Dust collector piping

[boomer12831]

I finally found a dust collector on CL that was in great shape and was priced right. Its probably a little bigger than I need but its a nice unit. When I went to pick it up, the guy said I could have all of the piping and blast gates if I wanted them too. I got it all home and started getting it cleaned up. I had to dissemble the entire unit so I could pick it up and put it in my truck. Trying to do things one handed is tough these days. As I was hosing out all the piping, I was wondering if I could use PVC when I pipe up my garage for this. The way he had the flexible pipe run, it was very sloppy and did not seem very efficient. There seemed to be a lot of debris in the flex pipe and I think the ribs in the pipe would reduce airflow through the pipe. What are some your thoughts on this ? Thanks

 

[My Old Tools]

PVC will work but spiral welded steel is better. PVC will build up static electricity and will need grounding. Lots of information on this on the woodworking forums like www.sawmillcreek.org/

 

[Regnar]

I have used 4" and 6" Pvc drainage pipe. Works great. Have run a CNC router off of it for years with no problems. I do have the pipe grounded but all that really entails is a wire wrapped around and grounded to the machine.

Also using drainage pipe you can heat it up with a weed burner or heat gun to make slip fittings.

http://www.billpentz.com/Woodworking/Cyclone/pvc.cfm

 

[MTW]

As you saw flexible duct is a poor choice for efficiency and grounding, its meant only for required flexible connections to machines in short lengths. PVC is also not the best choice due to the static buildup. The more material that travels through the pipe the more the static charge is built up, especially on dry days. Electrons are accumulated on the surface of the plastic pipe and the particulate, when the material is rubbing against it traveling to the collector. When enough charge builds up it will discharge a spark when the material reaches the grounded collector metal housing. Sparks and fine atomized dust along with ample airflow (oxygen) are a bad combination.

I have wired 100's of dust collectors over the years and have seen several collector hoppers, that have caught on fire due to the use of PVC piping. Usually this happens when a shop has increased workflow therefore more static buildup. If your going to use PVC the ground wire should be installed internal to the pipe, so that the particulate charge is dissipated not just the pipe wall.

It's a much better choice to use all metal piping and avoid the static issue altogether. Spiral pipe is used in commercial installations. Metal Flue piping would be fine for a home type shop and eliminate the static risk. Insurance companies require metal ducting in all shops. Many home shops use PVC and get away with it, but when the conditions are right bad things can happen.

Take it for what it's worth...

MTW Ω

 

[turbowoodworker]

Tell us more about your dust collector.Size type Brand etc.

 

[boomer12831]

I appreciate all of the advice that you guys gave me. It makes sense and I will stick with the metal piping. I wasn't aware of the static problem. The dust collector is a Jet DC-1100c. An older gentleman is selling his house and no longer does any woodworking. I went there and bought a bunch of his stuff. Dust collector, Jet air cleaner, Router table, Jointer, Spindle sander, a bunch of bar clamps, and a few other items. It was really tough loading up everything as I had recent shoulder surgery and am going for neck surgery in the near future. I had to dismantle everything and load it in small pieces. The shop was a complete disaster with several years of saw dust,and every thing just piled on top of everything. I took the dust collector and air cleaner completely apart and washed everything with soap and water. They both look like they just came out of the box. I won't be able to use any of this for awhile but it was a good deal and it will be for my retirement "entertainment". The guy had some fair prices and I didn't try to talk him down at all. We will all be there some day, I just hope my stuff is a lot cleaner than this stuff was. Thanks again for the advice.