Need exhaust fan

I’'l bet there are many fabrication details that GF would have done differently today. It occurred to me long ago that all engineers should be forced to do maintenance periodically on the machines that they design.

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Or hung up by their thumbs etc…
But perhaps that’s just bringing out the worst in me !
John :upside_down_face:

If I’d known how “fragile” the fan was before I tried to clean it in-situ, I would have removed it for a more delicate (and thorough) cleaning and re-mounted on the outside for future cleanings after cutting away the grill.

That said, I am quite happy to only depend on my external, in-line, quiet duct fan that is doing a perfect job. It runs the entire time my GF is powered, not even worth unplugging if the machine sits unused for hours between prints.

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It’s interesting to look back at GF marketing in the beginning and user experiences now. They claimed to have eliminated the need for an external chiller and blower and now you have folks installing external blowers to reduce noise from the built-in fan (blower) and some users need to direct outlet flow from portable A/C units at the GF to keep the unit from overheating.

There is plenty of room for DIY cooling/venting solutions. The biggest hurdle, in my view, is knowing what makes up the cooling fluid. Like everything else, they’ve been super secret.

If you want to expand the cooling system, which would be extremely easy to do with minimal modification to the unit itself, you would either have to know what fluid you could add that would be compatible. Short of that, you would need to drain out the existing fluid, flush it out and fill it completely with new laser compatible coolant.

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Scott - my import laser recommends using distilled water. My guess is that would be fine in a GF, assuming one takes care not to let the system get close to the freezing point. My system gas been fine with DI water in a CW-5000 for 2 years now in an unheated, partially insulated attached garage during a couple of Chicago area winters and summers. I do have a space heater running there in the colder months.

Come to think of it, wouldn’t GF be required to provide an SDS for their coolant? That might have some info on composition.

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