@gmail.com

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[Andrew]

Sam- here's our Helix setup. 

The beige stack is our HEPA filter. Just a large box, intake on the bottom, three rows of filter plates and a fan at the top. 

The outflow pipe goes to the roof at the corner of the building.  

--andrew

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