Air purifier needed for surecolor?

[jagku]

Hi,

We are in the UK and have a small office (approx 35sqm) with a surecolor 80600.

It gives out a chemical smell when printing vinyl.

Do we need to get an air purifier etc? If so, what have people bought when they only have 1 printer?

If we don't get a purifier then are the smells toxic?

Thanks in advance

 

[P Wagner]

Eco-solvent printer inks are primarily composed of ether-derived solvents, which emit volitile organic compounds (VOCs) as the inks are passively evaporating over a period of hours or days. For more information on human ingestion of significant or repeated concentrations of VOCs, and their potential effects on human health:

Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality | US EPA

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.

www.epa.gov

 

[Johnny Best]

VOC is bad for you and that comes from the printer and ink when in use.

 

[hybriddesign]

I'm guessing that it comes down to your tolerance for the fumes. If you do want to install a scrubber there are some really good threads on it but you'd have to search. We were debating one for a while when we were running oem ink in our Mimaki (we switched to Bordeaux and the fumes went way down). Our Epson 60600 doesn't seem to kick out many fumes. The air scrubbers that are in the other thread were in the $500-1500 range if I remember. I think that Firesprint chimed in on that thread as well.

 

[greysquirrel]

Any eco solvent printer in an office environment will note of an odor than a production environment. Usually because of ceiling height. If you or your staff have never printer with or have been around an eco solvent printer then you will be sensitive to its odor. That sensitivity will go away with time. And every printer emits VOC's. The levels at which they are allowed is controlled by the government. You can pick up an air scrubber. They absolutely help. Only run them when you are printing. Some units have cleanable filters, some just get replaced...sometimes these will cost more than your printer to operate.

 

[jagku]

Thank.you.all. just need to find an air scrubber! Anyone have any recommendations in the UK?

 

[netsol]

thre are threads on here to build an air scrubber for a couple hundred dollars

probably 2-3 years ago

 

[FireSprint.com]

Find an air scrubber. Something like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/BlueDri-BD-AS-550-BL-Airbourne-Restoration-Equipment/dp/B01JHI66VC/ref=asc_df_B01JHI66VC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216569444563&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8491229410126485713&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9024580&hvtargid=pla-415008253637&th=1

Then do your research on the size of the filter, and find an activated charcoal/carbon filter that fits in that compartment. Often times you can make a slightly smaller filter work if you fill the gaps with some coro. Try to get as close to the full size as possible though.

Then run this as close to the outfeed side of your printer as you can.

Spend the money and get a high CFM. You can always run them a little slower if they move too much air. But if you don't get a good one, then you'll end up buying a second one to make up for the needed airflow.

 

[White Haus]

Find an air scrubber. Something like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/BlueDri-BD-AS-550-BL-Airbourne-Restoration-Equipment/dp/B01JHI66VC/ref=asc_df_B01JHI66VC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216569444563&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8491229410126485713&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9024580&hvtargid=pla-415008253637&th=1

Then do your research on the size of the filter, and find an activated charcoal/carbon filter that fits in that compartment. Often times you can make a slightly smaller filter work if you fill the gaps with some coro. Try to get as close to the full size as possible though.

Then run this as close to the outfeed side of your printer as you can.

Spend the money and get a high CFM. You can always run them a little slower if they move too much air. But if you don't get a good one, then you'll end up buying a second one to make up for the needed airflow.

We have one of these, seems to help with odor/fumes when running heavy coverage jobs. It's a bit loud but I would imagine this would be the case for any unit moving that much air. We found some charcoal filters on amazon that were compatible.

 

[garyroy]

3 Pack, pretty reasonable,

https://www.amazon.com/B-Air-Scrubber-Active-Filters-Purifiers/dp/B06VVCTC6G/ref=asc_df_B06VVCTC6G/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167141564568&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9146590395314899688&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1015313&hvtargid=pla-313079740216&th=1

 

[Gino]

Believe me, when you change ink manufacturers, they just masked the odors better. The same chemicals and close to the same amount is still going into the air. Get an air scrubber and stay safe. This is an office and not a home base...... correct ??

 

[Saturn]

I'm in a space roughly the same size and wouldn't do it without an actual exhaust near the printer.

I have some 5" deep Merv 16 filters w/charcoal on fans that I run 24/7, but running them fast enough to really tamp down on the VOC's I feel like would make the room too turbulent for good printing and laminating.

 

[White Haus]

but running them fast enough to really tamp down on the VOC's I feel like would make the room too turbulent for good printing and laminating.

That's the thing we've found too - they need to move a ton of air to do their job which isn't ideal for a production area. I've thought of venting it outside but then it would sort of defeat the purpose of filtering the air.

 

[garyroy]

The problem with filtering outside is, if you are sending 1200 cfm outside, another 1200 cfm needs to come in from somewhere else.
It's like off loading all you A/C to the outside, you'd have to bring in warm air from another source, usually from outside.
It's called MUA or "Make Up Air" in the hvac business.

 

[Gino]

Is that why I hiccup when I fart ??

 

[Saturn]

The problem with filtering outside is, if you are sending 1200 cfm outside, another 1200 cfm needs to come in from somewhere else.
It's like off loading all you A/C to the outside, you'd have to bring in warm air from another source, usually from outside.
It's called MUA or "Make Up Air" in the hvac business.

I agree it's less than ideal, but thankfully we're in a relatively temperate area. As White Haus pointed out, the scrubbers don't seem to quite do it, and the VOC's are pretty noticeable otherwise.