Hi folks, Kevin here. Today, I’d like to review how you can upgrade your CO2 engraver’s life with three simple tricks. I’ve had a Monport engraver sitting around for a while and realized I can do crazy things with it. For example, I can peel the HP circuit layer by layer to understand the internal structure. This meant that I could have this $500 laser engraver perform as well as the ones that cost thousands. When I realized this, I just had to share it with you guys, so today, I’ll be going over my experience with modifying this printer.

I’ll focus on three things: air assist, air vent, and calibration. The air assist is there to blow air in the direction of the laser. This piece is connected to something called the head adapter. What I did was I went ahead and cut that in half. If you watch the video I posted on this subject, you’ll see the two main components of this head adapter: the small tunnel to the left where I hook it up and the large chamber to the right where the air blows in.

Air Assist

The air assist reduces the amount of smoke produced and the risk of causing a fire. I 3D printed my head adapter, but there are also lots of sellers on eBay that you can buy this from relatively cheap. However, I’ve noticed that if you stop the air assist or the pump isn’t powerful enough, there’s a very high likelihood that things will catch on fire. Turns out this is more than a safety precaution.

So I went through a couple of iterations of the air assist, and I decided that I didn’t want to buy the commercial metal head adapter because I’d rather invest my money in the pump itself. That way, I can be confident that I bought one strong enough to produce enough pressure to avoid fire.

There are a lot of pre-made air assist kits on the market, and most of them are under 500 GPH. You need at least 450 per hour for it to work correctly. You can convert it, but I won’t go into that here. Each pump has a different reading.

For the demonstration, I decided to use a 950 pump, which is almost twice as much as anything you’ll be able to find on the standard market. I also was able to get it for a measly $35. However, I’ve seen the same pump listed as an air assist pump for around $80.

To start, you’ll need a Phillips screwdriver to remove a screw and open up the cover on the side of the engraver. We’ll set the pump aside for now so we can attach the airlines. The airlines aren’t anything special. They’re still the standard type that you would get for an aquarium or something of the sort.

If you find that you’re having a hard time getting the tube through, you can use metal wire to feed it through the hole. Push on the right side of the tube and move the part back and forth until, eventually, the line comes out the other side. Then you can attach the tube to the head and put the head cover on. Another thing you should beware of is that you want the line to be a bit stiff, so it doesn’t kink.

Calibration

Next, we’ll go over the calibration process. It’s a lot simpler than you may think. All you have to do is close the engraver and press the test button. It should burn a hole through the paper. Then adjust the screw to adjust the indicator as needed. You should have it lined up with the hole.

I put a tray under the air assist filled with water to test the power to visualize the strength. Another thing to consider is the size difference between a 1700 GPH pump and a 950 GPH pump. I used to put them inside the engraver, but I’ve found that putting them on the floor reduces a lot of the noise production.

Air Vent

Now let’s talk about the air vent. If you’re watching the video, you’ll see that I have an air vent mounted directly above my engraver. After only a week or two, it was pretty severely clogged up. This made it completely useless, so I decided to upgrade it. I cut off that filter and used the black outer ring of it. I then attached a red ring that I had 3D printed. The red circle was there to fit the tube to the filter more tightly. I then put some glue on the inside and attached the tube before screwing it onto the motor on the vent hood.

The fan on the back of the vent is a PC fan that was only attached by four screws. If you get a screwdriver, you can remove it very simply. Trust me: you really want to remove it. It seriously blocks the airflow.