[OP]
Member
I have been reading conflicting reports about grounding your hoses of your DC units because of the possibility of static shock igniting your wood dust.Has this ever happened to anyone?I have a Delta 1.5 HP,1200 cfm DC and the 4" hose is not grounded.Should I,and what is the best way to do this.Pics would be nice if anyone has them.
Marc
Measure twice and cut once and swear three times
Member
I have never heard of a documented case of static electricity causing a fire or explosion in a home based dust collection system.
[OP]
Member
Uhhhhhhhhhhh Explosion??? Can that happen?Originally Posted by Greg Funk
Member
See? Now you scared him. Nice work.
"If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably a wise investment."
Member
I've seen the video of that, but I must admit, I've never even seen a fire caused by it. My insurance company didn't even know of it when I mentioned it to them. I'm begining to think the video must have been done with a dust collector that had been running for a long time with a big hole in the bag to completely fill the room with dust. If that were the case, I don't think you could breathe in there anyway. Just MHO.
Moderator
Forget about grounding it. Even if you do attempt to ground it, it isn't very easy to do a good job with it. Will you get shocked and feel the build up? Yes, you probably will. Is it enough to ignite wood dust? Nothing I've seen convinces me it will.
Member
The guy at the store tried to scare me into buying a $20 grounding kit today. I told him about the "Shark Bite Principle." This is the principle I use when I examine risk. I don't know anybody that's been bitten by a shark, nor do I know anybody that knows anybody that's been bitten by a shark. Now, I have heard about it happening and seen it on TV. So, if something is less common than a shark bite, it's a non factor.
Member
and in addition, you would have to make sure all of your connections were continuous and no breaks in your fittings, etc .... I would think its pretty involved to make sure. I dunno, just thinking outloud.
Member
I work at a company that grinds rubber,among other things.The dust collectors are huge as sometimes 300-500 pounds of overstock maybe removed from one piece.There have been 3-4 fires in the dc in my time there, almost all caused by sparks from metal being ground mixing with the dust or extreme heat from the grinder wheel when trying to remove too much stock at once.I do not think the dust generated by small shop sized equipment would be enough to ignite or enough heat build up could be generated either.
Moderator
The static in a small home woodworking shop is a nuisance to your person, but not a danger for any kind of explosion. As far as I know, there are zero documented cased of that ever happening. So grounding is a personal decision to avoid getting zapped when you reach out and fondle your duct work...
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Member
It hasn't happened in home systems. Not enough dust or sparks are too small. Sometimes happens in grain elevators with lots of dust or in commercial operations.
Member
If it was possible, then you think a clearvue cyclone would have blown up by now. Not gonna happen.
Guest
Theres been so much talk and debate over the issue that instead of listening to it over and over and worrying about it, I bought some 4" steel flex hose and built a sheet metal port for the tablesaw. It's all metal now, no grounding wires.
Last edited by Chuck Lenz; 01-11-2008 at 9:56 AM.
Contributor
Member
This is a topic for Myth Busters! I bought a grounding kit and never installed it.
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