Compact X-LC

A laser cleaning fume extractor captures and filters the airborne contaminants produced when a laser strips rust, paint, oxide, oil, or coatings from a surface. Laser cleaning does not scrape material off, it vaporizes it, so the byproduct goes airborne immediately. The extractor pulls it at the source, filters both the particulate and the gases, and returns clean air to the shop rather than venting outdoors.

Small to mid-sized industrial laser cleaning systems running light to intermediate duty. It delivers 235 CFM through a three-stage setup of 6 m2 pre-filter, 6 m2 HEPA, and 40 lbs of carbon, in a 29 by 15 by 21 inch footprint. If you are running heavier duty cycles or want more filter life between changes, the Expand X-1LC matches the airflow with considerably more media.

Two different problems in one plume. There is fine and ultrafine particulate from the substrate and from the material being removed, and there are gases and VOCs from whatever coating just got vaporized. Paint, primer, oil, and rust inhibitors all release gas-phase contaminants when a laser hits them. That mix is why laser cleaning extraction needs both particle filtration and carbon, not just a HEPA.

Because pre-filters and HEPA filters only capture particles. They do nothing to gases. Laser cleaning vaporizes coatings, and vaporized coatings are gas-phase contaminants, so a particle-only setup would return odors and VOCs straight back into the room. Every Filtrabox laser cleaning unit ships with coconut shell carbon and potassium permanganate cartridges as standard for that reason, ranging from 40 lbs on the Compact X-LC up to 240 lbs on the Expand XF.

Yes. Every Filtrabox unit is designed for indoor use with no outdoor ventilation required. Air is captured at the source, filtered, and recirculated back into the workspace, which means no ducting through a wall or roof and no conditioned air being pumped outside. One thing to confirm for your process: recirculation depends on the filtration matching what you produce. Particulate is handled by the standard configuration, and gases or VOCs require the carbon cartridge.

They do different jobs and they are not interchangeable. The pre-filter takes the coarse and fine particulate first, so the HEPA only has to deal with what gets past it. The HEPA then captures the ultrafine submicron material at 99.999% efficiency on 0.3 micron particles. Because the pre-filter absorbs most of the loading, it is the element you replace more often, and it is the cheaper of the two. That is by design.

No. The pre-filter, HEPA, and carbon cartridge are all replacement items. Blowing out or washing filter media damages the fibers and destroys the efficiency rating, which defeats the point of having a HEPA at all. Carbon works by adsorption and is spent once it is saturated, so cleaning does nothing for it either. The pre-filter is designed to load first and be replaced most often, which is what protects the more expensive elements behind it.

There is no fixed interval, because filter life depends on what you weld, how much, and at what duty cycle. A shop running production all day loads filters far faster than one welding a few hours a week, and heavier particulate processes load them faster still. Rather than guess at a calendar, watch the pressure gauge. Rising pressure across the filter means it is loading up and approaching replacement. The pre-filter is designed to be the element you change most often, which protects the more expensive HEPA behind it.

Start with duty cycle, then filter capacity. Compact X-LC is the smallest footprint at 235 CFM with 40 lbs of carbon, for light to intermediate work. Expand X-1LC matches that airflow with far more media, 30 m2 of pre-filter and 79 lbs of carbon, and can take a second blower later to become the X-2. Expand XF is the heavy-duty platform, 44 m2 filters and H14 HEPA with 240 lbs of carbon, expandable from one to six blowers. XF-1 at 235 CFM, XF-2 at 470, XF-3 at 705.