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Any tips for venting & removing printer odor and fumes...?

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ccchang1228

New Member
Hello

We use our Mimaki printer indoor in an indoor office area with two windows around 45in-22in..i am use window entilation dual fan but it's not that effective. The smell is still there. Is there any tips or suggestion for reducing the fumes and ordor from printing...?

I looked at:

ozone purifier
ventilation fan
air purifiers

Is there anything else I can try...tks

pil
 
P

player

New Member
What's your budget? Big or small?

Are the printer and print drying area contained in a room?

A floor plan sketch would really help.
 
C

ccchang1228

New Member
player said:
What's your budget? Big or small?

Are the printer and print drying area contained in a room?

A floor plan sketch would really help.
Click to expand...

The space where the printer operates is around 520 SF. It consist of a small room where we work and a reception where we do all the printing. There are two windows side by side on the wall next to the main door. We keep the main door close but with the two windows open.

The print drying area is in the warehouse, so the odor is not an issue there. The machine is the small Mimaki printer.

I never thought of a budget for this. Our lease is for 1 year so I wasn't planning on doing something permanent or costly. So I guess our budget is small. I tried air purifier and window fans but it didn't really alleviate the odor. So i want to see if anyone has anything like a product or a type of air purifier that they used too be more effective against ink odor..

thanks

pil
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Try a window exhaust fan which turns quite a bit of air per minute...... or put a huge fan in the wall after cutting a hole in it.
 
A

Antnee

New Member
Try eco solvent inks. The smell is less harsh. Talk to Premier Colour in Costa Mesa about their Bordeaux Inks. They could help.
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
not sure what they cost but i believe they make filter systems to fit the solvent printers. we have one for our uv printer.
although with all the silk screening we do here after 26yrs i think i killed more brain cells during work then i did in high school...haha
 
C

ccchang1228

New Member
Thanks for every ones input. I think the ink I am using is ECO SOLVENT already. Ihese type of ink are more safe and less hazardous...well at least according to our local suppliers and Mimaki rep. We have someone sit here for hours doing printing, so we try to make it as comfortable as possible.

Also, I used to have a aluminum hose taped directly to our old printer and put a fan on the other end of the hose to vent the smell. It's more of a DIY but it did helped a little.

Anyways, appreciate the suggestion.
 
SightLine

SightLine

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Window fan is not going to help by itself. Solvent fumes are heavier than air, they sink to the floor. Getting a stronger exhaust/window fan and figure out a way to pipe the intake side of it so its drawing the air from closer to the floor. The room also needs for replacement air to come from somewhere or its really not going to be effective since the fan will mostly just be creating negative pressure in the room.
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
ccchang1228 said:
Hello

We use our Mimaki printer indoor in an indoor office area with two windows around 45in-22in..i am use window entilation dual fan but it's not that effective. The smell is still there. Is there any tips or suggestion for reducing the fumes and ordor from printing...?

I looked at:

ozone purifier
ventilation fan
air purifiers

Is there anything else I can try...tks

pil
Click to expand...

Trade it in and get a Latex printer, no harmful fumes or VOC's to inhale everyday.
 
P

player

New Member
I would never work daily in the room my printer is in. Ecosol or HP latex. There are chemicals in both. I would post a drawing of your floorspace and window and doors and see if there is a way to isolate the printer, even if it is with a cheap plastic greenhouse. Then vent that to the outside.
 
B

brycesteiner

New Member
I'm interested in this thread too. The UV printer we recently got has super strong odor to the ink. I haven't noticed anything with the Mutoh Eco-Solvent but the UV is almost unbearable. I'm thinking it maybe because we are still in the setup process and it will get better....right?
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
Iva had my uv for a few years. 99℅ of the time, including during printing there's no smell. When it does a purge.... It smells like rotten eggs. Like really bad rotten eggs. You get used to it. ;p
 
P

player

New Member
If you do remove air, you should replace it. Replacing this lack of air is called a "make up air system". (This make up air system could be as simple as an open window). When you remove air without make up air the build experiences "negative pressure". When removing fumes it's good to have slightly more air or "positive pressure". Depending on your building size and heating and cooling systems and the amount of air you are removing, negative pressure can pull exhaust fumes from furnaces and vents and suck it back into the building. Safety first and all that.
 
S

SlikGRFX

New Member
As mentioned above, solvent fumes sink so for best results you should extract from floor level. In my old shop we had a cheap garden gazebo over the printer with roll up plastic walls. Inside the 'room' we set up a ring of ducting at floor level with multiple vents cut into it. The ducting led out under one of the soft walls to an open window. We rigged up in inline fan inside the ducting to extract the fumes. Total cost was maybe a couple of hundred $.

Also, where are you drying your prints? They emit a lot of fumes when they outgas. We hung ours in the room with the printer. You could also roll them gently and stand them on an elevated wire mesh frame so that the solvents can escape from the bottom.
 
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