Laser fume extraction on a budget

Some form of fume extractor will be required when purchasing and installing a laser: where should this be sourced?

On the one hand the customer has to consider their budget and performance requirements and on the other hand the laser sales person wants to clinch the sale of the laser.

There are two ways to go, in this situation.

(1) The customer can purchase both the laser and a fume extractor from the Laser OEM.

(2) they can only purchase the laser and source an extractor from elsewhere.

Option (1) is the better method for several reasons.

The laser sales person may think that quoting a laser with an extractor will put the customer off because of the additional cost, but this is usually not the case as the customer knows they will have to buy an extractor from somewhere anyway.

It is much better then to quote a whole package to the customer who can benefit from the laser manufacturer's knowledge of specifying the correct extractor.

The laser OEM also gets the long-term benefit of supplying the customer with replacement filters and the customer gets a problem free laser process.

Purex quote that they have even seen the quality of the fume extractor be the deciding factor for the customer when comparing two laser brands.

Budgets are of course a consideration for the customer, however, very low cost fume extractors available on the market can trade performance, filter life and even safety for cost.

Simple fans which vent to the outside may seem an economical solution at first but they have significant drawbacks:.

i ) holes need to be cut in walls / ceilings.

ii ) planning permission may be required.

iii ) environmental legislation comes into play.

iv ) bulky, fixed pipework is required.

v ) what happens if the laser moves? The fan, holes, pipework, fixings etc need to be reinstalled in the new position and the old ones filled and sealed which will be expensive.

Also an external venting point may not be available; for example in a shopping mall or school.

A cheap extractor may also cost much more in terms of replacement filters.

Worse still if the extractor is inadequate then the health and safety of the operator will be at risk.

This story was supplied to the Laser Fume Extraction website by Purex.

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