Dust Collection Upgrade Questions

[Jon Farley]

I am in the process of overhauling my DC system and have a few questions. Presently, I have a Griz 2hp bag unit, with lots of 4" flex hose strung all over the shop to the various machines. My plan is to A) upgrade from 4" flex hose to 6" PVC and a minimal amount of 6" flex hose and B) cannibalize my present dust collector, then mount the blower in the small attic space over a portion of the workshop and expel all the dust outside (via a pipe or hose poking out through the soffit). I realize that I could lose some of my heat in the winter, but are there any other downsides to this plan that I may be overlooking?

Also, a couple other questions...are the commercially available 6" blast gates compatable with schedule 30 6" PVC? And, will 6" flex hose fit over the end of PVC?

[Matt Meiser]

Assuming your dust collector has a 12" fan, it should work well. I have a Jet 2HP blower with a 12" fan pulling through an Ondeda component cyclone with good results. I exhaust the blower outside. I think you'll want to duct your outlet a little further from the building than just outside the soffit. I have mine a coupel inches through the wall with a chimney cap covering the opening. The fine dust my cyclone doesn't get clings to my siding. I have the pieces to move it further out but haven't gotten to it yet. The wind tends to push it back against the building.

Making your own blast gates from plywood and PVC couldn't be easier. I made all my own. The first several I made I used a scroll saw to cut the holes which went slow, but then I bought a beam cutter which makes perfect holes really quickly.

[Terre Hooks]

Sounds like a good plan, providing that your exhaust point is well-planned and won't be anywhere near 25' of a combustion air intake, door or window.


The flex-to-PVC deal is dealt with several ways. You'll have to find what works for you with locally available supplies.

[Paul Kinneberg]

I just put an onieda dust gorilla in a closet in my shop with the filter on the shop side. While I was researching the subject I found several people that talked about replacing the air in the shop and how you will have problems if you don't. Just fyi.

[Matt Meiser]

I just put an onieda dust gorilla in a closet in my shop with the filter on the shop side. While I was researching the subject I found several people that talked about replacing the air in the shop and how you will have problems if you don't. Just fyi.

I was worried about this too, but I did testing by making a temporary piece that fit into a nearby open window kind of like the way a window AC unit fits. I ran my exhaust duct out the window for a while to make sure everything would be OK.

My shop furnace has a fan on the flue and won't run if there isn't positive pressure in the flue. I also have a carbon monoxide detector.

Heating wise, I didn't use much more propane this past winter over the previous winter and I kept the shop at 45 degrees minimum vs. the previous year where I turned the heat off and I spent more time actually working in the shop. The percentage increase in gas use was roughly the same in the house too. I have separate tanks for the shop and house and each required the same number of fills.

The flex-to-PVC deal is dealt with several ways. You'll have to find what works for you with locally available supplies..

What I found to work well was to use 6" HVAC duct. A short piece would just slip inside the 6" S&D pipe and was a tight fit into the 6" hose. Caulk secures and seals the pipe-pipe connection and a hose clamp secures and seals the pipe-hose connection.

[Allan Johanson]

Hi Jon,

This will be a very nice airflow upgrade but it does come with a caution. If you can, double check the amp draw to be sure you aren't overloading the motor with your final ducting configuration.

Cheers,

Allan

[Julio Navarro]

I am in the process of overhauling my DC system and have a few questions. Presently, I have a Griz 2hp bag unit, with lots of 4" flex hose strung all over the shop to the various machines. My plan is to A) upgrade from 4" flex hose to 6" PVC and a minimal amount of 6" flex hose and B) cannibalize my present dust collector, then mount the blower in the small attic space over a portion of the workshop and expel all the dust outside (via a pipe or hose poking out through the soffit). I realize that I could lose some of my heat in the winter, but are there any other downsides to this plan that I may be overlooking?

Also, a couple other questions...are the commercially available 6" blast gates compatable with schedule 30 6" PVC? And, will 6" flex hose fit over the end of PVC?

Jon:

I installed a Pentz cyclone in my shop. My plan was to install 6"PVC ducting but the cost was rather high at 26$ per 10' lengths and the Y's are over 20 bucks each(dont remember exactly) so I got inspired by a post someone made here showing his professional shop and he had used all metal ducting. Its more than cheaper and alot easier to install.

I ran metal ducts to all my machines reducing to 4" metal duct with 4" flex hose going to a pvc connection.

So in answer to your question flex hose will fit very well into pvc as well as metal duct. I'll post a pic later of my transition from metal to flex hose to PVC.

[Julio Navarro]

Heres the connection:
jsw_dscf0833.jpg

jsw_dscf0834.jpg

jsw_dscf0835.jpg

The cyclone is only about 12' away and really pulls air.