LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

was working on the laser tonight, then I heard the extractor fan drone, slowing down.

I have it stripped and suspect one of the bearings, evidence of grease coming through the shield.

It was never a great fan, I had to seal the metal housing as it leaked extracted air into the room ... fumes all round

I may repair it to get me back up and running temporarily, but interested in whats available as a replacement, so looking for advice:

label:

Is this a snail shell shape fan? I am still using my original 550W snail fan after 3+ years [of heavy use] , altho I stripped it down and cleaned out a lot of sticky debris not long ago.

A number of us have bought replacement units off of Amazon. There are quite a few similar units marketed under multiple names that have around 440 cubic feet a minute ratings that work well and are reasonably priced. These are so much quieter and use a lot less electricity. They also generate less heat.

@Gene

Yep it's similar to that one, but nowhere near as mucked up.

I stripped mine all down, and replaced one of the bearings in the motor, it had a bit of float. Job done, back to life again

@Doug

Any chance of a link or description in case mine decides to die again.

This is the one I bought but lots of different companies make something similar. The fake leatherette cover does actually help contain leaks. Note there are models that come with and then without the variable speed controller. To me, it has been worth it to pay a few dollars more and have the variable speed function, particularly in the winter when I am cutting something that doesn't need maximum draw. I can turn the speed down and thus suck out less of the $$ heated air in the room.

https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Inline-V ... 90&sr=8-10

I have two of the big squirrel cage fans that still run fine but it was worth it for my sanity to buy the quieter fan. The ad says 50 db yet I think I measured in the low to mid 60's with an app on my phone. That was still around 10-12 db less than the gray squirrel cage fan. At 115 watts, it uses less than 1/5 the power of the squirrel cage fan so it has probably paid for itself.

That is very similar to the one I bought for my daughters machine and it does the job for her- much quieter too . Her cutting bed is a different design and is much more efficient at clearing the smoke IMHO.

[attachment=0]Automation tech bed design.jpg[/attachment]

@Doug

Cheers Doug, thanks for the link, I had looked at similar, but wasn't sure if they were suitable.

@Gene

My cutting bed is honeycomb, I use small packers below the material to try and help with airflow. When cutting faced mdf I still end up with a LOT of smoke residue when cutting through

No way around it, MDF produces a lot of smoke and residue!