Source of information on dust collection?

[Wade Lippman]

In the past I had to move my machines to my dust collector and use a flexible hose. There wasn't room for anything else; so I am totally ignorant on the subject.
My Griz 3hp is up and running, so I have to connect it to my tools. (no hurry, they don't have power yet...)

Are there any good sites for learning about this.
I found one that said the the metal duct sold for HVAC was inadequate; he recommends either PVC for drains or mail order from companies that sell DC ducting. He uses PVC because shipping is a killer on metal.
That sort of thing.

I am reasonably local to Oneida, so I guess that is one option, but they seem to be expensive on everything, so I am hoping to do better.

[Jim Andrew]

There is lots of info on this site about dust collecting, pipe etc. If you want to study intensively, search Bill Pentz, as he has done amazing research on the subject. I used spiral pipe when I put mine in, had the local hvac shop order it in. Was expensive. There is a reasonable priced company who sells fittings, right now the name eludes me. Search fittings on this site, you will find it. Or someone else will supply the name.

[David Kumm]

I get spiral from the HVAC guys who have trucks coming in every day so shipping isn't an issue. Often they have pieces laying around from jobs that they sell cheap too. Airhand.com has info too. Dave

[Jim Andrew]

KenCraft company sells dust collecting fittings, and ships to you. I have bought several and they were always the least expensive for good quality metal fittings. If you use spiral pipe, you need to use couplings to attach your fittings to the pipe, because you can't crimp spiral.

[richard poitras]

[QUOTE=Wade Lippman;2042504] I found one that said the the metal duct sold for HVAC was inadequate; QUOTE]


I used regular metal 26 ga snap lock duct work from my local HVAC supply house on my 5 hp system and it works great and it was $1000.00 cheaper than spiral pipe from Oneida. Just don’t use anything lighter than 26 ga or it will be inadequate as posted.

[Wade Lippman]

Pentz agrees that PVC is best, except for the static charge. Elsewhere I have read that the static charge is harmless; it has never started a fire and rarely even give shock.
Pentz says that you need at least 6" to everything, and the existing dustport has to be upgraded.
Air Handling Systems says manufacturer can be relied on to put the right sized port on their machines. If you machines have 4" ports, you only need larger trunks if more than one machine will be used at a time.

[paul cottingham]

Hook PVC up to your planer, and run it with your dust collector. You will get a ton of static charge. I've been zapped plenty. I'm still not concerned in the least about a dust explosion. All my ducting is PVC, it's easy to set up and cheap.

[glenn bradley]

Pentz agrees that PVC is best, except for the static charge. Elsewhere I have read that the static charge is harmless; it has never started a fire and rarely even give shock.

Please don't anyone respond with those pedantic posts about not being able to ground PVC. With that disclaimer; I run 6" ASTM-2729 (thin walled drain pipe) without issue. It is light (the walls are about 1/8" thick), easy to alter and re-use as things inevitably change. A piece of 18ga insulated wire wrapped around the outside of the PVC and grounded at both ends provides a discharge path and eliminates any annoyance from static buildup.

PVC was a lot more interesting before the price doubled. I can't believe what I paid for the last few connectors I bought (although still a 1/3 of some metal ones). I used a simple end cap at the end of each run to provide a cleanout but, every time I look, the inside is bone-white and clean ;-) I reduced close to the blower and run 6" as close to the tool as I can. Other advantages of PVC is that the slip fit is often air tight (I only had to silicone one connection point), holds itself in place with a minimum of suspension locations (I think my whole system is held up with four pieces of inexpensive plumbers tape (that metal strap with regularly spaced holes).

General rules of thumb will serve you well; use dual 45's instead of 90's, don't use "T" junctions. In short, imagine your duct path from machine to DC is a waterway that you would like to flow with the least resistance or introduced turbulence possible. The lazy smoke from a stick of incense is a great way to check your connections for leaks (amazing how hard it was to find stick incense).

[David Kumm]

Back when Pentz wrote his original articles he preferred PVC for its cost and ease of use rather than believing it to be better. The goal with the do it yourself system was cost savings in general. His original systems were designed for the 6" runs and relatively small radius ells. One of the reasons he went to the 5 hp motor was to compensate for the SP of the 6' mains and still deliver 1000 cfm. To maximize his impeller and motor you need a 7" main which is what his cyclone is designed for. There was some talk of a larger cyclone to handle more cfm as the MAX system with the 16" impeller would benefit from it.

[Wade Lippman]

I run 6" ASTM-2729 (thin walled drain pipe) without issue. It is light (the walls are about 1/8" thick), easy to alter and re-use as things inevitably change.

One metal supplier (Grizzly?) said a big advantage of metal was the ability to reconfigure it. But you are saying PVC doesn't have to be glued! Do you duct tape the joints, or what?
Is the light stuff likely to be carried at a Borg, or do you have to find a plumbing supply house? Lowes only lists schedule 40, which I know is too heavy.

I was pretty sick when I saw the price of metal, but maybe PVC is the answer if I can find it. Thanks all.

[Lornie McCullough]

I also use pvc 2729 pipe, and I do not glue it. If I suspect a joint is leaking, I wrap stretch wrap ("saran wrap", pallet wrap, furniture wrap.... etc.) around it with a piece of tape to hold the stretch wrap. It is almost no effort at all to change the configuration, with no 'wasted glued fittings'. The horizontal runs are balanced on top of the rafters, and the vertical drops go all the way to the floor with a 'y adapter' at whatever height needed for each machine. That means there are no mounting supports to change when changing the configuration.

I saw elsewhere on SMC where a gentleman used short sections of tire tube (inner-tube) to connect fittings or runs of pipe. I think that is genius!! (apologies for not looking up his name).

Lornie

[Jim Andrew]

When I was installing my system, could not find the thin wall 6" plastic. Now, we have a Menards store, and they have a policy of shipping to your store products stocked in other stores. So, if they stock it somewhere else, they will ship it to you at your store. Check that out.

[Jim O'Dell]

If you can find a big pipe yard that serves plumbers and especially septic system installers, you'll have your best luck of finding the thin wall pipe. Also some say that the John Deere irrigation locations have it. Hopefully someone in your area will post of a place you can get it. (I sooooo wanted to say "pipe in with a place" ). But ask your HVAC guy who in your area makes the spiral pipe. Some find it cheaper than the PVC if they can fine the local small business guy that makes it. If you are going to have pipe in the attic, or under the floor say in a basement, you want metal instead of PVC for safety reasons. Jim.

[Wade Lippman]

I found a place that has 6" thin wall drainage PVC for $15 for a 10' length. They don't know the ASTM number but assure me it is white PVC, smooth on the inside and outside. That sound like what I want and the price seems pretty good as well.
It is about a 45 minute drive, so does this all sound right before I go out there?

The only place closer was Lowes, and they wanted $37 for 10' in green. Is there a difference between white and green?

[Rick Moyer]

I found a place that has 6" thin wall drainage PVC for $15 for a 10' length. They don't know the ASTM number but assure me it is white PVC, smooth on the inside and outside. That sound like what I want and the price seems pretty good as well.
It is about a 45 minute drive, so does this all sound right before I go out there?

The only place closer was Lowes, and they wanted $37 for 10' in green. Is there a difference between white and green?

That should be the right stuff, Wade. That's also about the right price so I think you're good to go. They don't know/care about the ASTM number. I ran into the same thing when I bought the stuff but I found the number on the pipe when I got there.

the green stuff at Lowe's is schedule 35, which is a little thicker (and ugly too IMO).